Tennis: Walker to remain in top job at Tennis NZ

Steve Walker. Photo / Daily Post

Tennis NZ chief executive Steve Walker is returning home to Australia but he has no plans to quit his post as the boss of the sport in this country.

Instead Walker plans to commute to work from Melbourne, a move that appears to have the blessing of the Tennis NZ board.

Walker's wife and five children are believed to be returning to Melbourne on Boxing Day in order to be closer to extended family. That has been interpreted in tennis circles as foreshadowing Walker's departure, with some observers believing it will only be matter of time before his position becomes untenable.

However, Tennis NZ chairman David Patterson said the board was working towards a solution that worked for both Walker and the organisation.

"Steve has had no change in his employment status, so he is fully committed to Tennis New Zealand in just the same way as he always has been. The only change is in his circumstances is that his family is moving back to Melbourne and he is trying to effect his job by commute in the course of next year," Patterson said.

But the board are yet to nut out the exact details of how the arrangement will work.

"That's essentially what we're working through at the moment, but we're obviously not going to agree to any arrangement that we're not satisfied is going to work."

"Steve is committed to Tennis NZ and he wants to make that work. So that's what we're trying to do."

The situation would be fully resolved by early January, Patterson said. Discussions would be "plain and transparent".

Walker was unwilling to discuss the situation but stressed he had not come under any pressure from the board to resign.

Walker was charged with leading the organisation's bid to revitalise the sport in New Zealand when he took up the position in May 2007, but he has come under increasing criticism in the last 12 months from coaches and administrators around the country.

The most vocal critic was former New Zealand great Onny Parun, who questioned the capability of Walker and director of coaching Peter McCraw after New Zealand's disastrous 4-1 Davis Cup loss to the Philippines in September.

Parun accused the pair of leading Tennis NZ "down the road to oblivion".

It was not the only setback for Tennis NZ this year, with the loss of futures tournaments a major blow to the regions.

However, Patterson insists the board is happy with the direction the game is headed.

"A lot of good things are happening to develop the game, and I guess yes if you looked at some of the media commentary, yes a lot of it is negative, but I don't think it is representative of what is happening in the game generally.

"Frankly, the story for tennis is a very positive one. We've got a lot of good things going on in terms of the development of the game at grassroots, we've got a lot of positive news around our RPC centres that are up and running and we've got a lot of positive things around getting more coaches on the road to achieve better results for our players that are in transition."