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When you’re a six-foot tall beach volleyball player, you need a bit more headroom and legroom in your vehicle than normal.
Throw in practice sessions with your teammates and all the volleyballs, nets and sustenance to get you through a hot sandy session, and the vehicle needs to have even more space.
Mahindra is the official vehicle partner of the Beach Volleyroos, and its seven-seat Scorpio has ample room to ferry seven of Australia’s top and developing players from their hotel to the courts at the 2025 Australian Beach Volleyball Championships in Adelaide.
Australian Team players Thomas Hodges, Paul Burnett and Jana Milutinovic, as well as Developing Volleyroos Solly Bushby, Josh Howat, Jolie Du Plessis and Finley Bennett, say the vehicle can definitely get the job done.
At 189cm tall, Milutinovic says one of the first things she usually notices when she sits in a car is the lack of space – but not in the Scorpio.
“I don’t notice it, which is a good sign – usually I notice straight away that my head hits the roof, and my feet don’t fit [when sitting in the back seat] – so the fact I don’t is a positive,” she says.
“It’s very sleek on the inside and very luxurious.”
Hodges and Bushby say the vehicle can handle terrain whether they are playing on the beach or visiting friends on their farm.
“It’s got all the tech and it’s very comfortable to drive,” Hodges says.
“I can take it to the extremes of beach conditions,” Bushby says.
Howat says it is also important for a vehicle to be able to handle the city and be easy to park, and the Scorpio is capable of doing all that too.
Mahindra’s partnership with Australia’s volleyballers is the automotive manufacturer’s first foray into sports sponsorship, which players not only welcome for the practicalities it provides for their unique sport, but the recognition and professionalism it brings for them.
“We don’t get heaps of visibility like sports such as netball or football do, so to have that reach [through Mahindra] is super important for us,” Milutinovic says.
“It definitely makes the sport feel bigger having a car brand on board,” Howat says.
Bushby says the brand’s sponsorship helps to bring professionalism to their sport.
“It’s unique to beach volleyball to have this kind of brand sponsor, as usually it’s brands like sunscreen, sunnies and hats,” he says.
Du Plessis agrees, saying there are other practicalities required with being a beach volleyball player than sun protection.
“You always need transport, and you need space in the boot if you’re carrying nets around,” she says. “We’re definitely able to fill it with volleyballs and all the equipment we need for a volleyball tournament as well – extra balls, bags, food, snacks and your teammates,” Bennett says.
“I think the partnership is very good. It’s 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, Burnett says.
“It’s always great to have support from a company like Mahindra, and to have Matty Hayden come and mentor us at the start of the year, it’s cool to establish those connections as well,” he says.
Hodges, who competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics, says that, ultimately, the partnership helps the players to perform at their best on the world stage.
“We’re a small niche sport and any support that we can get from any company is huge to let us pursue the Olympic dream, so having Mahindra on board is awesome,” Hodges says.
