The 10-strong contingent of athletes and coaches leave on Wednesday for the fifth U-19 Asian Beach Championships in Thailand.
Emma Mason and Kaia Buckley pair up as team one in the women’s event with the team two slot filled by Morgan Lee and Devyn Golaboski. The women’s teams are co-coached by Liz Hanna and Claire Stewart. Hanna will be travelling with the team for the competition.
On the men’s side, Nathan Davies and Liam Smith join forces as team one while Thomas Vesty and Davi Pacheco are team two. The group is coached by Luis Paulo Santana.
The group finalised their preparation with a camp in Auckland over the weekend of April 20-21.
The event runs in Roi et May 1-5 and the Kiwis will be following in the footsteps of several talented New Zealand players to compete at the event in the recent past.
Alice Zeimann partnered with Emily Johnstone in 2016 for New Zealand’s best finish of second place while Greg Vukets and Daniel Kilpatrick were fifth in the same year.
Last year, Charlie Dalton and Juraj Krajci were ninth while Taylah Holdem and Rosa Vesty were fifth.
The teams travel initially to Bangkok for training before moving to Roi et for the competition.
Volleyball New Zealand - U-19 Asian Beach Volleyball Championships 2024
May 1-5
Roi et, Thailand
Men's Team 1
Nathan Davies - Volleyball Tasman
Liam Smith - Volleyball Waikato
Men's Team 2
Thomas Vesty – Canterbury Volleyball
Davi Pacheco – Harbour Volleyball
Men's Coach
Luis Paulo Santana
Women’s Team 1
Emma Mason – Canterbury Volleyball
Kaia Buckley – Harbour Volleyball
Women’s Team 2
Morgan Lee - Canterbury Volleyball
Devyn Golaboski – Harbour Volleyball
Women’s Co-Coaches
Liz Hanna (travelling)
Claire Stewart
