Back in 2016, we interviewed 2 X Team USA Beach Volleyball Olympic Medalist April Ross after her Bronze win at the Olympic Games in Rio. Flash forward to this month's cover, we caught up with April Ross to talk about indoor vs beach volleyball, the AVP Tour and the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo that are slated to take place next year. We also talk about April joining the KT Tape team and how she uses her social platform to inspire and motivate her followers to stay motivated in their health and fitness journey.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When was the moment that you realized that you wanted to transition from an indoor volleyball player to a beach volleyball player?
APRIL ROSS: There was no specific moment, it was kind of a process and I had kind of given up indoor and just fell out of love with it. My big thing is that I just want to be able to enjoy my journey always. I just wasn’t enjoying my indoor journey. My teammate from USC was playing on the beach and asked me to play in some qualifying events on the beach with her to just help her out. I went out there and we didn’t do very well and I wasn’t very good, but I just fell in love with the sport of beach volleyball. I stuck with it and played it for a while, struggled for a while and I finally broke through and started to have some success and then you know, I just kept riding that wave.
AM: In your opinion, what is the biggest difference between indoor vs. beach volleyball?
AR: There are two biggest differences for me – obviously the surface, it is so ridiculously hard to move and jump in the sand – that just creates a totally different challenge in beach volleyball than when you are playing indoor volleyball. The other big difference is that you touch the ball every single play. You are involved in every single play. You can go through an entire rally during indoor and not touch the ball once. On the sand, when you want a point, you have to touch the ball. I feel like there is a lot more accountability on each player in beach.
AM: Last summer, we attended the AVP NYC Open which was a lot of fun. Obviously, you and Alix Klineman won and typically, right now you would be in the thick of the AVP schedule. How have you been spending your time since you’re not doing that at the moment?
AR: Life looks a little different right now. I’m at home pretty much all day. I’m working on some home improvement stuff that I have never had time for. That’s actually really nice. I checked out a big amount of gym equipment from the USA Volleyball Gym and I cleaned out my garage which has been full of storage stuff for the last 10 years. I created a home gym and I am able to get my full lift in there which is about 2 and a half hours. I’m going to Home Depot today to get supplies to make a wooden squat rack. Because I do a little bit of woodworking too and I am getting back into the hobby now that I have some time to explore that so I thought putting my time into making a wooden squat rack would be great. I looked at some designs online that I want to try. Working out, visioning, I’m doing a lot reading and a lot of reflectioning as well as journaling. I’ve been doing a lot of Zoom calls. I mean, everyone is doing the Zoom calls.
AM: For sure. Obviously, with the Olympics being pushed back to next year, what does this next period look like for you especially in regards to training and getting prepared for that?
AR: That’s a constant discussion with my team. We’re trying to grasp onto something in the near future that we can train for and that’s proving hard to do obviously. So, we’re kind of waiting and seeing the government guidelines are when we can get back out on the beach. We want to take advantage of this time, but it’s really hard if we can’t get out on the sand. We can do so much off of the sand, but you have to be able to practice. We’re trying to see how we can have a training camp and if we can do it safely if there is a private court somewhere and we take the proper precautions, maybe in June at some point we can get on the sand and do 3 – 4 weeks of training camp. If there is still nothing on the schedule, maybe we can take a week off. I mean, it’s tough. I’ve never ever had to do anything like this.
AM: It’s a day-by-day thing.
AR: Right, it’s literally a day-by-day thing. It’s a constant brainstorm and getting creative and with each new piece of information, it changes so we’re trying to be really go with the flow!
AM: The weekend of May 22nd, I love that you have partnered with KT Tape to do an Instagram Live event where we can train like an Olympian, actually work out with you and get off of our butts to get a good workout in. Why is this so important for you to participate in this?
AR: I’m really excited for this KT Tape Instagram Live workout. Because I’m not playing and I can’t really interact with fans to encourage and motivate people through my competitions and stuff, I love doing this and engaging people and helping them while they’re at home. Maybe I am creating a little bit motivation or making it a little bit easier for people to have access and information on how to work out and to stay healthy during this time – as well as how to do it while you’re staying at home. I feel like I’m still of service in some way and I just really like to have some kind of positive influence on whoever decides to follow me on social media. I don’t want it to just be “look at me – look at what I’m doing.” I want to give back and I want to help people accomplish their goals and to stay healthy.
AM: You just joined KT Tape earlier this year. What is it about the brand that is such a great synergy with you and how you operate?
AR: I think KT Tape is essential to being an athlete, to staying healthy in general especially in this time. I don’t have a lot of access to physical therapy and therapists. That’s essential to my program and to staying healthy as I have these aches and pains. Because I have KT Tape, I’m able to use that to support my joints and my muscles. All of last season, it was huge as it was for qualifications. I strained my quad early on in the season and it was kind of a big factor and without being able to use KT Tape and tape it all summer, I think I would have been in so much more pain. I had to tape it through World Championships and all through our biggest tournament. Throughout my whole career, I have leaned on my ability to tape myself and literally keep myself together – so it’s a natural fit. As I get older, I need it more and more.
AM: What kinds of workouts will you be including for your Instagram Live with KT Tape?
AR: Well it’s going to be a shoulder stabilization and strengthening workout. I’m trying to think of things that maybe people have not hit so far and that there aren’t a lot of information on. I think that a lot of us are probably on the couch a good amount hunched over and we’re sitting on the computer a lot with Zoom calls. To try and rectify our posture a little bit, I’m going to touch on that stuff.
AM: Who have been 3 people that have inspired you in your career whether you know them personally, follow them online etc? We like asking our changemakers this question as it’s a key one for our podcast #TRIBEGOALS.
AR: Oh wow! People that have inspired me – I would say that one person who has really helped me get through this time is Glennon Doyle. I’m reading her book and she does little Instagram TV videos daily. I love following her. I have recently been inspired by Megan Rapinoe and how vocal she has been for everything, that is amazing. Then, Dr. Michael Gervais – he is a sports psychologist. I was on a panel for Victoria Garrick, she played at USC and is kind of a mental health advocate. She has me, another athlete and Dr. Gervais on to speak to her and her following. Just listening to him, he gave me a lot of ideas that I could be doing in this time to kind of just get my vision right, my mission, my life philosophies etc. so that when we get out of this, I’m all in alignment – spiritually. He’s definitely someone that has influenced me as well.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 16 - 21 + 29 Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire | PG 22 - 27 + 30 KT Tape - Editorial Design by Athleisure Mag |
Hear 2 X Team USA Olympic Beach Volleyball Medalist, April Ross on our show, #TRIBEGOALS - which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multi-media podcast network! Make sure to subscribe to find out when the episode drops. You can hear it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts and wherever you enjoy listening to your favorite podcast.
Read the May issue of Athleisure Mag and see To the Beach with April Ross in mag.
