02 Oct The legal team at Auckland law firm, Quay Law congratulates Irene Van Dyk
Picture Source: NZ Herald
Source: NZ Herald
Irene Van Dyk shed a tear when she was asked to perform the New Zealand flag bearing duties at the Commonwealth Games.
New Zealand chef de mission popped the question to the veteran netballer earlier this week.
“She was genuinely overwhelmed,” he said.
“She shed a couple of tears. It was an honour to offer her the role.”
Van Dyk will lead about 150 New Zealand athletes in the opening ceremony here on October 3.
Several are yet to make it to Delhi, including stars Val Adams and Nick Willis.
Their decision not to arrive in Indian earlier meant they were not considered to perform the task.
Currie said the former South African was chosen because of her stellar record at the games. She provided the seminal moment of the last event in Melbourne tossing the ball high into the air in celebration after the Silver Ferns won gold.
The decision also acknowledged the contribution and impact netball has played in rejuvenating the games. The sport was first introduced in 1998.
Since then it has become one of the most prestigious and eagerly awaited medal race.
The news was broken to her games team-mates at a Kiwi team function where they were officially welcomed into the village in the early hours of this morning.
It was a poignant and moving ceremony.
Currie and his team had tried to evoke the character and spirit of Tenzing Norqay and Sir Edmund Hillary while here in Indian.
The New Zealand village has a huge banner that drops from its anchor point 12 floors down with a quote from Sir Ed and Mt Everest in the background.
Sir Ed’s son Peter and Norqay’s son Jamling were both on hand at the presentation ceremony to speak to the team about their famous fathers.
Currie presented Hillary, Norqay and Van Dyk with a pendant carved from greenstone.
Van Dyk will play her 100th test at the Commonwealth Games for the Silver Ferns. She is the most capped test netballer. She represented South Africa 72 times before she was wooed to Wellington in 2000.
She gained her citizenship in 2005 but had been embraced by Kiwis thanks to her bubbly effervescent personality well before then winning New Zealand Sportswoman of the Year in 2003.
Van Dyk continues to live in Wellington where she was a school teacher but now plays professionally for the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic team in the trans Tasman netball league.
Triathlete Hamish Carter carried the flag at the last Games in Melbourne. Shooter Greg Yelavich carried it in the closing ceremony.