Sam and Ben O'Dea to run courses for kids

HOME COMING: Ben O'Dea, left, and Sam O'Dea won in Tokyo this year at the test arena for the 2020 Olympic Games. PHOTO/Supplied

Two of Tauranga's best known volleyballers are giving back to the area where it all started for them.

Sam and Ben O'Dea are to run two volleyball clinics for Year 5 to Year 8 students at the ASB Arena next Monday and Tuesday.

Volleyball Tauranga junior volleyball co-ordinator, Tim Cleaver, said the brothers offered top-class skills.

"This is a great opportunity to learn both indoor and beach volleyball skills from two of the nation's best. Sam was this year's national indoor volleyball Most Valuable Player, and Ben was last year's," Cleaver said.

Sam said the coaching clinics were an opportunity to reciprocate what was done for him and his brothers when they were growing up in Tauranga.

"It is a pretty busy time and I am also coaching on the beach as well," Sam said.

"During the summer we are training pretty hard but we do have some down time so we can give back to the kids. We were once young kids and we used to get pretty excited when the top players in New Zealand used to come down and coach us.

"It is nice to be able to return that favour to a younger generation."

The O'Dea brothers re-established their beach volleyball partnership recently with the aim of representing New Zealand at the next Commonwealth Games in Brisbane in 2018 and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Ben, 24, competed around the world at senior level from the age of 16 on the national and international stage and had been competing in Europe on the indoor court.

He said his move back to beach volleyball was in line with his "stronger than ever" goal of being an Olympian.

Sam, 26, also became a competitive volleyballer at Otumoetai College and finished fifth at the Under-21 Beach Volleyball World Championships. He continued competing internationally with some success while completing a degree in sport and recreation.

Sam and former schoolmate Mike Watson were part of New Zealand's Rio Olympic bid that fell agonisingly close to an Olympic berth.

Next week's clinics were a combined BayKids and Volleyball Tauranga initiative.

BayKids programmes manager Simon Leach said the clinics could be attended as either a single day, or both days. They would cater for mixed abilities, including beginners. The clinics would be held between 9.30am and 3pm both days and cost $35 a day.

"Bay Venues is extremely excited to have both Ben and Sam run the camp. It is an amazing opportunity for all kids to learn from two of the nation's brightest stars, to inspire the future generations to follow in their footsteps," Leach said.

"We are extremely thankful to Tauranga Volleyball for being able to arrange this and hoping that many people take advantage of this opportunity."

To register for the Tauranga clinics visit www.baykids.co.nz