He harboured the childhood dream of wearing the black jersey one day, but as he started high school, new opportunities emerged. <\/p>\n
\u201cRugby was great, but volleyball and basketball started to open doors,\u201d Hodges said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd being about a foot taller than everyone else, it started to make a bit of sense.\u201d <\/p>\n
At just 14 or 15 years old, Hodges, to the surprise of his community, decided to step away from rugby to focus more seriously on volleyball.<\/p>\n
Through Kiwi Volley, a Volleyball New Zealand initiative that introduces the sport to schools around the country, he made his break.<\/p>\n
A visit from coach Alex Mariano to Southland helped set the wheels in motion, Hodges said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was my first real experience with volleyball coaching. From there, things just took off.\u201d <\/p>\n
Rising through the ranks <\/p>\n
Hodges quickly progressed through Southland age-group teams, from under-13s to under-18s, travelling regularly to Christchurch, Auckland and beyond.<\/p>\n
His height and ability made him stand out, and selection for his first international experience soon followed: He was part of a South Island-based New Zealand under-16\/17 team, travelling to Queensland, Australia.<\/p>\n
The taste of international competition proved addictive, Hodges said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the start of it. I made mates there, I still play with today.\u201d <\/p>\n
In 2018, Hodges was selected for the New Zealand under-18 team, travelling to Iran. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was mind-blowing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing from a quiet, rugby-and-netball-focused place and suddenly representing New Zealand overseas, I still remember every detail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Volleyballer Sam Hodges recently moved to Hamilton. Photo \/ Volley Blacks<\/p>\n
The following year saw another step up, with the under-20s touring Florida and Los Angeles, competing against American state teams and Canadian opposition. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat trip was a massive eye-opener,\u201d Hodges said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe level over there is insane. They start training these athletes properly from a really young age \u2013 we tend to start much later here.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Covid years and the men\u2019s squad <\/p>\n
After that tour, Hodges received scholarship interest from US colleges, but Covid-19 shut the door on overseas moves.<\/p>\n
In 2021, he was selected for the New Zealand men\u2019s squad, though international travel was still limited.<\/p>\n
The long-awaited return finally came in 2023, when the men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams toured Chile. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was unbelievable,\u201d Hodges said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played matches across different towns, sold-out crowds everywhere. Volleyball is huge there.\u201d <\/p>\n
Facing Chilean teams filled with Olympians, the New Zealand side more than held their own. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou go from working a normal job in New Zealand to feeling almost famous over there. The love for volleyball is something else.\u201d <\/p>\n
A costly passion <\/p>\n
Despite the excitement, representing New Zealand comes with challenges, especially financial ones.<\/p>\n
Hodges admits the cost of international competition has recently sidelined him from selection. <\/p>\n
\u201cTrips can be $5000 to $6000 each, sometimes more. You\u2019re talking multiple trips a year. That\u2019s hard when you\u2019ve got a job and a life here.\u201d <\/p>\n
He believes it\u2019s time for volleyball in New Zealand to look toward greater sponsorship and professional support. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s huge potential,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cVolleyball\u2019s been growing steadily, but we\u2019re still waiting for someone to really get behind it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Life in Hamilton and what\u2019s next <\/p>\n
Hodges\u2019 move to Hamilton was driven by a job opportunity, he is now a media specialist for NZME, and the chance to be closer to one of the country\u2019s volleyball hubs, Auckland.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll still attend New Zealand camps, help the younger guys, keep a finger in the pie,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Hodges will also represent Waikato at the Interprovincial Championships in Wellington in June, before the club championships later in the year.<\/p>\n
He is playing for his long-time club, the Christchurch Pioneer Panthers.<\/p>\n
Volleyball, Hodges admits, is brutal on the body, relentless jumping, diving on wooden floors, and constant strain on knees, shoulders and ankles. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like rugby without the ball. Everything\u2019s 100%.\u201d <\/p>\n
Yet despite the toll, his passion for the sport is undiminished.<\/p>\n
Graeme \u201cMintie\u201d Mead is a sports commentator, the host of the radio show Waikato All Sports Breakfast and a Newstalk ZB overnight host. He is also a councillor on the Hamilton City Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He harboured the childhood dream of wearing the black jersey one day, but as he started high school,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[36671,198126,6440,71,14724,41306,42,293,198125,88187,111,43,139,69,90,1436,18460,15488,5433,19554,131,223,61,69297,198124,139174,377,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-380978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-always","9":"tag-backpage","10":"tag-ever","11":"tag-from","12":"tag-further","13":"tag-grab","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-his","16":"tag-hodges","17":"tag-imagined","18":"tag-new-zealand","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-newzealand","21":"tag-nz","22":"tag-on","23":"tag-rise","24":"tag-sam","25":"tag-southland","26":"tag-stage","27":"tag-taken","28":"tag-than","29":"tag-the","30":"tag-to","31":"tag-volleyball","32":"tag-volleyballer","33":"tag-winton","34":"tag-world","35":"tag-zealand"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}