Kiwi on top of world coaching US volleyball

Last updated 23:13 28/07/2008

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Canterbury's Hugh McCutcheon has been hailed as one of New Zealand's best sporting coaches in any code after coaching the United States to its first volleyball World League title in Brazil.

The 38-year-old, who will also coach the US ranked third in the world at the Beijing Olympics, has been at the helm of the star-studded team for four years.

His charges beat Serbia in yesterday's final to take the $US1 million winner's cheque after earlier upsetting host nation and five-time champion Brazil in the semi-finals.

New Zealand men's team coach Tony Barnett, a friend and former clubmate of McCutcheon, said winning the world title was "a massive honour" for the Kiwi.

"This is the biggest achievement by a New Zealander in the history of volleyball and by any New Zealand-born coach for some time."

Barnett said volleyball was one of the world's biggest sports.

The final of the World League, which carried $US20 million in prize money, was screened live in 25 countries.

McCutcheon took over the US team in 2004 after the Athens Olympics, and had to rebuild its stocks after a shock 10th-place finish at the 2006 world championships.

The Americans finished fourth at Athens, but if McCutcheon can guide them to gold in the Beijing Games he will become a leading contender for a Halberg Award coaching honour.

McCutcheon, a former Shirley and Canterbury volleyball stalwart, played in the New Zealand junior and senior national teams from 1988-90, before moving to the US after graduating from the University of Canterbury.

He was also a member of New Zealand's national team in 1996 and represented his country on the beach volleyball world tour in 1997.

After graduating from Brigham Young University in Utah, where he won All-America honours, he played professionally in Finland and Japan and then turned to coaching.

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