Shaunna Polley and Olivia Macdonald on the podium as winners of the World Beach Pro Tour Nuvali Futures event in the Philippines. Photo / Supplied
Suzanne McFadden for LockerRoom
Fierce opponents turned great mates, Shaunna Polley and Olivia Macdonald have rewritten Kiwi beach volleyball history to play together at the world champs.
A year ago, Shaunna Polley and Olivia Macdonald weren’t sure they would get on.
Arch-rivals on the beach volleyball court for years, the pair were thrown together for the first time in October last year to play a few events and see how they gelled.
“We didn’t do very well, from what I remember,” says Macdonald, 29.
“We did good enough,” Polley, 31, replies.
Macdonald: “Good enough to want to play with each other again.”
Polley says it’s funny how it all worked out: “Finally we could be on the same side of the net, rather than always butting heads.”
This week in Adelaide, Polley and Macdonald will represent the Beach Ferns at the world beach volleyball championships – the first Kiwi women to reach this pinnacle event in 24 years.
They got there by sheer hard work, resilience and a lot of laughs.
It’s been a historic year for the pair. After winning three major events in Asia, they made the semifinals at the Veracruz Challenge in Mexico – the best result by a New Zealand women’s team at this level.
And Polley had to dig deep after she put her back out, got gastro and ended up at a local hospital just days before the event began.
The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics now loom as a future goal, but first, they’re aiming to claim some big scalps at the world champs.
They aren’t alone in Adelaide – Brad Fuller and Ben O’Dea have also qualified for the men’s event, the first appearance by the Beach Blacks in 10 years. It’s also the first time both teams will compete together on the world’s largest stage.
Qualifying for the world championships wasn’t even a target for Polley and Macdonald at the start of the year. “We were just playing to see what happened. And then very quickly it was, ‘Oh wow, we actually have a chance!’” Polley says.
“We’d gone into this year wanting to have fun – being present and enjoying it for what it is, rather than always having this big goal you’re grinding away at. But we just kept on winning.
“Making jokes definitely helps.”
It wasn’t an instant bond. “Glued together” for four months as they travelled the world, the duo went through a period of figuring each other out. “Then we realised we had a similar sense of humour and we were able to live together and have a good time,” Macdonald says.
Volleyball NZ’s director of coaching, Jason Lochhead – a two-time Olympic coach and professional player – threw the pair together.
Around that time, Polley, who played at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022, was trying to decide whether to retire and start a family. Her long-time Beach Ferns partner, Alice Zeimann, had switched one court for another – admitted to the bar as a barrister and solicitor in March.
Macdonald’s partner, Julia Tilley, had her first child in July. (Funnily enough, Macdonald originally played with Zeimann, in the days when Polley and Tilley were a pair.)
When Polley and Macdonald both returned from holidaying in Europe during the Paris Olympics, Lochhead suggested they join forces and try a couple of events together.
“When we were both back in New Zealand, Jason said, ‘Oh there’s a few events you two could do’. But we’d always played against each other.
“Originally it was going to be a five-week stint together and I thought, ‘Yeah, I can manage that’,” says Polley, who won the 2022 Asian champs with Zeimann. “But we kept doing well, then winning, and it became eight weeks – then we had a chance to make the world champs, so we headed to Europe.”
“It’s been absolutely hectic… an insanely wild ride,” Macdonald says.
“It’s so enjoyable having someone else who’s a ‘Screw it, let’s do it’ kind of person. The way I live my life is pretty much going wherever, whenever. If I hadn’t had a partner who was a go-getter, who could just drop everything and go, there’s absolutely no way we could have done what we were able to do.”
The pair, who’ve spent more than six months of this year travelling the globe, both call Waikato home. Polley lives in Auckland with her partner but home remains Hamilton where her parents live. Macdonald is “a bit of a gypsy” – her hometown is Piopio, but she stays with friends when she and Polley meet at Mount Maunganui to train.
Unable to survive on high-performance funding and prizemoney alone, both women hold down a couple of part-time jobs.
Macdonald takes her work in an accounts department on the road with her. When she’s back at the Mount, she works at a sports recovery centre.
“In the earlier stages I wasn’t funded at all and I had to find the money myself,” she says. “And I’m trying to start up a few side hustles too, because I like to be busy.
“Working on the road is really good for my brain. But the downside is I’m not able to spend enough time rehabbing my body after an event. And sleep isn’t a priority when we’re on opposite time zones in Europe – and I like my sleep.”
When Polley is in the country, she spends 15 hours a week helping out Volleyball Bay of Plenty and marketing for the Weet-Bix Kids Tryathlon.
“The last cycle I was funded and got a living allowance, but unfortunately this cycle we’re no longer getting individual support, so we’ve had to pick up a few more side gigs,” she says.
Polley is also an emerging beach volleyball coach. One promising young player has travelled three hours to work with her through the Coach Squad platform.
When the Beach Ferns won silver at the AVC Beach Tour Nuvali Open in the Philippines in April, it was Macdonald’s first time standing on an international podium, in six years’ trying. It was quickly followed by another silver in Thailand and three golds – in China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Macdonald and Polley were then in the running to grab one of three Asia continental spots at the world championships. Sarah Drummond and Lucy Todd were the last Kiwi women to qualify – finishing 33rd at the 2001 world champs in Austria.
They knew a placing of fifth or higher at the Veracruz Challenge in Mexico last month would secure their spot.
“Luckily, we came away with a fourth – the first time we’ve made a semifinal at a challenge event,” Polley says. “Under pressure when we needed to perform, we got it done.
“Making the semifinal was a highlight in my career. Ideally, I’d love to make the podium at a challenge or elite level, but it was still special – after having a bit of adversity that week.”
Polley arrived in Mexico with bad stomach cramps after the pair had played in Brazil. “I may have drunk a whole glass of water there,” she sheepishly admits.
Three days before the Veracruz Challenge, she hurt her back and then was vomiting throughout the night.
“We decided to go to the hospital, because I still wanted to compete and I needed to be hydrated,” says Polley.
Macdonald thought there was no way they would play, and joked with the assistant coach travelling with them, former player Antonia Harrison, to get ready for a call-up.
But with medication, meditation and stretching, Polley was able to take the court – and play some of her best volleyball. “It was definitely worth it, but I paid for it the next week,” she laughs.
The Beach Ferns have pushed their way into the world’s top 30 teams, but are confident they could upset higher-ranked pairings in Adelaide.
“Beach volleyball is so temperamental that on the day, you can beat anyone. You’ve just got to bring your A game,” Macdonald says.
The Beach Ferns have the benefit of three coaches with them – Lochhead, Harrison and Craig Seuseu, a former professional player and coach of the German women at the 2012 Olympics.
Lochhead and Seuseu have been able to coach the men’s and women’s squads year-round, with funding from the global body FIVB, and its Volleyball Empowerment programme. It’s gone a long way to getting the Beach Ferns and the Beach Blacks back in the world championships.
“Starting out, we’d look at Japan and Brazil – they’d have three or four coaches, and we’d have none. We had to warm ourselves up, and ask mates to come help us out – and suddenly, we’re one of the big dogs now,” Polley says.
A year ago, Macdonald couldn’t imagine she’d be playing at the world championships.
“Honestly, not at all. In my beach volleyball career, I’ve played a lot and had some amazing partners, but in reality, I hadn’t really achieved a lot. But I knew there was more I could achieve, but I had no idea I would pair up with Shaunna to do it.
“It’s not easy. You have to find someone who’s willing and able to do the grind, but it’s the most beautiful, wild ride to go on.”
Polley pays credit to Macdonald’s determination.
“Liv really stuck it out for very little return, but she waited for the right opportunity – and now it’s paid off,” she says. “Others would have given up four or five years earlier. Her tenacity and perseverance are a real credit to her – I don’t know if I could have done it.”
The FIVB beach volleyball world champs start in Adelaide on Friday, with the Beach Ferns playing the United States. Games can be watched via https://www.fivb.com/
This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.