After a career working in the public sector in health and education, Sarah Boyes has made the transition into sport with her recent appointment as CEO of Netball Central Zone.
Boyes takes over from Fran Scholey, who left earlier this year, and will start the role on October 2.
"I'm absolutely excited, this is an amazing opportunity," Boyes said.
"A lot of things I've done in the last 10 years have lent me towards working in sport and I just seem to always get drawn into sports in terms of governance, leadership and involvement."
Through her varied professional background Boyes believes her previous roles will serve her well at Netball Central where she will oversee the high performance arm of Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse and sister team Manawa while also embracing the community space.
"The opportunity to collaborate with staff, the netball community, key stakeholders, sponsors and partners to increase the profile of netball and secure necessary resources to grow across the region will be an exciting challenge," she said.
A firm believer that sport is a powerful platform in helping empower individuals, build strong communities, promote equality, grow the next generation of leaders and influence social change, Boyes is excited by where women’s sport, in particular, is heading.
"Women's sport is coming to the fore and we've seen that with the women's rugby and football world cups and there are more organisations helping with women's leadership and development in the sports environment, so I'll definitely look at tapping into some of those programmes in my new role," she said.
"There's a lot of infrastructure developing…..it's a good time to be a woman heading into sport's leadership and supporting a predominantly woman's sport."
Boyes is currently General Manager of the Graeme Dingle Foundation Wellington. She leads a team who deliver programmes in primary and secondary schools and in the community with rangatahi (youth) who are not in education, employment or training.
Previously she was CEO of Boulcott Hospital for six years and has spent over 20 years in the public health sector for both Hutt Valley and Wairarapa District Health Boards.
Boyes has also been on the Board of Directors of Fraser Park Sportsville, in the Hutt Valley, since 2019. The Sportsville project creates sports communities that make it easier for clubs to attract new members, while offering new programmes and control of operational costs by pooling resources.
All three of her children have represented the Wellington region in sport - middle distance running, gymnastics and shooting.