With her usual practice sites closed down, two-time Olympic medalist April Ross managed to build her own beach volleyball court with supplies she picked up at Home Depot.
What’s proven to be a more difficult adjustment to the coronavirus pandemic: Remembering not to high-five her partner Alix Klineman during their workouts.
“Alix and I are big huggers, so taking that out was hard. And then to not even high-five after stuff is even harder,” Ross said in a telephone interview after their workout Wednesday.
“Alix and I take the pandemic very seriously. We wear masks everywhere except when we’re on the court,” she said. “It’s almost impossible not to (high-five). So we just try to make sure outside of the court we are making sure to being very safe.”
A silver medalist in London in 2012 who picked up a bronze in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Ross was aiming to return to Tokyo this summer with her third partner in as many Olympiads. The coronavirus not only postponed the Summer Games for a year, but it canceled many of the domestic and international tour events the players need to earn money.
The top U.S. tour, the AVP, announced Wednesday that it was replacing the suspended regular season with a three-week event in Long Beach, California. The AVP Champions Cup Series will take place on successive weekends from July 18 to Aug. 2 with a total prize pool of $700,000.
No fans will be in attendance, but all matches will be streamed on Amazon Prime, and some will be broadcast by NBC.
“With the restrictions and regulations in place, we were forced to suspend all fan-attended events and refocus on creating the best possible scenario to bring fans the sport they love so much and provide a meaningful way for our athletes to compete,” tour owner Donald Sun said. “The AVP Champions Cup Series allows us to keep our footprint small, regulate safety protocols and still provide top-flight beach volleyball competition for fans to watch.”
The courts will be set up on sand imported to a parking lot, instead of the actual beach, so they can remain in place for all three weeks; this will require fewer workers, and lessen the chance of spreading the coronavirus. Without fans, the tournament will technically be more like a TV production than a sporting event.
Staff and players will be tested for COVID-19, and masked when they aren’t playing.
“This was the year, it was supposed to be so big with the Olympics and the whole AVP season,” Ross said. “Now that we don’t have the Olympics and our international season has been canceled, I think it’s so amazing the AVP has figured out a way to get us on NBC and Amazon Prime and hold these events.”
With its beach party backdrop and a DJ to geek up the crowd, beach volleyball is usually one of the liveliest sports around — especially at the usually staid Olympics, where it repeatedly ranks as one of the most-viewed sports of the Summer Games. Ross said it will be an adjustment to playing without fans, but she’s excited to be playing before major U.S. sports like baseball, hockey and basketball have returned.
“The energy, we’re going to figure it out,” she said. “Everybody is so excited to watch live sports at this time. … To have a stage where maybe we can reach a wider audience, it’s an opportunity to showcase how exciting beach volleyball is. Hopefully, we get a bunch more beach volleyball fans for life, for coming back and being one of the first sports back.”
Ross, 37, said the last three months have been one of the longest periods without playing volleyball of her life. She stayed in shape with some workout equipment she was allowed to take home and set up in her garage when the USOPC/USA Volleyball training center closed.
Ross and Klineman checked in at least once a week on Zoom — and often more — watching videos or consulting with their coach and sports psychologist. When the time came to return to the beach, Ross had to set up the nets herself.
“Not to pat myself on the back too hard, but I’m really impressed with how it turned out,” she said.