Sam Schachter

Biography

Sam Schachter made his Olympic debut alongside Josh Binstock at Rio 2016. Eight years later, he earned a return trip to the Olympic Games when he and partner Daniel Dearing won the NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament in June 2024, qualifying them for Paris 2024. 

Schachter and Dearing teamed up in 2022. They qualified for that year’s FIVB World Championships and later won silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. It was Schachter’s second straight Commonwealth Games silver, having been the runner-up with Sam Pedlow at Gold Coast 2018. Schachter and Dearing closed out the 2022 season by winning the NORCECA Beach Tour Final. 

In September 2023, Schachter and Dearing earned their first Beach Pro Tour victory together, taking the title at the Futures event in Halifax. 

Early in his career, Schacter won Canada’s first world junior beach volleyball title with partner Garrett May, taking gold at the 2010 FIVB U21 World Championships. He teamed up with Binstock in 2013 and over the next few years they stood on several international podiums together. In June 2015, they finished second at the FIVB World Tour Major Series event in Porec, Croatia, which was the first time a Canadian men’s team had reached the podium in a top-level FIVB event since 1997. In 2015 they also made their senior world championship debuts and competed at the Pan American Games in Toronto.   

After competing at Rio 2016, Binstock retired and Schachter teamed up with Pedlow. They came one match short of qualifying for Tokyo 2020, dropping the final at the NORCECA Continental Cup Finals in 2021.  

Schachter played collegiately at the Wilfrid Laurier University where he was the 2009 OUA Rookie of the Year and CIS All-Rookie Team selection. 

A Little More About Sam

Getting into the Sport: Started playing beach volleyball at age 15 because he had a good teacher who helped him fall in love with the game… Outside Interests: Enjoys playing golf, watching movies, reading…  Vacations in Florida and visits family during the off-season… Earned his Bachelor of Arts in Communications Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2015… Coached at George Brown college, the University of Toronto, and York U… Odds and Ends: Inspired by John Child and Mark Heese, the only Canadians to win an Olympic beach volleyball medal… Favourite motto: Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard…