Netball: Irish players have bags of enthusiasm

Noleen Lennon had to raise £1000 to play. Photo / Getty Images

While many associate the Silver Ferns with the New World supermarket chain, it is hard to imagine Irene van Dyk, Casey Williams or Temepara George actually working in one - but the Northern Irish netballers do.

Not New World, you understand, but for the women of the Northern Ireland team - one of the surprise packets of the tournament - packing bags in a supermarket was a reality in their fundraising to get to Singapore.

Each member of the team had to raise £1000 ($1918) towards their costs and time behind the checkout counter was just one of the ways; there were also gala dinners, raffles, coaching camps and they even considered speed dating.

"We talked about holding a speed dating night and I was all for it - even though I'm married," laughs coach Elaine Rice. "It was considered but eventually some of the girls got cold feet."

Captain Noleen Lennon says the supermarket venture was a great success; the team, dressed in their uniform, did eight-hour shifts packing bags for four Saturdays in a row.

"Everybody was very friendly and I guess it was good publicity," says Lennon. "We packed their bags and most people gave us a pound and it got us the money to get over here."

The team has been a revelation this week, competing in their first world championships since 1999. They went goal for goal with Australia for periods and made the top eight for the first time, after coming in with a ranking of 12.

Though many have criticised the tournament format and diet of one-sided group matches, Rice is a supporter of the status quo: "We used to watch England lose by 25 or 30 goals to New Zealand and Australia but in the last few years, they have beaten them both. You have to be exposed to the top four to get closer to them. I understand that the top nations think that it is maybe a waste of their time but the impact that it has on world netball should come first."

The team is amateur and contains doctors, lecturers, students and a barista. Two of the players also play basketball, while another pair juggle Gaelic football with their netball commitments. They assemble twice a week for training. All live within an hour of each other around Belfast but they sometimes have to pay to hire their own courts for practice.

Their success in qualifying for the tournament and subsequent performances in Singapore mean Netball Northern Ireland are about to appoint their first full-time coach, who will double as high performance director.

"Please tell everybody in New Zealand - we would love a Kiwi to come and coach us," says Rice, who won't be applying for the role as she wants to keep her job as a university lecturer.