One of the first Kiwi volleyball players to play professionally in Europe, No.1 national draft pick Nicky Pio is now paving the way for girls in the rapidly-growing sport back home. Merryn Anderson reports.
The volleyball coach at Burnside High School knew what they were doing when they asked Nicky Pio to give the sport a go back in 2011.
The teenaged Pio was a competitive swimmer, who also played basketball and netball, but was scouted in her first year at high school to play volleyball - just because she was tall.
Over the next decade, the 1.73m tall setter would go on to represent New Zealand, play in the US college system and play professionally in Europe.
Now the 25-year-old Pio is home again, chosen as the number one pick in the National Volleyball League (NVL) draft, playing for Central Hauwhenua.
The second edition of the league is a big step for volleyball in New Zealand, but still a way off what Pio experienced in the US and Austria.
Pio spent two years at Polk State College in Florida straight after graduating high school, admits American college was crazy and intense.
“Before I even went, I knew that I didn’t want to go," she says. "I was adamant that I didn’t want to go to the USA. I was so scared, but I just did it and I enjoyed it so much.
“It was such a good experience, probably my best volleyball experience ever, heading over there.”
While volleyball in New Zealand doesn’t have the resources other sports here do, it’s one of the fastest growing sports in the country, especially for girls.
A 2020 School Sport NZ survey found volleyball was the second-most popular sport for girls at high school, with over 14,000 girls playing - second only to netball.
Pio has seen the increase in numbers since her return to New Zealand, especially in younger players.
“Even in this NVL draft pool, there were so many people I honestly don’t even know,” she says. “It’s so cool to have them come up because we definitely need the younger athletes coming up through the sport to build it.
“I’m just grateful that volleyball’s still building in New Zealand and it’s getting that recognition it needs.”
Most volleyball trainings start at 7pm, ensuring players can balance the sport with work or school. For the past few months, Pio has been working as a technician for Tait Communications in Christchurch - a change from being a professional player in Austria before the Covid pandemic. That European experience, she says, she’s “very lucky and grateful for”.
Despite the increase in participation numbers, the top-level players are still paying their own way. That means the Volley Ferns often can’t make it to international competitions, which Pio says is the biggest obstacle to playing in New Zealand.
“We were meant to do a trip to Asia this year, but we were only told a couple of months ahead and we each had to fork out $7000 for it,” she says, explaining the high cost on short notice was due to a Covid disruption.
Their next international competition is scheduled for 2023, giving the players time to train and save money.
“We can’t really complain about it because it is what it is," Pio says. "There's always going to be the cost and maybe in a couple of years, it might come down a bit and we might get some funding.
"But just for now, we’re kind of paving the way for the young athletes to hopefully get funding.”
Last year was the first edition of New Zealand's NVL, including the player draft - meaning the top players are spread out between teams, creating new combinations on court. This year's tournament will be held in Auckland in October.
Pio says she’s most looking forward to playing with new people, but jokes the weekend is all about bragging rights.
The rivalry began after straight after this year's player draft, with her clubmates at Shirley Silverbacks in Christchurch spread between the four teams; Pio was first pick in the Central Hauwhenua team.
"At this time of year, our club team always gets a little bit feisty with each other with the NVL,” Pio laughs. “So sometimes during trainings, if you set a bad ball, they’ll just rip into you like ‘It’s because you’re not playing with me for NVL’.”
“It’s going to be really exciting to play against them instead of with them this time.”
Central Hauwhenua head coach Brendan Crichton says Pio was "an easy pick" in the No.1 spot for his team. “She has an immensely high volleyball IQ, very strong leadership skills and with her experience both nationally and internationally in the crucial setting role, she can control and run the offence," he says.
In last year's league, Pio was the second marquee player for Southern Pounamu, who lost the gold medal match to Midlands Te Waiora.
After returning from the US, Pio was scouted by the SG Prinz Brunnenbau Volleys team in Austria. Fellow Kiwi Katie Adamson had a contract, and the team were looking for players, so Pio put her hand up.
“They needed another outside [hitter], and Katie just put my name in. They watched our final at club nationals and asked me that day. I was like ‘Okay yeah I’ll do it’,” recalls Pio.
“The next week I was packing and then I was off, so it was all just really fast.”
Living in Ried and playing in Austria's national league was a massive learning experience for Pio, as the coaches mainly spoke German. She and Adamson often had to ask the other players in their team for translation.
Unfortunately, Covid hit Europe during the season, and Pio and Adamson had to return home, dealing with closed borders and travel restrictions as the world shut down. On their last day of isolation on their return, New Zealand went into lockdown.
It was bittersweet, as she was able to reconnect with family back home, but cutting short her time as a professional volleyball player in Europe.
Her club in Christchurch helped keep Pio and her clubmates connected and active during lockdown, including a variety of Zoom workouts.
“That honestly kept us in shape. We’d be on Zoom once or twice a week with anyone who wanted to join…we managed to find ways to stay connected and stay fit as well."
Christchurch is definitely home for Pio, although she only moved there before starting high school, having lived around the country for her dad’s work. But after settling at Burnside, her mum decided that the family had to stay put.
That's where Pio forged a winning partnership with Alice Zeimann, who just competed in beach volleyball in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games with Shauna Polley, making it to the bronze medal match.
Pio and Zeimann played both indoor and beach volleyball together at Burnside, and won the beach nationals together in 2014 and 2015. They were also second in an Oceania age group championship in Vanuatu in 2015, before both going on to play indoor at US colleges after graduating.
Despite the time differences, Pio managed to catch all of Zeimann’s games at the Commonwealth Games. The volleyball community, she says, “always supports them 100 percent.”
It’s a community who've supported Pio through her journey across the globe, and one that continues to grow in New Zealand.
“It’s a really good community with heaps of great people," she says. "A lot of my best friends are in it, and a lot of people who I will stay close with for the rest of my life.”
