Life’s a beach for Vanuatu’s volleyball coach
THE chance to compete on the Commonwealth Games stage never arrived as a player but Gold Coast beach volleyball veteran Shanon Zunker will finally get to live out his dream this week.
A former Aussie rep, Surfers Paradise resident Zunker is coach of the No.4 ranked Vanuatu women’s team.
The 40-year-old took on the job in January 2017 after forming close relationships with pacific nations during his time as head of Bond Uni’s beach volleyball program between 2007-12. With the sport making its Games debut, Zunker said he jumped at the chance to help Vanuatu.
“The Games at home of course, we’re playing on a beach that I’ve played many tournaments on myself and just being able to be involved in the event when everyone I know in beach volleyball is attending or involved is really cool,” Bunker, originally from Bundaberg, said. “Last year was pretty much chewed up in our qualification. We knew we wanted to get into the top four, which was automatic qualification for the Commonwealth Games.
“We were ranked fourth coming into the Games but … we would expect to be tossing around for a place on the podium with New Zealand, Canada and Australia.”
Zunker admitted Games preparation had been disrupted for the Vanuatu team of Lin Matuatu and Miller Pata, who gave berth just six months ago.
Vanuatu plays Singapore (Saturday), Rwanda (Sunday) and New Zealand (Monday) in the preliminary rounds.