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Beach Volleyball practically runs in Craig Seuseu’s veins, thanks to a serious passion for the game. An international representative for seven years, Craig moved on from playing to coaching, and has been the coach of the New Zealand Beach Volleyball team since 2001.

Craig’s career began by coaching a number of Auckland locals over the New Zealand summer and has increased steadily as the years have gone by. Being a Beach Volleyball coach has taken him to camps in Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore, and he has also presented at a coaching clinic in Germany. 

Having never attended the Olympic Games, Craig is keen to see the Kiwi men’s team of Jason Lochhead and Kirk Pitman qualify in late July. “I always wanted to represent New Zealand at the Games while I was playing, and now I may have the opportunity to go as a coach,” explains Craig.

Craig received a Prime Minister’s Coach Scholarship from SPARC in 2008 which has taken him to Hamburg in Germany, where he is working with athletes and coaches at the German High Performance Beach Volleyball Programme. “I arrived in Hamburg in May 2008 and since then I have set up an apartment in Hamburg, ten minutes walk from the man-made beach volleyball facility. The facility has five outdoor courts, six heated indoor courts, an outdoor pool, weights facility and hotel for athletes in a large Olympic sports facility that they share with the swimming and judo athletes,” Craig says. 
 
Craig is thriving in this new environment. Many top male and female athletes train there, as well as age-group and development athletes. Among the top teams training in Hamburg are Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig, the German women’s team, currently ranked in the top ten in the world.
 
It’s not just German stamps that Craig is collecting in his passport. His passion for the sport is taking him all over the world. “Since arriving in Germany, I have spent some time at the facility in Hamburg, in between attending World Tour events with the New Zealand men’s team in Adelaide, Shanghai, Zagreb, Barcelona, Warsaw and Berlin, and will soon be heading to the second Grand Slam of the year in Paris,” said Craig.
 
Craig’s passport will get a brief rest soon, as his travel commitments with the New Zealand men’s team is due to finish in July, after which time he will focus on the outcome of his team’s qualifications for the Olympics, as well as becoming increasingly involved with the athletes and coaches he works with in Hamburg.

We look forward to following Craig’s career in Beach Volleyball and wish him well for the Olympics qualification outcome.