April Ross cemented her place in beach volleyball history over the summer, capturing gold along with partner Alix Klineman during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The top of the podium had long eluded the American star, with Ross winning silver and bronze at the 2012 and 2016 Games, respectively. For most athletes, securing the medal trifecta would signal a logical end to a remarkable career. But not for Ross.

At 39 years old, the American superstar says she is not yet ready to step off the sand.

“I considered retiring [after Tokyo],” Ross admits. “I accomplished my biggest goal — all the goals I have in volleyball.”

While the Costa Mesa native says she always thought she would move onto something else, Ross says right now, “I just feel like I’m playing such good volleyball and physically, I feel great.

“I still feel very young and just can’t wrap my head around the idea of walking away while I’m still competitive.”

Ross’ enduring drive means fans may be treated to a fourth Olympic run from the beach volleyball icon, with her sights set on the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

“I’m going to continue playing and Paris is only three years away, so going to give it all I have,” says Ross. “And if it’s in the cards, [I’ll] go to Paris.”

The 2024 Olympics, however, Ross says, will “for sure” mark the end of her career, with the Team USA star already starting to envision her life post-volleyball.

Winning gold in Tokyo

The Tokyo Summer Games marked the apex of Ross’ career, a culmination of two previous Olympic campaigns with two different partners.

Ross entered the 2012 London Olympics as the No. 4 seed alongside partner Jennifer Kessy. The duo pulled off an upset over the No. 1-seeded Brazil team to set up a gold-medal match against Team USA giants Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings. Ross ultimately fell to her American teammates in her Olympic debut, heading home with a still-impressive silver medal.

“My first one, I thought it was a one-time deal,” says Ross, adding that growing up, she never thought the Olympics were an “attainable goal.” After three Olympic appearances, the awe still hasn’t worn off, with Ross calling the tournament both the pinnacle and an honor.

Ross made her second Olympic appearance as Walsh-Jennings’ partner, with the team ultimately capturing bronze in Rio de Janeiro.

“My second one, I was like, ‘OK, this is amazing. Playing with Kerri. We’re going to win gold,’” admits Ross. After falling short of her goal in 2016, Ross says she “didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Regrouping, Ross linked up with a relative beach volleyball newcomer in Klineman at the end of 2017. The unexpected grouping paid off, with the Americans dominating the competition in Tokyo. Ross and Klineman only dropped one set throughout the seven-match 2021 Olympic competition, defeating Australia in the final to clinch gold.

The feat was made even more impressive given the atmosphere surrounding the Tokyo Olympics, with no spectators permitted on the premise amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“The no fans was a little bit weird, visually. Just the fact that we would be in the stadium and the stands were empty,” says Ross. “I think had they put banners up so that you couldn’t see the empty seats or something it wouldn’t be so weird, but literally seeing the empty seats was strange.”

As the competition went on, Ross remembers more media and people from the delegation being allowed into the stands, culminating in a final she describes as “pretty loud” with “a lot of chanting.”

CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH! 🥇

The A-Team of @AprilRossBeach and @alixklineman is GOLDEN in beach volleyball #TokyoOlympics x @TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/zxBfQOtZ6w

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 6, 2021

The moment was understandably significant for Ross, who says having one more chance at gold was “so big” for her.

“In the moment, I felt pretty calm, pretty prepared,” recalls Ross. “I had a lot of nerves. But I just wanted it really badly.”

The A-Team origin story

Given Ross and Klineman’s dominance, it’s hard to believe that Tokyo marked the duo’s first major tournament together and that Klineman was only a few years into her beach volleyball career. The 32-year-old only left her indoor volleyball career in 2017 to pursue a run on the sand with Ross. Teaming with Klineman was a decision the veteran Ross did not make lightly.

“For me, playing with Jen Kessy and playing with Kerri Walsh- Jennings, it was kind of a no-brainer,” said Ross. “Playing with Alix Klineman, she was new to the beach. She was very physical, but she had zero experience.

“Obviously it turned out great,” Ross says, “but I was just basing it on intangibles. Her mentality is so strong. Her attitude is so good and her work ethic is awesome.”

The team claimed their first AVP Pro Volleyball Tour win in 2018, kicking off a run of victories leading to the 2020 Summer Games.

Still, it wasn’t all easy. In a sport that is so dependent on communication and trust both on and off the court, Klineman and Ross had to quickly develop their chemistry as partners.

“That’s why it was a little bit risky to pick Alix, because I didn’t know how much time I was going to have with her, to build up those instincts and to know what she’s thinking when she’s on the court. How she’s going to move, how she’s going to react to different plays, so that I can play around her and we can play together as a team.”

April Ross and Alix Klineman have put on a show in Tokyo!

This pair is clearly better together on the quest for an Olympic title.

Presented by @Ritzcrackers pic.twitter.com/hR5lD4Iq4O

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 2, 2021

Though Ross was aware of the gamble she was making, she could also see Klineman’s incredible potential and raw talent.

“I wanted to pick somebody I thought I could win a gold medal with, and it panned out.”

Growing the game

Ross’ success, along with the careers of Team USA stars May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings, has boosted beach volleyball’s popularity in America and globally.

“People love watching volleyball,” says Ross. “It’s my favorite sport to watch as well as play.”

Along with a growing fanbase, beach volleyball is also enjoying a steady progression in global competition.

“The level keeps getting better, in international beach volleyball for sure,” she says. “People keep putting money into their federations. And so, I think the level has gone up a ton.”

According to AVP, the NCAA saw a 400 percent increase in beach volleyball participation from 2011 to 2019. With excitement around beach volleyball growing, Ross has seen different avenues opening for fan engagement, including sports memorabilia.

“I collect stuff from my journey and the people that I’ve been with. I have autographed stuff of me and Jen and me and Kerri and me and Alix and yeah, I think it’s really cool and the community around women’s sports is growing,” says Ross. “There’s such a market for it, and I think there’s a lot of momentum behind it.”

Partnering with the Collective Marketplace on Athlete Direct, a platform connecting fans directly to items from their favorite sports icons, Ross sees an additional opportunity to engage with supporters. The Olympian has posted for sale, among other valuables, her signed closing ceremony and media jacket.

The burgeoning market for women’s sports memorabilia is something Ross hopes will progress the sport and inspire the next generation of athletes.

“It just creates more inspiration for them to want to reach that level,” says Ross of young athletes, “to pursue their goals and see these female athletes put in a position and a level that’s looked up to as much as some of the top male players.”

While Ross is unsure of what her future holds off the sand, she is committed to developing the game, saying, “I do want to stay in sports and help young people going forward.”

(Editor’s note: The Collective Marketplace on Athlete Direct is a sponsor of Just Women’s Sports.)

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

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In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.

On Tuesday, FIFPRO announced the launch of Project ACL, a three-year research initiative designed to address a steep uptick in ACL injuries across women's professional football.

Project ACL is a joint venture between FIFPRO, England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Nike, and Leeds Beckett University. While the central case study will focus on England’s top-flight Women's Super League, the findings will be distributed around the world.

ACL tears are between two- and six-times more likely to occur in women footballers than men, according to The Guardian. And with both domestic and international programming on the rise for the women’s game, we’ve seen some of the sport's biggest names moved to the season-ending injury list with ACL-related knocks.

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Soccer superstars like Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Catarina Macario, Marta, and England captain Leah Williamson have all struggled with their ACLs in recent years, though all have since returned to the field. In January, Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr was herself sidelined with the injury, kicking off a year of similar cases across women’s professional leagues. And just yesterday, the Spirit announced defender Anna Heilferty would miss the rest of the NWSL season with a torn ACL. The news comes less than two weeks after Bay FC captain Alex Loera went down with the same injury. 

Project ACL will closely study players in the WSL, monitoring travel, training, and recovery practices to look for trends that could be used to prevent the injury in the future. Availability of sports science and medical resources within individual clubs will be taken into account throughout the process.

ACL injuries in women's football have long outpaced the same injury in the men's game, but resources for specialized prevention and treatment still lag behind. Investment in achieving a deeper, more specialized understanding of the problem should hopefully alleviate the issue both on and off the field.

With recent transfers Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen joining first-team All-American JuJu Watkins and the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class at USC next season, the Trojans look to transition from an up-and-coming squad to a legitimate title contender. 

Former Oregon State graduate student von Oelhoffen is the latest collegiate talent to commit to the program, announcing her transfer Monday via ESPN. She follows ex-Stanford leading-scorer Iriafen in the jump to the pair’s one-time Pac-12 rival.

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The 5-foot-11 Washington native was a two-time All-Pac-12 guard during her time at Oregon State. But after the recent dissolution of the Pac-12, the Corvallis side found themselves without a permanent home conference going forward. Many big name players opted to take their skill elsewhere as a result, with von Oelhoffen’s fellow ex-Beaver Raegan Beers announcing her own departure to Oklahoma on Monday.

According to DraftKings, USC is now tied with UConn for the second-best betting odds to win the 2025 NCAA women’s tournament. Dawn Staley’s tested South Carolina side, poised for a repeat performance, holds down the number one spot.

Last year, LSU loaded up in the transfer portal after beating Iowa to win the 2023 national championship. The Tigers were clear favorites coming into the 2023-24 season, but were bounced in the Elite Eight by Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes. Shortly thereafter, star transfer Hailey Van Lith opted to transfer a second time, this time signing with TCU. 

Yet while history proves that an excess of star power doesn’t always translate to on-court chemistry, on paper, USC sure looks ready to hold their own — in 2025 and beyond.

The United States and Mexico have withdrawn their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, per a Monday afternoon release from U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation.

According to the statement, they will instead focus on developing a "more equitable" bid for the 2031 tournament, with the ultimate goal of "eliminating investment disparities" between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The federations went on to cite the upcoming 2026 Men’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as an opportunity to build support for local infrastructure, improve audience engagement, and scale up media and partnership deals in preparation to "host a record-breaking tournament in 2031."

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"Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe," said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. "Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe."

The decision leaves just Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the running for the 2027 host spot. Brazil — the rumored frontrunner — has never hosted a Women’s World Cup, while Germany hosted the 2011 tournament as a solo venture. 

Furthermore, this postponement doesn’t mean the U.S. is a shoo-in for 2031, as it's been previously reported that 2022 UEFA Women's EURO host England is considering their own Women's World Cup bid. FIFA is scheduled to confirm the winning bid after the FIFA Congress votes on May 17th.