James Sadlier: Beach volleyball competitor on the North Harbour Open

There’s an exciting volleyball event taking place just across the Harbour Bridge this weekend – the North Harbour Open. 

It’s a two-day beach volleyball tournment with national ranking points up for grabs. 

Competitor James Sadlier was part of the winning duo last year and joined D’Arcy to discuss the event.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the All Sport Breakfast podcast with Darcy
Waldgrave from News Talk SEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
It's talk some volleyballs. Seeing we're getting right into this
beach action, aren't we over some wh which is great?
James Sadley joins. His name's part of the North Harbor Open.
It's running today and tomorrow morning to you, James, welcome
on and you're you're defending champion? Is that correct?

Speaker 3 (00:29):
Oh? Sure? I am took out the title last year?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Oh wow, but this is slightly different this time around
because you're talk to us about it. You're not the
same team or partner. How does this work? It's not
the team that won last year? Right?

Speaker 3 (00:42):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (00:42):
So well we're playing partnerships and NEMA partner decided we're
playing the season together from now onwards. But this weekend
we've just separated and decided to play with other people
just to mix it around a bit.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, you asked to do this by anybody? Or is
purely on your own bed?

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Purely on my own beat.

Speaker 4 (00:59):
I had a few people asked to play with, but
like where you kind of decide to do it ourselves.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Who is your partner or you partner? Who are you
with in the next day or so, and who was
the guy who you're defending with You're going to team
up with again.

Speaker 4 (01:12):
So I'm playing with the boy from Totung and this weekend,
and then my partner Urai, who's also from Ttung. He's
just we're just stuff playing with some of our mates.

Speaker 3 (01:23):
Really, it's like good.

Speaker 4 (01:24):
Players and might have thought might as well change it up.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
Before we lock in for the rest of the season together.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
So tell us about how it actually works. As I
was thinking, is this teams with this as Peers. It's
not beach volleybullets in a court, So what are we
looking at here? Tell us what you're actually doing out there.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
So it's in Peers. It's down at the local beach
Volleyball center. So it's six six sand courts playing two
and two pretty much all weekend.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
We just mixed a match. They choose our partners into
ourselves and do it that way.

Speaker 4 (01:55):
Really, we go pool play into a round of sixteen
and then quarters, semis and finals on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
So what do they do. We are in a hold
on a sand or something.

Speaker 4 (02:04):
Yeah, yeah, I believe they bought an from the Whitehatta
River and it was an old lawn bowls court and
then load hole either stand on top of that.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
So now I've got six sand courts down in Mirningy Bay.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
All right, So is it actually outside or is it inside?

Speaker 3 (02:19):
No? It's outside, all right?

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Okay, so you really do feel like you're at the beach.
Tell me you don't have to wear those thongs like
the women do.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
It's terrible, No, I sadly not.

Speaker 4 (02:29):
You know, some of us have petitioned to play in them.
But what it might be frowned upon?

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Not the case. So how did you win last time around?
What gave you the prize in general? Or is there
an area of the game where you're where you're strong?
And you can tell I don't play the game right
because of the way I'm angling these questions, geie. But
what do you focus on when it comes to beach volleyball?

Speaker 3 (02:48):
It depends on the day, It depends a long the conditions.

Speaker 4 (02:51):
Like myself, I like to play with a lot of speed.
They spread the ball pretty wide, whereas my partner likes
it a little bit slower and just jump high, h hard.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
And it's pretty as Yeah.

Speaker 4 (03:02):
You can play a really power game or you can
play like a shot game and kind of beating them mentally.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
What's the general idea though, with all of the teams,
where do they prefer? Is there a preferred style around
how people go about playing this game?

Speaker 4 (03:18):
Yeah, it's changed a lot in the last two years
thanks to there's a Swedish team who's just gone and
won the Olympics and one World champs last week who
have just gone and completely changed the style into i'd
say a more exciting game to watch. But generically it's
pretty like standing up and down. Just let your big
boys jump and swing and then let the little boys
run around like headless chickens in the back court.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
Right, so you're a little heedless chicken. I am, I
am right? How big is your big boy? You called
him the boy from Toading. I hope he's got a name.
But is he quite large?

Speaker 4 (03:50):
Josh?

Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yep, he is six foot seven I believe.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
Well that's not fair. Are there any hip restriction on
Earth A you're supposed to get a pass them?

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Oh, there's just as big out there.

Speaker 4 (04:02):
Sadly, it's a tall person sport, and which is a
short man play?

Speaker 2 (04:06):
Where does it take you? Ideally, if you had a
target around where you want to represent who you want
to represent. Where's your peak, where's your pannacle?

Speaker 3 (04:15):
The pinnacle? I definitely have to be the Olympics. Olympics
are world champs.

Speaker 4 (04:19):
I mean I've spent I think four months in total
overseas this year, playing.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
All through Asia and Europe, which was pretty awesome.

Speaker 4 (04:25):
But the end goal would definitely be go to the Olympics,
like twenty thirty two, Ossie would be pretty peak.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
And is that realistic?

Speaker 3 (04:34):
I'd like to think so.

Speaker 4 (04:36):
Like a lot of training, a lot of hard work,
it's never out of sight when you've.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
Gone away and you've been spending that time overseas. You're
a professional. You actually do this for money? Is there
any cash in't it?

Speaker 4 (04:48):
No?

Speaker 3 (04:48):
That's where the troll come on.

Speaker 4 (04:51):
We have pretty minimal funding in like volleyball and beach
volleyball in New Zealand. Our whole year pronoucial this year
has been on our own back, on our own our
own funds.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
Really do you win any money though? Can you get
money back again? Or is it just a labor love?

Speaker 4 (05:07):
There is prize money, but especially international stuff, the prize
money doesn't even.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
Account to one of your internal flights.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
Wow tough, but you do it because you love it
and that's got to be the drive in All Sport.
James Sadley, thank you so much for your time, Wishing
you the best out there on the Faux Beach. I
hope you can get it done, and I hope Eri
forgives you for traveling with another character for this one event.
I'm sure there's no love lost ptunity at the moment,
but you'll be fine next.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Week, nah, I'll be sweet.

Speaker 4 (05:37):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
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