Netball: NZ coach tells of 'nightmare' in Fiji

Melissa Walker, former Fiji coach. Photo / Northern Advocate

It was supposed to be a dream job, but former Netball North coach Melissa Walker's time in charge of the Fiji team has been a nightmare.

In her brief stint, Walker says she endured interference from Netball Fiji executives and faced discrimination and public ridicule for daring to coach while pregnant, before being forced out and threatened with deportation.

Last week two immigration officials, acting on information from Netball Fiji, turned up on the doorstep of Walker's Suva home to advise the new mum that her work permit had expired and she had seven days to leave the country.

"It was a very scary time. I had a baby girl that was only 12 days old. She didn't have a passport, she didn't have a birth certificate," said Walker.

Walker, ousted as coach last month, has been granted a stay as she fights to recoup around $30,000 in unpaid wages from Netball Fiji.

Fijian immigration officials have provided Walker and her family with permits to stay until December 31.

The Kiwi coach hopes it will give her time to resolve her employment dispute with Netball Fiji.

A court hearing is set for November 24.

Walker said she has accepted her stint as coach of the Fijian side is over, but has no plans on leaving the country until she is paid.

"I said to them, 'Not only am I a Kiwi, but I'm a very strong Maori woman and I'm not going to leave here until I've got what is rightfully mine'," she said.

Netball Fiji and Walker have been odds since the team toured South Africa in May.

The association claimed Walker and her management defied its order not to tour. This resulted in Walker being sacked, only to be reinstated by the Fiji Government a day later.

"That's when it really started to turn sour, I think," said Walker.

"Netball Fiji took it very personally that the government stepped in, because nothing like that had ever happened before in Fijian sport.

"They did not like it one bit that they were being told what to do."

"From there they made things very difficult. Every time we did something they questioned it and made things very hard for me and my players."

The stoush culminated in September when the association prevented Walker from travelling with her team to the Pacific Mini Games in the Cook Islands because she was heavily pregnant.

At the time, Netball Fiji president Milika Munivai said the association's decision was a safety issue.

"At her age, Melissa should be worrying about the safety of her unborn child and her health, especially given the physical demands the role of the coach will have on her at the Games," Munivai told a local newspaper.

But Walker believes the association responded to a writ for unpaid wages.

She had earlier attempted to recover the money by asking an independent Fijian sporting body to get involved.

Despite constant reassurances from Netball Fiji the money would be paid, months ticked by without her receiving a cent.

"Before you know it it was six months down the track and they'd still be saying 'Yeah, we're on to it'.

"That's when I went and got myself a lawyer, because I knew things were going to turn ugly because I heard on the grapevine they were trying to get rid of me again."

A day after the birth of her fourth daughter - named Talei, meaning "precious" in Fijian - Walker's contract was terminated.

Walker admits there have been times when she has been tempted to jump on the first plane back to New Zealand.

"I sit here now and I sort of think, 'My God, why have I stayed here and put up with this ?'.

"It's really come down to principle now," Walker says.

"One, if I leave now they'll get out of paying me; and two, I want to make a stand for all the coaches who have been mistreated before me."