April Ross Is Guiding The Next Generation Of Beach Volleyball For LA28

TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 06: April Ross #1 of Team United States celebrates aft defeating Team Australia during the Women's Gold Medal Match connected time fourteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games astatine Shiokaze Park connected August 06, 2021 successful Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

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From Reluctant Volleyball Player to NCAA Champion to Olympic Champion, April Ross has been connected a travel of winning arsenic a subordinate and hopes to walk connected her winning ways arsenic the Head Beach Coach for USA Volleyball.

(This is portion 1 of a 2-part communicative based connected a Forbes exclusive question and reply pinch April Ross Wednesday August 13, 2026. Part 2 will beryllium published Sunday August 23. 2026. All quotes are taken straight from a transcript of the interview.)

Twenty-four months earlier Los Angeles welcomes the world for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, April Ross is successful a different domiciled than the 1 that made her a family sanction successful American formation volleyball. She is nary longer chasing an Olympic medal. She is trying to thief the adjacent procreation of American women triumph one.

Ross, a three-time Olympic medalist who won bronze, metallic and golden crossed 3 Olympic Games, is now coaching the U.S. women's formation volleyball squad toward LA28. Her modulation from jock to coach gives her an unusually valuable perspective: She has knowledgeable the Olympic pressure, the heartbreak, the podium and, ultimately, the state that came from knowing that an athlete's personality cannot dangle connected the colour of a medal.

Great Parenting

That instruction was earned the difficult way. Before formation volleyball, earlier USC, earlier Olympic gold, Ross was simply a tall, diversion kid whose begetter thought volleyball mightiness beryllium worthy trying. Ross's begetter had played hoops and wrestled successful precocious school. He besides coached his daughters successful soccer, hoops and virtually thing other he could get progressive in. Then he noticed his daughter's tallness and athleticism.

"With my height, and my athleticism, he thought I'd beryllium bully astatine volleyball," Ross recalled.

She was initially much willing successful soccer. Her begetter took her to volleyball tryouts anyway.

"I fundamentally dragged myself to volleyball tryouts," Ross said. "I'm very thankful that he did."

The determination changed her life. Ross fell successful emotion pinch volleyball almost immediately. But possibly much important than getting her into the athletics was the mentality her parents gave her erstwhile she was there. They did not make winning the measurement of success.

Instead, Ross said, the mobility astatine location was whether she had fixed everything she had.

"My parents ne'er put unit connected maine to win successful sports, to win," she said. "That was ne'er their measuring stick."

If she had fixed her champion effort, that was enough. Whether she won aliases lost, her parents wanted her to bask the athletics and beryllium a bully teammate. That attack produced thing much powerful than outer motivation. It created soul motivation.

"I deliberation that allowed maine to internalize my information to win," Ross said. "It wasn't coming from an extracurricular source."

Her mother provided the different half of the equation, serving arsenic the affectional counterweight to her father's coaching mentality.

"If I felt for illustration I played poorly aliases location was immoderate rumor connected the squad that upset me, I could ever spell to her and conscionable cry," Ross said. "She'd make maine consciousness better."

The operation helped Ross create not only arsenic an jock but arsenic the coach she is becoming today.

Ross besides benefited from thing that has go progressively different successful elite younker sports: She did not specialize early. She played multiple sports and did not really statesman volleyball until eighth grade. In precocious school, she continued to play 3 sports. That multi-sport inheritance would yet go portion of the instauration for 1 of the astir accomplished careers successful American volleyball.

USC Volleyball: Two-Time National Champions

"I never specialized successful volleyball until college," Ross said.

At USC, that diversion versatility became elite volleyball ability. Ross joined a freshman people that was classed among the nation's champion recruiting classes. There were six players successful the class, and the group developed a enslaved that she believes was cardinal to winning 2 nationalist championships. The talent was obvious. The civilization was harder to create.

"We had a really beardown bond," Ross said. "Our values are aligned successful a measurement that's not ever natural."

The players were competitive. They pushed each other. They fought, but productively. And possibly astir importantly, they accepted their roles. USC had truthful overmuch talent that not everyone could play. Some danasiwa athletes sat connected the bench. Yet, according to Ross, those players bought into thing larger than their individual playing time. The squad moreover had a B-side skipper whose work was to lead the believe group pushing the starters.

"Everyone conscionable 100% committed," Ross said.

That produced thing each title squad needs but fewer teams tin manufacture: relentlessly competitory practices without destroying the chemistry of the team. It is simply a instruction Ross now carries into coaching. Talent gets a squad into the conversation. Culture determines really overmuch of that talent becomes performance.

Learning From Olympic Heartbreak

Ross's Olympic profession yet became a three-medal story, but it did not statesman pinch gold. At Rio 2016, she and Kerri Walsh Jennings were considered morganatic gold-medal contenders. They reached the semifinals, only to suffer a lucifer Ross still remembers vividly. They recovered to triumph bronze. Ross calls that bronze-medal lucifer vividly.

"It was the astir connected the statement of immoderate lucifer I've ever played," she said.

The disappointment of missing the final, however, became 1 of the astir important experiences of her career. Ross could person spent years dissecting the semifinal loss. She chose not to.

"I haven't, you know, I didn't spell backmost and overanalyze it," she said. "It's not worthy it."

Instead, she took the instruction forward. She believed her squad whitethorn person entered the semifinal a small overconfident. They knew they could hit the force and possibly were not prepared capable for the force to play otherwise aliases exceptionally well. At the Olympic level, that separator is microscopic.

"You conscionable can't do that successful the semifinals of the Olympics," Ross said.

And Finding Olympic Redemption

But the acquisition fundamentally changed really she approached Tokyo. At Rio, she had placed tremendous unit connected herself to triumph gold. In Tokyo, she decided to attack the Olympics differently. She slowed down. She appreciated the journey. She stayed present. Most importantly, she stopped tying her personality and self-worth to the result.

"I didn't necktie myself and my personality and my self-worth to the result," Ross said.

That state mattered. Partnered pinch Alix Klineman successful Tokyo, Ross was capable to stay mentally coming passim the tournament. She shared what she had learned from Rio, and the brace yet won Olympic gold. The instruction is 1 Ross now has an opportunity to thatch the athletes she coaches. Preparation matters.

But the expertise to enactment coming erstwhile the Olympic spotlight inevitably becomes overwhelming whitethorn matter conscionable arsenic much.

"The Olympics is 1 tournament," Ross said. "A batch of things person to spell right."

That is possibly the simplest mentation of why Olympic greatness is truthful difficult. An jock tin walk 4 years preparing for a tourney that tin move connected 1 match, 1 adjustment, 1 protect publication aliases 1 infinitesimal of pressure. Ross has knowledgeable each of it. Now she is trying to transportation those lessons to the women who will compete successful her hometown Olympic Games.

And if the existent U.S. pipeline is immoderate indication, she will beryllium starring a heavy and talented squad of American formation volleyball players into the LA28 Games