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If you’re a 6-foot-tall beach volleyball player, you’ll need a little more headroom and legroom in your vehicle than normal.
Add in practice sessions with your teammates and all the volleyballs, nets and food to get through a hot sand session, and the vehicle needs even more space.
Mahindra is the official vehicle partner of the Beach Volleyroos and its seven-seater Scorpio has enough space to transport seven of Australia’s best and up-and-coming players from their hotel to the courts 2025 Australian Beach Volleyball Championships in Adelaide.
Australian team players Thomas Hodges, Paul Burnett and Jana Milutinovic, as well as development volleyball players Solly Bushby, Josh Howat, Jolie Du Plessis and Finley Bennett, say the vehicle can definitely do the job.
Milutinovic is 189cm tall and says one of the first things she notices when sitting in a car is the lack of space – but not in the Scorpio.
“I don’t notice it, which is a good sign – I usually notice straight away that my head hits the roof and my feet don’t fit in (when I’m in the back seat) – so the fact that I don’t is a positive,” she says.
“Inside it’s very elegant and very luxurious.”
Hodges and Bushby say the vehicle can handle the terrain, whether they’re playing on the beach or visiting friends on their farm.
“It has all the technology and is very comfortable to drive,” says Hodges.
“It allows me to endure extreme beach conditions,” says Bushby.
According to Howat, it is also important for a vehicle to be able to cope with the city and be easy to park, and the Scorpio is capable of this too.
Mahindra’s partnership with Australian volleyball players is the automaker’s first foray into sports sponsorship, which players embrace not only for the practical benefits it brings to their unique sport, but also for the recognition and professionalism it brings them.
“We don’t get as much visibility as sports like netball or football, so having that reach (through Mahindra) is extremely important for us,” says Milutinovic.
“It definitely makes the sport feel bigger to have a car brand on board,” Howat says.
Bushby says the brand’s sponsorship helps bring professionalism to their sport.
“It is unique in beach volleyball to have this type of brand sponsor as they are usually brands like sunscreen, sunglasses and hats,” he says.
Du Plessis agrees and says there are other practicalities to being a beach volleyball player other than sun protection.
“You always need transportation, and if you’re lugging nets around, you need space in the trunk,” she says. “We are definitely able to fill it with volleyball balls and all the equipment we need for a volleyball tournament – extra balls, bags, food, snacks and your teammates,” Bennett says.
“I think the partnership is very good. It is a unique sponsor for beach volleyball, especially in Australia.”
As part of the partnership, Mahindra brand ambassador and former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden has also lent his professional sporting expertise to the volleyball players, says Burnett.
“It’s always great to have support from a company like Mahindra and having Matty Hayden mentor us at the start of the year is also cool to build those connections,” he says.
Hodges, who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, says the partnership ultimately helps players perform at their best on the world stage.
“We’re a small, niche sport and any support we can get from a company is huge to help us achieve the Olympic dream, so it’s great to have Mahindra on board,” says Hodges.
MORE: Explore Mahindra Scorpio showroom
