Nineteen-year-old Mandy Boyd entered the record books yesterday when she became the youngest New Zealand female bowler to win an open championship title.
She was a member of the Composite four with Leanne Curry, sister Angela Boyd and skip Sue Burnand that won the women's four.
A fine arts student at Massey University in Wellington, Mandy Boyd followed her elder sisters into the sport five years ago and has already established an impressive record at junior level.
She has won the senior singles title at the New Zealand secondary schools championships twice, in 2008 and 2009, and the New Zealand Kittyhawks (under 20) title.
She has been a member of the New Zealand under-25 team for the last two years. It beat Australia in the transtasman event last year.
"My parents played for years and I was brought up in a bowls family," she said. "You meet so many cool people in bowls and I also like the competitive side and winning."
Her ambition is to make the next Commonwealth Games team and to win a medal.
Her sister Angela (24), an early childhood teacher in Napier, won a New Zealand secondary schools singles title in 2001 and both are in the Bowls New Zealand High Performance programme.
Angela is also a strong competitor and it is her goal to make the New Zealand under-25 team for the transtasman competition this season.
Angela has won three Hawkes Bay open titles and Mandy three in Hawkes Bay and one in Wellington.
They came into the game as teenagers and are part of the young generation of female bowlers who are revolutionising the game.
They have brought colour into the game and showed this yesterday when they clapped and did high fives to celebrate good shots from their team mates.
"We like to keep a positive attitude and encourage the other members of our team," Mandy said. "It keeps everybody on a high."
Amy Brenton (Stoke, Nelson), who was runner-up in the singles to World Bowls pairs champion Jo Edwards, is another young bowler who joined the elite of New Zealand female bowlers at the championships.
