Volleyball: Strangers on the sand now brothers in arms

Sam and Ben O'Dea are teaming up for a shot at the Commonwealth Games after spending time honing their skills with other partners. Photo / Dean Purcell

For Sam and Ben O'Dea, beach volleyball life is about to come full circle.

The Bay of Plenty brothers are teaming up this summer, having parted from their previous playing partners and they have a clear line of ambition in mind.

First up there's qualifying for the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018, then the Olympics in Tokyo two years later.

It's not as if they're strangers on the sand.

They have done a stint together a while back before moving on to other partners.

In 26-year-old Sam's case, he had Mike Watson for company, and the pair tended to plan and play on a year-by-year basis. Both they and Ben and partner Jason Lochhead had a good crack at qualifying for this year's Rio Olympics, making the quarter-final in a late stage qualifying event, before bowing out to China.

Lochhead, has gone on to coaching and will be with the top men's Canadian team at the Commonwealths.

Watson is looking for another partner.

The brothers and Watson, all old boys of Otumoetai College, are good mates, says Sam.

The brothers felt it important to spend time honing their game with other partners. But you sense the idea of teaming up had plenty of fraternal appeal.

"We're both, physically and in terms of maturity, at a place where we feel like we can really give it a good crack," Sam said.

"People always ask why aren't you playing together? But I think we needed time to play with other guys. Now it's come together and we've got a good team around us to support us. We both wanted to play with each other; it was just about having a goal in place."

The key to being a successful combination is consistency, Sam said.

"It's the teams that can perform when they're not at their best (who succeed). It's a long season, there's a lot of travel and a lot of it's about consistency."

Sam, at 1.98m, has a 3cm advantage in height, and two years in age, over brother Ben.

Having long-term goals will help the pair, Sam reckons.

"We're at a stage of our careers where we have set goals, a structure we can set our minds to."

The pair aren't going to play in New Zealand this summer, but will be working with their coaches, former German Olympic representative Markus Dieckmann, and Craig Seuseu. They'll start in Victoria in March and do the Asian circuit in April for a month. If they make the top four there they'll qualify for the world championships in Vienna in August.

Beach volleyball wasn't on the Commonwealth Games programme initially. It was a late addition and Sam is confident the pair will qualify as New Zealand's sole male team.

It's about small steps. Do that, then cast the eyes towards Tokyo.