When the entry lists for the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge event in Tlaxcala, Mexico were released, two questions concerning Canadian Olympian Sam Schachter immediately popped up.

The first was “what happened to Sam Pedlow”?

The two Sams (Schachter and Pedlow) had been together since 2017, competing in 41 international events as a team and winning four silver medals, among them one at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia. Their partnership, however, came to an end when they failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics after coming agonizingly close on two occasions, finishing just three spots below the cutline in the Olympic rankings and falling to Mexico in the final matchup of the NORCECA Continental Cup.

Actually, as the 31-year-old Schachter explained, their decision to go separate ways had already been made before that.

“It was certainly frustrating and disappointing to not qualify for the Olympics considering the commitment and effort we put into the process,” he told Volleyball World. “Qualifying and achieving our goals would have been a satisfying end to the partnership, but Pedlow had expressed even before the qualification period that he was more interested in spending time with his family and newborn after 2021. He was not planning to make another push for the coming 2024 Olympic cycle and that’s why we knew we would be going separate ways.”

That means Schachter, who finished 19th at the 2016 Rio Games with Josh Binstock, had plenty of time to select a new partner going forward... which leads to the second question. As the top Canadian defender, why would he pick Dan Dearing, a 32-year-old blocker who has played in just three international events in the last five years and didn’t make it out of the qualifier in any of them?

“Dan and I have played with and competed against each other in indoor club and beach volleyball since the age of 16 and I know of his potential,” said Schachter. “He has always been an outstanding player, but some factors in life had prevented him from being able to train and compete internationally. Once things aligned, it was obvious to me that he was ready to make the jump to the top level. His physicality and the maturity he has demonstrated leading up to this season are some of the key reasons he makes a perfect partner for another push for the Olympics. I am very optimistic about our team.”

The two players, who have been part of the same training group in Toronto for the last few years, have actually been partners once in international volleyball before. And that was in Mexico, back in 2014, which will also see them debut as a new team in 2022.

Seeded 22nd in the qualifier in Tlaxcala, the Canadians expect to do better than they did in Puerto Vallarta seven years ago, when they didn’t make it to the main draw.

“That is a very funny coincidence,” Schachter reacted. “We are certainly hoping for a better result and to show how much we have developed as athletes. I am hoping to make a splash with our new team debut and climb the rankings quickly. We have very lofty long-term goals and ultimately wish to qualify and medal at the 2024 Olympics, but our immediate goals are more focused on improving our team chemistry, style and solidifying our technique and fundamentals. We are both ready to show that we have worked incredibly hard and are prepared to play at the top of our game.”

The 2022 international season will be challenging for Schachter for other reasons as well. Last year, he was announced as the head coach of the men’s volleyball team of the George Brown College in Toronto and has had to combine his playing and coaching careers since then.

The dual role has certainly made his routine busier, but Schachter believes he has been able to apply things he learned in one capacity across his roles, making him a better player and a better coach.

“Being the head coach of a college programme has been a vastly different but enlightening experience,” he reflected. “It makes me want to be a better athlete for my current and future coaches by listening and appreciating the value that they can bring to the team. It is always a struggle to balance coaching and playing, but I have a wonderful staff with George Brown and Dan and our coach Adam Shultz also help us organise, coordinate our practices and schedule. I am extremely grateful that I am able to coach and play simultaneously. I feel that I am able to learn in two different areas which overlap, by offering lessons and experience that are interchangeable and can be applied to one another.”

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