Beach volleyball: Excited pair heading to Mexico

Emily Johnston, left, and Georgia Coughlan training at Mount Maunganui ahead of the World Under-17 Championships in Mexico.

Training on sand covered in frost and 5.30am gym sessions are hardly the perfect preparation for taking on the world's best young beach volleyballers in blazing hot conditions.

But Emily Johnston (Bethlehem College) and Georgia Coughlan (Tauranga Girls' College) are not complaining.

The Tauranga duo are thrilled to have been selected to represent New Zealand at the inaugural World Under-17 Championships to be held in Acapulco, Mexico from July 15-20. Johnston competed for New Zealand under-17 in Vanuatu earlier this year and will later captain the NZ Youth Women's indoor volleyball squad to compete in October at the Asian Youth Women's Championships in Thailand.

"That was a good experience in Vanuatu," she said. "There was a big group of us experiencing beach volleyball overseas. I went to America last year with indoor (volleyball) and it is just a great experience to play different people from different countries.

"As this is the first under-17 world champs, we don't know what we are up against but I guess we will find out soon."

This will be Coughlan's first overseas venture representing her country.

"I am just excited as this is my first time overseas representing New Zealand in anything, especially going to Mexico for my first time as well. It is a pretty cool place," she said. "I only really started playing in Year 9 and went to my first tournament and was self-coached. I just tried to copy what they were doing. I love beach volleyball because it is just you and your partner having to do everything, and you are on the sand all the time."

They leave on July 6 to play in a warm-up tournament in Los Angeles, then the AAU Junior Beach Volleyball National Championship at Hermosa Beach, California, before they travel to Mexico.