Lyn Govenlock doesn’t want a big song and dance made over her volunteer work.
However, the Te Puke resident’s made such a substantial contribution to grass roots cricket in the Western Bay of Plenty, that blackcaps.co.nz couldn’t resist highlighting the time and effort she contributes in the name of helping others.
“It started with my family,” Lyn, who now has grown up twin daughters and a son, explains.
“We got the kids involved in cricket and you need volunteers to make it all work so we rolled up our sleeves and it turned out to be very rewarding.”
In the early 2000s Lynn became a member of the Te Puke Junior Cricket Management Committee and was was soon coordinating the Have-A-Go and KIWI cricket campaigns.
She’s credited with reviving the ‘Battle of the Bridge’ rivalry between teams from Western Bay and Tauranga, as well as the creation of the Rainbow Cup tournament for Years 5 and 6 girls within the area
“You do it for the love of your kids and the love of the game,” says Govenlock. “It simply doesn’t happen without volunteer input.
“It’s all about passion; passion for the sport, passion for your family and passion for others.”
Women’s cricket is one of New Zealand Cricket’s key strategic projects in 2016 and Lyn has some great insights on the matter.
“Getting girls interested in sport has always been a big passion. Girls do want to play cricket, but you have to get them involved at a young age. By the time they get to intermediate it’s really hard to get them enthused about cricket if you haven’t done it already, because they’re too self-conscious.
“You have to get them before then and give them some skills and confidence and it just perpetuates from there, really.
“Also, the girls don’t really want to play with the boys - they want to play with the girls. The girls team has a very different dynamic to a boys team - it’s a lot more about fun.”
