That contribution was recognised recently when the Dunedin bowls great was made a life member of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) for his decades of service across various codes.
‘‘I'm pretty humbled, to be fair — you never expect something like that,’’ Kernaghan told the Otago Daily Times.
Kernaghan was made a life member alongside former Olympic rower and former NZOC president Mike Stanley and sports lawyer Maria Clarke, who has previously served on the NZOC board and is a member of the NZOC integrity committee.
Kernaghan has spent the best part of the last 25 years helping elite sport.
He joined the athletes commission in 1997 — where he was the commission convener for about seven years — and has been on the NZOC selection panel for about the past 13 years. He is currently the convener of selectors for the Summer and Winter Olympics.
‘‘Sport has been really good to me,’’ Kernaghan said.
‘‘Obviously with my bowls career it’s been really cool and it’s been really good.
‘‘I guess you have a sense that you’ve got to give back somehow and getting those opportunities with the Olympic committee have been really rewarding, to be honest.
‘‘I thoroughly enjoyed it and just enjoyed, I guess, making a contribution.’’
It was the people that stuck with him the most — from the late Sir Eoin Edgar to the late Susie Simcock, who was a ‘‘legend in squash circles’’.
‘‘It’s just the incredible people that you get to spend some time with, really.
‘‘Just a whole lot of people who have been really good in terms of their wisdom and their guidance across a range of things that hopefully made me a bit wise in my old age.’’
Bowls is Kernaghan’s first passion.
He was part of the fours world championship-winning team in 2016 and won bronze in the singles at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002.
Kernaghan, who retired internationally in 2022, is the head coach and convener of selectors for Bowls New Zealand and is currently in Australia supporting Shannon McElroy (Nelson) and Taylor Bruce (Christchurch) at the world indoor singles.
‘‘I’m retired now, so I’ve got to have something to get me up in the morning,’’ Kernaghan said, laughing.
‘‘I just love it. The game’s been really good to me, so I guess, again, you just want to make a contribution and I really enjoy it.
‘‘I love the involvement at that elite sport level, whether it’s the NZOC or whether it’s Bowls New Zealand.
‘‘I’m very, very lucky to be given those opportunities, to be fair.’’
NZOC president Liz Dawson paid tribute to Kernaghan’s contribution.
“Mike Kernaghan made a significant contribution to elite sport as a world champion and Commonwealth Games medallist in lawn bowls as well as long service to the Olympic movement in Aotearoa New Zealand,’’ Dawson said.
‘‘We thank him for three decades of service to the NZOC, from sitting on the NZOC athletes’ commission and the NZOC board and his ongoing work on the NZOC selection panel.’’
