New Zealand takes aim at a spot at the Paris Olympics in beach volleyball on Friday with the Beach Ferns and Beach Blacks in action in Phase 3 of the Continental Cup in China.
The event, held in Ningbo, is the last phase of the qualification journey within the Asian Volleyball Confederation where both teams will compete in a playoff bracket format with eight nations involved.
The winning country in each gender will qualify via the FIVB pathway for a place at the Paris Olympics in July-August.
New Zealand’s last appearance at the Olympic Games came in 1996 in Atlanta – the Hamilton Brothers Glenn and Reid flying the flag for Aotearoa. A women’s team have never qualified for the Olympics.
Both teams have been working hard to earn the fern for the games with a recent training block in Los Angeles and Head Coach Jason Lochhead says the preparation for the group has been excellent.
“Being in LA training in deep sand and warm climate was great for our teams,” Lochhead said.
“They all feel like they're flying around the courts. Training for the men, the highlight ones were the Crabb/Sanders team and the number one USA combo of Benesh/Partain who are going to the Olympics.
“The women got to train against Tokyo Gold medallists Ross/Klineman and Scoles/Flint. With a bunch of other USA teams in there as well.
“We wanted to get our players a look at as many different styles as possible to get them making in game adjustments.
“Our squad is confident and ready to get after this final stage and make history.”
You can follow the action from China via streaming coverage here:
Volleyball New Zealand thanks both FIVB (coach support) and High Performance Sport NZ (programme support) for the Olympic qualification campaign.
Beach Ferns & Beach Blacks - Continental Cup 2024
Ningbo, China
June 21-23
Beach Ferns
- Alice Zeimann and Shaunna Polley
- Olivia Macdonald and Danielle Quigley
Beach Blacks
- Jack McManaway and Thomas Reid
- Ben O’Dea and Bradley Fuller
Management staff
Head Coach: Jason Lochhead
Assistant Coach: Craig Seuseu
Physiotherapist: Brad Takai
