Hawke's Bay sisters Angela and Mandy Boyd are in the Bowls New Zealand equation to represent their country at the World Bowls Championship in Christchurch this November.
"It's exciting. I got a call from the selectors at work about lunchtime yesterday [Wednesday]," said Angela last night from Christchurch after Bowls NZ officially released their names yesterday.
The 29-year-old and Mandy work as preschool teachers at Best Start (formerly Kidicorp) in the Garden City.
Angela is a lead in the Black Jacks women's pairs, as well as fours, while 24-year-old Mandy is skip in the triples and fours.
"It's always a nervous time waiting for the phone call," says the older Boyd sister, who claimed bronze medals in the triples and fours in her international debut at the Asia Pacific Championship in Christchurch late last year.
National selectors Dave Edwards, Peter Bellis, Sharon Sims and Raelene Peters plumbed for combinations that blend youth with experience.
Angela's skip in the pairs, Jo Edwards, and Val Smith are former champions and are returning for their fourth worlds, while 50 per cent of the team are making their debut.
National coach Edwards said in a decade of selecting it was truly the toughest team he had picked.
"Tough because we had excellent competition for places in the team. There are some extremely unlucky players, with a couple of the positions decided by the finest of details," he said.
Nelson stalwarts Jo Edwards and Smith have the company of the Boyd sisters, who are former Bowls Taradale members, and another young gun Katelyn Inch, 20.
Reigning Commonwealth champion Edwards has the singles and pairs portfolio but Angela has broken up the combination with Smith in the pairs although the prudent will argue that is justified based on Angela's supremacy as national pairs champion for the past two years.
It was Angela and Inch who also warded off stiff challenges from Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Selina Goddard and Kirsten Griffin, of Nelson.
Asked what gave her the edge, Angela felt her strong showing in the Transtasman and Six Nations series, earlier this year, with different combos was probably a factor.
"The results in the nationals this year would have helped," she said, after the national championship was staged on their home turf, the Burnside Bowling Club, which also will be the headquarters for the worlds.
"When I debuted in the Asia Pacifics I felt I played quite well and had continuity with two bronze medals, so that probably helped, too," said Angela, who picked up gold in the fours combo in the Six Nations.
While the lure of Commonwealth Games was hard to repel, she said the world champs was "a lot more competitive with so many nations and quite prestigious".
Overall, though, Angela felt her selection was an affirmation that hard work pays off and her results endorsed that.
Wilma Ennor.
Wilma Ennor, who co-ordinated the now defunct secondary schools' programme at the Taradale club, is immensely proud of her proteges.
"They deserve what they've got, there's no doubts about that," said husband Craig Ennor, on behalf of his wife who is unwell.
Their parents, Lynda and the late Doug Boyd, were bowlers in their own right but Ennor said Lynda was "the most amazing mother" who had put in countless hours with drills after school before making written submissions to Bowls New Zealand on the girls' incremental progress over the early years.
"Financially the kids have had a hard road to hoe but they stuck together as a family."
