5Q4 > A Young Manager

At 18, Kristi Godfrey is the youngest food and beverage manager for AMF Bowling centres in Australia. She bowls them over with her managerial skills and in her spare time competes in many league events.

1 Tell us about your work and what you do there. > Box Hill Bowl is a 24-lane AMF bowling centre located in Box Hill, Victoria. I started work there as the party organiser. I was then moved to the cafe, then to the front counter and creche. Several months ago the managerial position became available so I applied for it, figuring if it was meant to happen it would. It did, so since then I have been managing the cafe. I’m currently the youngest food and beverage manager in Australia. I make sure we have adequate stock, prepare food for sale, do some cleaning, prepare invoices and other jobs.

2 What do you enjoy most about your work? > I love the interaction with the customers, especially the regulars. I generally do the same shifts each week so I get to know the regular bowlers and they get to know me. We get along pretty well and joke around and have fun!

3 How do your Christian beliefs affect your job? Can you integrate the two? > Many of the regular customers and all the staff know I’m Christian and respect my beliefs. I sometimes have difficulties with working on Sabbath and some of the comments from social bowlers can be a bit hard to handle. It's kind of hard to integrate the two.

4 How did you first become interested in tenpin bowling? > I had just moved to Melbourne in February 1999. It was the end of the holidays so my mum, brother, sister and I went bowling. Someone asked if we would like to join a league (team bowling). Mum had done it before and said we could. From then on I haven’t been able to stop. I enjoy it so much!

5 What competitions have you entered? > I have bowled in the State championships twice. This year I made it into the Masters event and finished second. I finished with an average of 195. In doubles, my partner and I finished second out of 22. I bowled for Tasmania in the interstate tournament and we finished fourth out of 10. I have bowled in many different competitions. For the past four years I competed in the Junior Dunn Shield. Last year I made it into the all-stars team—top five male and female averages for the tournament—I averaged a score of 180. Other tournaments I’ve participated in include the Melbourne Under 23 Youth Cup.