When visitors see Lyn McKay busying about one of New Zealand’s busiest bowling clubs in New Zealand’s busiest city, it’s easy to imagine that she’s been at the club forever.

But the President of the Howick Bowling Club, the headquarters of the National Under 8’s Intercentre tournament, is a relative newby.  A new acting-President of the club (just 3 months), a new bowler (just 3 years) and a relatively new Aucklander (like most who live in the city of traffic).

Lyn spent her childhood and family years a long way from busy Auckland where she and her husband Russell now reside.

Tolaga Bay, Patoka and Horonui were a few of those adventurous places - places that are more likely to be used as the backdrop for the next ‘Boy’, ‘Whale Rider’ or ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ than produce a grandmother passionate about bowls.  With Russell they managed sheep and cattle farms, until 20 years ago when, to be nearer to their kids, they abandoned the country for the big smoke.

 In Auckland, she joined the head office of Westpac.  “I was more a people person than a banker,” says Lyn. “But they saw me as a budding Business Analyst and I ended up staying on ‘til I was 70.”

Retirement from the bank enabled Lyn to get in to bowls.  “It was the Howick men’s and women’s bowling clubs reticence about a potential amalgamation that got me involved.  The men thought the women would take over the amalgamated club.  And the women thought the men would take over,” she laughs.

And that’s how she also became President.  The new combined constitution guaranteed women and men alternating presidential terms – and Lyn became Johnnie-on-the-spot …. well, Janet-on-the-spot to be the first woman president.  Unsurprisingly after all this amalgamation, the world didn’t stop spinning on its axis at Howick.  Far from it.  Club members found that as President, Lyn started to espouse the same ideas of many of them – male or female.

Beginning with grass. “I’m a grass person,” says Lyn.  “I wouldn’t like to see the time when there were no grass bowling greens,”

“I also love seeing the ‘young’ people playing bowls, and all clubs need to do what they can to encourage young blood.”

But Lyn also has a pet bugbear.

“It’s great to see Bowls New Zealand publishing their calendar early this year,” she adds.  “Being late in previous years has caused chaos timetabling events at centre and club level.”

If you were at Howick last weekend, no doubt your saw Lynn McKay patrolling the greens and the clubhouse – making sure that nothing was derailing the headquartering of another successful national tournament. 

Thanks heaps for your efforts, Lyn.