Jason Lochhead, better known as the Ginga Ninja, is one of the best coaches in beach volleyball. The man who built Vanuatu into a legitimate small power, took Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk to their first Olympics and led Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena into the Tokyo Games, returned home to New Zealand and has since revived a dormant program. Now, New Zealand Beach Volleyball is on the cusp of qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games this weekend at the AVC Continental Cup.
Brad Fuller and Ben O’Dea talk about Lochhead’s impact on the program.
SHOOTS!
Author, journalist, podcast host, and broadcaster, Travis Mewhirter has written 4 number-one bestsellers — including Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball, alongside Olympic gold medalist Kent Steffes. He has also written award-winning features, including a package at the Northwest Florida Daily News that earned him Sports Writer of the Year, and a heartfelt story on the late Eric Zaun in Volleyball Magazine, which was an honorable mention in the 2020 Best American Sportswriting.
Following the passing of Eric Zaun, Mewhirter, alongside Jon Mesko and Katie Spieler, founded the Eric Zaun Award, which has raised more than 25 thousand to fund beach volleyball players.
Mewhirter now devotes most of his time to playing and covering beach volleyball, via his podcast: SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, as well as writing for Volleyball Magazine and commentating on Volleyball TV. Mewhirter and Bourne have written two books together: Volleyball for Milkshakes, and Playbook of Champions, both of which were number-one best-sellers.