April Ross' mind suddenly goes blank. The thoughts she wanted to share swept through her consciousness like a fleeting breeze on a cloudy morning on the beach volleyball courts near the Hermosa Beach Pier.
“Mommy Brain!” Ross says, covering his face with his hands.
The three-time Olympic medalist has a lot more on her mind than volleyball these days. She wouldn't have it any other way.
In the two years since her last tournament, Ross has completed her master's degree, started a coaching career and become a mother. Now with her 6-month-old son Ross at home, she is preparing to return to the sand with former Olympic partner Alix Kleinman at the AVP Huntington Beach Open, which begins Thursday at the Huntington Beach Pier. are doing.
Olympic beach volleyball gold medalists April Ross (right) and Alix Kleinman (left) train in Hermosa Beach on Tuesday ahead of the AVP Huntington Beach Open.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
The reigning Olympic champions will play together on Friday for the first time since October 2021. But they insist they didn't come back for unfinished business. “Been there, done that,” Ross, who has won Olympic medals of every color, wrote on Instagram.Mr. Kleinman was with his firstborn at his home. He admitted that the pressure was off for the 'A team'.
These new moms are having fun.
“It's something we consciously choose to do, not out of desperation to accomplish something,” said Kleinman, who gave birth to son Theo last June. . “I had a lot of fun before, but this is a slightly different way of playing. … I just do it for the love of the game.”
Ross, 41, says her return is “just the gravy” on top of an illustrious career. But it hasn't been relegated to just a hobby.
At a recent practice at Hermosa Beach, Ross and Kleinman were out of breath after practicing for an hour on the sand. They dove for the ball and hit creative shots over the net into strategically marked areas in the corners of the court. She lamented that she tried too hard when Ross pushed a seemingly simple shot out of bounds.
Ross admits she's still not the same person she was on the beach before having kids, but she's still happy with who she is.
When Ross started training in February, he could barely last 45 minutes. She had difficulty even limping a few steps on the sand. She weighed 30 pounds heavier than her last play in 2022 and had almost no muscle.
“It felt very slow and very heavy,” Ross said.
Three months later, Ross no longer feels limited. It's like taking off a 20 pound weight vest. Ross, the five-time best server in the world, is able to jump serve again and dive behind Kleinman's intimidating 6-foot-5 block.
April Ross (left) and Alix Kleinman celebrate their victory in the Olympic gold medal match against Australia during the Tokyo Olympics on August 6, 2021.
(Related news organizations)
The 34-year-old MiraCosta graduate and former Stanford indoor team sympathizes with Ross' quick return. Kleinman returned to the beach six weeks after giving birth to his son. She said how much she felt drained while breastfeeding while she was trying to train for her 2023 World Championships, which took place four months after Theo was born. I remember. Ross continues to nurse her and she wakes up with the baby multiple times each night.
“I don't want people to think, 'Oh, we're back in Olympic shape.' No,” Kleinman said. “We're doing the best we can with the schedule we're given. We just want to get out here and have fun and challenge some of the top teams.”
Ross and Kleinman are the No. 2 seeds for the Huntington Beach Open, which begins play Friday after qualifying rounds on Thursday. World No. 2 Taryn Kross and Kristen Nass are the top seeds, while Paris-bound Sarah Hughes and Kelly Chen are the third seeds. Hughes and Chen qualified for the Olympics by winning the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship in October.
When Kleinman started training last year, the possibility of qualifying for the Olympics was on Kleinman's mind. She was paired in two international tournaments with 26-year-old Haley Harward, who won two national championships at USC. However, it was almost impossible to achieve such a high ranking in such a short period of time, so Kleinman stepped down. She understands that her return will require sacrificing time with her son, and she is not going to give up precious time with her baby over trifles. did.
Then Ross held out his hand.
Ross' last tournament appearance was in March 2022, when Kleinman was recovering from shoulder surgery, against Emily Capers. Ross then had to miss the World Championships in June due to a shoulder injury.
April Ross (left) and Alix Kleinman celebrate after scoring late in the gold medal game against Australia at the Tokyo Olympics on August 6, 2021.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Ross, then 40 years old, finally had to face the possible end of his playing career. Until then, volleyball was her entire life. She felt lost without it.
Ross enrolled in Concordia's master's program in coaching and competition management and began to put together a life off the court. She began coaching as a graduate assistant with the Golden Eagles. Then she became her mother.
“Now that my son is born, it feels like a new life,” said Ross, who graduated with a master's degree this spring. “He has his whole life in front of him. It really, really energized me.”
Before playing with Kleinman in Tokyo, Ross won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics with Kerri Walsh Jennings and a silver medal in London with Jen Kesey. Walsh Jennings and Kesey both continued to play after having children. Walsh Jennings, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and mother of three, won her gold medal in 2012 while five weeks pregnant.
But playing with a partner who is a mother and seeing other players have children on tour didn't prepare Ross for how difficult the job would be, she said. . She asks Kleinman for advice. Kleinman wonders almost every day how people pull this off.
“When I look at Kelly, I wonder why she didn't make this a bigger deal. She went to the Olympics three times with her kids. That's insane,” Kleinman said. Ta. “I feel like until recently you were just trying to act like it didn't matter to you. …The fact that you made it such a big deal is like a sign of weakness or something.” And I feel like where women's sports are right now, there's nothing we can't talk about.”
Ross, who was already adept at leveraging social media to pursue the sponsorship deals vital to the beach volleyball world, took to the internet to share the candid truth about being a mom in the sport. The nursing mother joked that she needs the support of two sports bras when running on the sand. She shared her recovery from an unplanned C-section and advocated for paid parental leave. Ms Ross cradled her smiling son by the pool during her vacation, while her social media photos were a selection of highlights from her baby's first trip, which was equal parts bliss and stress. she pointed out.
Last month, Ross reposted a reel from the gold medal match in Tokyo, writing in the caption, “Enjoying my last few months as reigning Olympic champion!” The Huntington Beach Open will be the last time Ross and Kleinman will be on the sand as reigning gold medalists, as the next AVP Heritage event, the Aug. 16-18 Manhattan Beach Open, will take place after the Paris Olympics.
But they're ready to carry a new torch for working moms in the sports world.
“I don't know if we'll definitely get to the Olympics again, but if we can help find a way forward, that would be really rewarding for us,” Kleinman said.
