NETBALL - Big trip a bonus for Walker

Melissa Walker had a good excuse for not being able to watch the final day of Upper North Island Secondary Schools Netball Championships yesterday - she was in Singapore watching Northern Ireland play netball.
Walker, who is Netball North's regional manager, has invested a lot of time and energy into the school tournament.
She was responsible for bringing the event to Whangarei and led the team of volunteers that organised the week-long tournament, that featured a new record of 88 teams competing.
It may be the last time we see the Auckland-based coach and administrator here for a while. In October, Walker heads to the other side of the world to take over the job of coaching the Northern Ireland team.
Hence the trip to Singapore, where Walker will be seeing just what she's up against when the 19th-ranked country in the world take on Canada, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago and the host nation in the Five Nations Cup.
"It will give me my first opportunity to watch the team I'm about to take over and also to meet the president and get a feel for what's coming up," Walker said on Thursday, before leaving for Auckland Airport.
"I'm only there for five days then I'll be back to finish off my job here. I'll be here until mid-October and then I'm off to live just outside of Belfast, hopefully for three years."
The idea is to take the Irish team and shape them to be ready for the Commonwealth Games in India in 2009. But Walker knows her new job will be a challenge.
"But it's also a great opportunity for my family and my kids, to go over there and live and I'm grateful for the chance.
"There are just so many more opportunities for coaches these days - years ago you couldn't make a living as a coach, now you can," Walker said.
Walker took over coaching the Netball North (a combination of North Harbour and Northland) NPC team last year after Yvonne Willering decided to concentrate on the National Bank Cup squad. Walker will coach the team until the conclusion of nationals in Palmerston North at the end of September.
Walker has a few regrets about leaving but said the opportunity to coach an international side was one she couldn't turn down.
"In the end I decided to be a little bit selfish and think about me for a change and my future in the sport and going international will further my career, so that's what I decided to do," she said.
Walker believes the sport is changing and growing at the same time; both locally and internationally.
"It's a very exciting time for netball at the moment with the Tasman Cup starting up soon and after spending three years in Ireland and getting all that experience, that's where I'll be looking when I get back," she said.