WEBVTT - Too Much of a Flex with April Ross 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:02.800 Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where I'm recovering 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.040 from a Memorial Day weekend reunion. 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:06.199 With all my Cornell besties. 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:08.840 Is there anything better that belly laughs with friends who 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:11.479 have known you since your eyebrows were a disaster, your 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:14.000 taste in romantic partners was tragic. 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:15.520 And your liver was built to last. 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.080 It's Tuesday, May twenty seventh, and on Today show, we're 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:19.840 skipping the need to know and getting straight to my 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:23.560 conversation with a beach volleyball legend. Three time Olympic medallist, 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:25.759 April ross I. Caught up with her a few weeks 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:27.880 ago to discuss her decision to retire at the end 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:31.520 of last season, the success of NCAA Beach Volleyball, and 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:33.960 her new role with USA Volleyball ahead of the twenty 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:37.720 twenty eight LA Olympics. That conversation's coming up right after this. 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:45.519 Joining US now she's one of the greatest beach volleyball 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:48.199 players of all time. A three time Olympic medalist, She's 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.240 got the whole collection, gold, silver, and bronze, A five 0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:54.200 time AVP MVP. She was also a collegiate All American 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:57.160 and indoor volleyball leading USC to back to back national titles. 0:00:57.320 --> 0:00:59.200 She was recently named the Head of Coaching for Beach 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:02.760 National Teams, responsible for supporting the professional development of Beach 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:06.440 national team coaches, enhancing their training, competition preparedness, and the 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:10.200 performance of American beach volleyball athletes on the international stage. 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.000 Mom to Baby Ross and Pop Rue. We own the 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:15.680 same reindeer Onesie and we partied in the USA at 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.040 a Miley Cyrus concert together. It's April Ross. 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:18.840 What's up? April? 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:20.839 Hi? Yay? 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:21.440 I made it? 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:22.360 Thanks for having me. 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.200 Technical difficulties, which, honestly, I blame you the least of 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:28.800 any guest we've ever had, because literally your office is 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:30.959 the beach. How can you be expected to have to 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:34.000 work with technology in a four wild place with a roof. 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:37.200 It's one of the challenges that we face every day. 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:38.960 You know, it's a hard life. 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:41.679 Well, we're going to talk about your transition to having 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:43.840 to be a real person who works more of a 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:46.240 real job, But I want to first talk about your retirement. 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:49.080 You officially retired last November at the end of the 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:50.320 AVP Beach season. 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:51.240 Was there a. 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:54.400 Specific moment when you realized it was time? Like, was 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:56.520 there one day where you were like, that's it, this 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:57.320 is going to be it. 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:01.720 Yes, it was the first man I met the first 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:04.400 match when I came back after having a baby, so 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:07.720 that was well before my retirement as the first match 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:12.160 of the season and we get into it and you know, 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:15.040 my heart rate is through the roof, just because I 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:18.200 haven't had that adrenaline spike or I haven't been in 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:20.600 competition for I think like a year and a half 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:25.359 two years, and it was just so much stress on 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:29.320 my body and my mind and not enough Why there 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:32.240 wasn't I already. I just knew right away, like I 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:34.560 went to why why am I out here? Why am 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:38.040 I doing this? And it wasn't strong enough for me 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:40.720 to think, oh, this is so worth it. And I 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:43.280 kind of knew right then like Okay, this is this 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:45.280 is gonna be it. I just don't have it in 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:48.280 me anymore. And it was fun and I'm glad that 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:51.000 we did that last season. I really wanted to have 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:55.239 some closure for my career, play with Alex again, get 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:57.520 on the a VP and you know, come back after 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:00.080 having a kid. Was that was really important to me. 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:02.960 And I'm so happy with how Alex and I finished 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:06.000 the year, but like there was no part of me 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:08.280 when I got to the end that you know, where 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:10.880 I was like, oh, I'm so sad. It was like 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:14.160 this has been great and I'm so excited to be done. 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.440 Alex of course, Alex Kleinman, who is the teammate you 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:22.240 won gold with at the Tokyo Games, were you surprised 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:24.600 to feel that way? Like did you get ready for 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:26.480 that tournament thinking like, oh my god, I'm so excited 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:28.399 to come back after baby, this is going to be amazing, 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:31.040 and you were like, oh, whoa, this feels different. 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:35.000 Yeah. I've been so used to being so competitive and 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:37.320 just wanting to win, and that's driven me for so long. 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:43.040 I don't think I realized how important just I mean, 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:45.840 and I can't say that like winning the gold was 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:49.880 like necessary, you know, but I think that quest for 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:53.000 gold was really, you know, what drove me for so 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:55.200 long and how good can I be? And I really 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:58.760 wanted to go to Tokyo. I was going to be 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:01.040 thirty eight or thirty nine. I just still felt like 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:03.280 I had more in me to prove and so that 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:06.160 was my driving force. And then after getting the gold, 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:09.200 it was you know kind of like okay, check and 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:14.360 then yeah, coming back, I just thought that I loved 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:16.960 winning so much and pushing myself so much that I 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:19.440 wasn't going to need that. But I you know, it 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:24.919 was just really obvious that I had nothing personal goal 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:28.520 wise to work for, you know, in the sport as 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:31.640 an athlete any longer. And it was just kind of 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:35.240 this you know, farewell tour, which was really fun. But 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:40.480 on my break, I realized like, oh, this is what 0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:42.960 real life, This is what regular life is like, you know, 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:45.839 and I don't have to be crushing my body and 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:49.440 be dialed in three sixty five like all the time. 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:54.120 And it's really really nice, you know, And you get 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:56.600 to you get to that point where you're just working 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:59.039 so hard all the time you don't even think about it. 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:00.680 You're like, this is just my day to day, this 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:03.039 is what it takes. And then you stop and you 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:05.719 realize you don't have to do that, and it's hard 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.400 to get back there if you don't have a really strong. 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:11.719 Why Yeah, yeah, I mean all that makes so much sense. 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:14.919 Were the emotions of that final tournament knowing it was 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:17.680 your last? Were you able to play freely or was 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:19.640 it hard not to think about each moment being the 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:21.919 last like this is my last warm up, this is 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:24.760 my last first set, this is my last hug and 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:27.560 butt slap and huddle and all the things. 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:30.520 It was a little a little bit of both. You know, 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:35.239 we had a coach with us and we were getting 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:38.919 kind of tight because we wanted to do well, obviously, 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:43.520 especially in the Championships, in our last match, and he's like, 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:45.919 you guys just got to enjoy it. You gotta like 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:48.719 appreciate being out there with each other, and that kind 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:51.919 of switched our mindset a little bit, and we really 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.800 did enjoy it well at the same time, you know, 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:57.599 doing what we could to end on a high note. 0:05:57.640 --> 0:05:59.920 And we hadn't really been satisfied with how we had 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:02.760 laid kind of the whole season. We weren't, you know, 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.640 obviously as sharp as when we were out there leading 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:09.640 up to Tokyo, but we did end up beating a 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:12.839 very good team in our last match together, so that 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:15.760 was that was awesome to end on that. 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:20.520 Yeah, you know, Wasserman and Mizzuno commissioned a varsity jacket 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:24.080 with patches like commemorating some of your greatest achievements. It 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:27.160 was actually made by a friend of mine, Emma McKee, 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:29.840 who is known as the Stitch God. She's based out 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:31.839 of here in Chicago. She's actually a super slice. She 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:34.480 listens to every show. So, hi, Emma, and that's who 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:35.200 they had make it. 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:36.359 What did that mean to you? 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:39.040 To have this thing that you can pass on that 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:43.960 literally visually marks all these amazing achievements that you've had. 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:46.000 I was. 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.880 I was so shocked when I saw that, because number one, 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:53.360 I've never had well, I've had Letterman jackets, but like 0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:55.960 I never kept up with them. I didn't get all 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.040 the patches, and so like I've never worn them. 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.479 We didn't do that in school. I was alway that 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:01.680 we didn't have that at my school. 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:04.640 Yeah, we didn't. We kind of had it, we didn't, 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:06.800 you know, it wasn't really a big thing. And so 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:08.720 to get to the end of my career and then 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:12.640 have this jacket that just had it's like Letterman from 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:17.880 every single stage in my life, and yeah, it's amazing. 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:20.800 I almost feel like it'd be too much of a 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:25.160 flex to wear it anywhere, so I have to figure 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:27.960 out where I can wear it. But it's amazing and 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:32.440 I will pass it on, and yeah, I hope that 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:34.560 it's my family for a long time. It's it's amazing. 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:35.600 Yeah, it's really cool. 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.400 So I mentioned you one gold with Alex Climban in Tokyo. 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:43.320 It feels like you were pretty intentional about Okay, I 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:45.720 want to keep playing even though I've achieved the highest, 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:47.920 you know, the top of the mountain. I want to 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:51.960 come back after baby. You missed the Paris Games after 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:54.679 having your son? Was that intentional? Was your family planning 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:56.400 like if I missed the games, that's fine, or was 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:58.040 it like an oopsie, we timed this wrong? 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.960 No, I mean it was I didn't know after Tokyo 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:05.360 if I wanted to start a family or not. And 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:10.760 you know, one thing led to another, and your you know, 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.360 post Olympics is always like a weird time and you 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:17.840 reevaluate your life, and after a couple of months it 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:21.320 was you know, it hit me really hard, like, oh, yeah, 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:23.640 I do want to start a family, so this is 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.480 priority number one. I didn't care what happened as far 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:32.720 as volleyball goes, and so thankfully, gratefully that happened. And 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:36.440 then you know the next thing is, well, let's you know, 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:38.839 Alex didn't know she wanted to come back. I had 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:40.480 to call her and convince her she. 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:42.800 Timed her baby at the same time, basically, right. 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:45.760 Yeah, she always knew that was her plan, so I 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:49.560 kind of like copied her a little bit. But yeah, 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.480 she was at peace being done, and but I called 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:54.120 her and I'm like, hey, what if we just, you know, 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:56.680 have one more season together. We didn't get to play 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:59.000 a lot after we won gold, and I think it'd 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:00.960 be really fun. So she jumped on board and it 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:04.280 was a little you know, she wasn't gonna go for Paris. 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:06.400 Well, actually she. 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:08.240 Was a little bit on the fence after we started 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:10.760 again too, but it was just a wait and see 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:13.040 type of type of thing. And then once we came 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:16.800 back and I had that experience on the sand of like, Okay, 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:19.640 I know this isn't I don't have I don't have 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:22.520 the drive anymore that of what I know it takes 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.600 to get see Olympics. I just I just let it go. 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:31.600 I wasn't going to try. It didn't bother me. Yeah, 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:33.880 I really didn't even think about it that much. I 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:35.760 was just when it rolled around, I was like, I'm 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:37.839 so excited to just sit on my couch and watch 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:40.959 and share all the other teams on and it was great. 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:46.920 Yeah, so you're about a half year into retirement. One 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:48.560 of the things you mentioned was like, oh, I don't 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:50.160 have to beat my body up every day and be 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:52.120 aware of every little detail. That's the thing that we 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:54.520 most hear from athletes right after is oh, my gosh, 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:57.040 I have my own schedule, which is either a blessing 0:09:57.120 --> 0:10:01.400 or a curse. But also like worrying everything you eat, 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:04.520 every workout, you do, everything you do for fun that 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:07.920 might injure you. What stands out to the most. What's 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:10.600 the biggest difference in your life after competition. 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.760 Honestly, the biggest difference is not worrying about how tired 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:19.480 I am, so like it was always a struggle, not 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:21.760 a struggle, but you know, a challenge and something I 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:26.000 focused on how do I recover faster than anyone and 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:28.480 how do I maintain my energy levels so that I 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:33.199 can compete at the best I can be? And now 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:35.880 it's like if I don't get a good night's sleep, eh, 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:38.199 who cares? You know, Like, I'll have some extra coffee 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:42.120 and it's totally fine. If you know, I can work 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:45.440 out five days, six days in a row if I 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:48.120 need to or want to, and if I'm tired, it 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.720 doesn't matter. And it's taken a lot of like stress 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:54.960 and anxiety away just on a day to day basis, 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:57.600 and that's my favorite thing. I'll stay up super late 0:10:57.640 --> 0:10:59.400 and if I get five or six hours of sleep, 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:02.680 like it's okay. Yeah, but I'm still super dialed in 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:05.120 focused on my health and and try to, you know, 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:11.000 do things for my longevity every day. But it's more fun, 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:14.120 you know, because it's not it's not as necessary or 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:16.360 you know, I'm not, I don't have to do it 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:16.920 as much. 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:20.520 Yeah, So what is your relationship with training and exercise? 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:23.520 Because I'm also fascinated by the athletes that are like 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:26.040 I retired and I sat on my ass for several 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:28.200 months before I was like, I guess I'm gonna start moving. 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:30.880 And then they're the ones that are like fit freaks. 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:33.000 It's just a part of life and always has been 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:35.320 and always will be to get up and thinking about 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:35.839 like what am I? 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:37.880 How am I moving today? Which one are you? 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:43.079 I'm like the fitness freak type, but I've gone through 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:47.360 phases and my theory is like after college, there are 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:50.640 certain points in your career where you like hate working 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:53.920 out and if you've quit then or like, retire, then 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:55.959 you're gonna just want to sit on your sit on 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:58.640 your butt. Uh. I just got to a point where 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:00.559 it's such a part of my life and I realized 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:04.600 how beneficial it is for me mentally and physically. I 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:07.880 just feel so much better when I'm working out a 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:11.679 couple times a week that I have to do it, 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:14.880 and I love doing it, and honestly, it's yeah, it's 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:17.280 just as much for my mental health as my physical health. 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:20.720 So, yeah, you also live on the beach in a 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:24.600 beautiful place. Yeah, I've actually, like I have friends who 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.360 live by yous too, So like I've been walking down 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.679 the beach and been like, hey, it's April High, April, 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.959 April's training, April's practicing, like and I'm like, oh, that's 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:34.360 her life. 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:36.000 What a dream. 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:37.880 But now, just to be able to walk out your 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:41.079 door and just go for a walk or exercise on 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:42.400 the beach is so cool. 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.600 Yeah. I do get out and play volleyball for my 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.560 workout though now and again. Yeah, and I still love 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.160 volleyball like I love playing. And what I've learned, I 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:55.120 mean I kind of already knew this, but there is 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:59.160 literally no substitute for playing beach volleyball, like you burn 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:02.080 so many calori reason it's so hard and you don't 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:05.480 think about it because you're having fun. It's the best 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:07.000 workout you can do in my opinion. 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:09.920 Yeah, well, you've retired from beach volleyball, but not from 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:11.920 volleyball itself and not from working. 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:13.559 So let's talk about your new job. 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:16.960 Paris Olympics was the first since the two thousand Sydney 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:21.000 Games without an American on the podium, so you are 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:23.440 sort of in charge of figuring out how to get 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:25.040 the Americans back on top. 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:30.199 Do you think that lack of US success in Paris 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:32.480 was tough luck? Was it an off year? Is there 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:33.440 something more at play? 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.160 I think we have the talent to medal. I think 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:41.320 we had the talent to medal in Paris, and it 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:45.760 was surprising that we didn't. The unique thing about our 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:49.080 teams in Paris was that everyone was new, except for 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:54.480 Kelly Chang. It was her second time, and experience matters 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:57.319 and counts, and if you don't know what to expect 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:01.120 when you're going into a games, it can be overwhelming 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:05.400 and tough to deal with. And you know, I don't 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:08.520 know how those teams prepared. I obviously wasn't a part 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:12.400 of it, So that I think was just a little 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:16.040 bit of the issue. You know, Kerrie and Misty have retired. 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:19.720 You know, a lot of veteran players are not playing anymore, 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:22.160 and so we had a new crop of athletes going 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:26.040 in and they gained really valuable experience even though they 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:30.520 didn't get a medal, And the same athletes on both sides, 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:32.960 I mean it's only been a year are trending in 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:35.680 the direction of going again. We also have a lot 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:39.360 of athletes that are you know, contending for a spot 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:42.200 to get a spot as well, So there's a good 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:47.600 crop of athletes looking towards LA as well. And I 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:50.120 think should those teams go again, they'll have an even 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:54.320 better shot of meddling. So that experience piece is now 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:58.600 in there, and if I can add any more from 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:02.200 my own experience, that's what I'm going to be focused on. 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:06.040 And just yeah, I think there's some blind spots. You know, 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:08.200 I've been around the game for a long time, and 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:10.560 maybe there's some things that I can help these teams 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:12.880 with that you know, they've had the same set of 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:15.440 eyes on them for a while, and maybe I can 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:18.560 identify some performance gaps, but it was a little bit 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:20.720 a tough luck, I guess, I don't know. 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:23.480 Yeah, well, it definitely feels like there was this old 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:27.080 guard of like you mentioned Carrie and Misty, you and 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:29.920 your partners, there were these like long stretches where there 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:32.440 was dominance from the same couple athletes, and so now 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:35.840 it's going to be who emerges if someone does that 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:38.240 can kind of have the dynastic run that you all did. 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:40.840 Is there any extra pressure with the LA Games on 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:42.840 the horizon? It feels like there will be a lot 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:45.840 of attention because it's on home soil. 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:49.680 Yeah. I mean the fact that we're in southern California, 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:52.600 not just the US, but southern California, which is just 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:56.120 such a hotbed of beach volleyballs where everybody lives and 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:59.280 everyone plays. There'll be a lot of eyes on us 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.080 and a lot of ex expectations. So I think there 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:06.440 will be some extra pressure and we've got to you know, 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.760 mitigate that, get on top of that. Starting now. You know, 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:13.840 it's a lot of mental training and you know, dealing 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:17.600 with pressure and stress, and we can train that. But yeah, 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:19.920 it's gonna be a big deal for LA twenty eight. 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:22.640 We have to take a quick break plenty more with 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:31.760 April right after this. You know, there's a lot of 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:33.920 players that start out playing indoor, they play in door 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:35.800 in college, and then they make the switch to beach. 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:37.560 Then there's players who kind of grew up on the 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:39.560 beach and get to know the game, go play in 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:41.680 door and come back. It does feel like, are there 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:44.000 more opportunities to play beach in college now and kind 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:45.680 of get on that path from the start. It feels 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:48.760 like there's more of that in the NCAA level now. 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:56.320 Yeah, the NCAA beach level program is thriving. And as 0:16:56.400 --> 0:17:00.560 much as I love sc and alum and on, they 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:05.040 won four national titles in a row in beach volleyball 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:09.160 the last four years. They just finished this past weekend 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:13.200 at the Championship and TCU beat LMU in the finals, 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:16.639 and I think that was great for the sport, you know, 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:21.840 to have some parody and some competition. So I think 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.800 that's just going to encourage it to grow even more. 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:29.160 And the level of the athletes coming out of college 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:33.119 is so high now it's crazy. So the pipeline for 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:36.080 at least on the women's side, for beach volleyball is 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:40.600 well established and producing some really great athletes. 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:44.880 Yeah, the AVP was always a huge highlight of my weekends. 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:46.800 When I lived in LA I would just find out 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:49.280 which beach city they were playing at. I would drive 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:51.720 down and watch all the games. I still go when 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:54.080 it comes to Chicago or if I'm out in California 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:58.840 and it coincides. How's the AVP doing? Is it still 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:01.720 like the destination? Is there competition or is that still 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:03.399 the place if you play beach. 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:05.160 That you're playing when you're not competing internationally? 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:10.359 ABEP is still our you know, domestic tour. We have 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:14.119 new ownership as of last year, and they're trying some 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:18.200 new things. We have the league now, so instead of 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:23.320 these big traditional events that you and I know and 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:28.159 you have frequented and you know, we're so fun, they're 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:32.399 having kind of franchises around the country. So interesting there 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:37.320 are there's a men's and a women's team for several 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:40.680 different cities. There's eight different cities and so they come 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:44.160 together four teams on a weekend and compete against each other. 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:47.600 So each city plays each other more of a traditional 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:50.679 league than we call it the league, you know, and 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:53.159 I think there's promise there. They have a partnership with 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:58.600 a couple different broadcasters, and it's really exciting. They played 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:01.320 a fifteen instead of twenty one and it's really fast paced, 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:04.160 high pressure. The only thing I would like to see 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:09.040 is for it to grow into including more teams. So 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:12.360 eight women's teams, eight men's teams doesn't leave a lot 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:15.240 of room for those athletes coming out of college to 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:20.720 break into the professional level. There's actually more opportunity international 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:24.119 right now, so you know, if you're new to the 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:27.320 pro levels, you're probably going and playing some futures, which 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:30.240 is like the third tier internationally on the World Tour, 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.880 to try and break into the challenger level and then 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:36.320 finally into the elite level, which is where you need 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:38.239 to be if you want to make the Olympics. So 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.359 hopefully ABP continues to grow. I think just still getting 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:42.240 their footing right now. 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:44.680 Yeah, that's interesting. I didn't realize they'd made the switch. 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:47.520 I've been so focused on the volleyball landscape indoors, and 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:48.360 before I let you go. 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:50.160 I want to ask about that. What do you make 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:50.639 of that? 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:54.640 The many opportunities for volleyball players now love pro volleyball, 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:58.720 the PVF athletes unlimited is there any part of you 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:00.760 that's like, Ooh, I wonder what a happened to me 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:03.040 if all of those had existed when I was coming 0:20:03.080 --> 0:20:03.800 out of college. 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:06.480 Well, I'm kind of thinking there's so many opportunities to 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:08.399 play indoor now, Like what if I just made my 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:11.800 comeback for the on the innversy House. There's got to 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:15.880