HAMILTON export Melissa Tapper is bullish about the opportunity of representing her country once again in the table tennis at a Commonwealth Games.
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The South Melbourne resident will travel to the Gold Coast in April to compete in her second games, after competing in 2014 in Glasgow.
“It's really exciting but I'm just trying to get through the next few weeks as best as possible and keep the body and head good,” the 27-year-old said.
“We had our trials mid-January and I finished top two in that, so now there is only about eight weeks left.
“We still have a trip over to England, a couple of training camps and a tournament in the Gold Coast prior to the games and then we head back into the actual athletes village after that.
“I'm really looking forward to getting to actually compete.”
Tapper was visiting Warrnambool College to meet the students in the Clontarf Academy on Friday when she caught up with The Standard.
She is hopeful the students will learn a lot from her visit.
“I’m really hoping that by coming here and speaking to the kids about what I’ve gone through and the certain processes and things that I have learnt about ways to overcome certain problems that they can apply it to their own life,” she said.
“It doesn't have to be in sport, but whatever they choose to do, If it helps them maybe one per cent then that is a big win for me.
“I know for my eight, 10 or 15-year-old self that it would have been really nice to have an athlete or someone who had been through difficult circumstances to come and speak to me.”