Lauren Fendrick’s life was busy enough when she was just a beach volleyball player. The American blocker would live every second of her day thinking about her sports career and spare no effort chasing her goals.

That mindset helped her become an Olympian at the Rio 2016 Games and when it seemed that she could be ready to take something off her plate, the exact opposite happened. Immediately after the Olympics, she took a volunteer assistant coach position with Stanford University, where she got to work alongside her husband, head coach Andrew Fuller.

Despite the added work and longer commute, her playing career continued to trend in the right direction as Fendrick won a silver medal at the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships. After the 2018 season, she gave birth to her first child, Willa.

Fendrick made a brief return to the sand in 2020, winning the only international tournament she played at, in Siem Reap, Cambodia. She also competed in three events on the American AVP. Then it was her boy, Wes, who announced he was on the way.

The American’s life has become much more complicated with two young children to raise and an assistant coach position to work. Her desire to be on the sand, however, hasn’t wavered. And just a few days before turning 40, Fendrick is set to make her second comeback at the first event on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, the Challenge tournament in Tlaxcala, Mexico, from March 16-20.

• All matches of the opening event of the Beach Pro Tour will be available live and on demand on Volleyball TV.

“There certainly are a lot of reasons why I could retire from playing,” the American told Volleyball World, “such as being a mom to two young children and still breastfeeding, turning 40 in a week, living away from Southern California, the investment and toll of time and energy that college coaching takes from me and losing all of my sponsors to name a few…I'm the busiest and most overwhelmed I've ever been and we, as a family, are absolutely stretched to the max financially, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. But every time I have a moment to slow down, think and evaluate where I am, I'm so happy.”

Multitasking was never a problem for Fendrick, who earned her law degree at the University of Southern California while competing nationally and internationally as a beach volleyball player. Her Instagram bio (Olympian, Mom, Coach, Lawyer) describes it pretty well.

But the challenge of raising two young children has taken things to a different level - Willa is about to turn three and Wes is approaching his first birthday. Fortunately, she’s not alone on the task.

“Being a parent to two young children is the hardest thing I've ever done,” she said. “I would not even be able to think about returning to play without the immense support from my husband and my mom and my in-laws in helping out so much while the kids are so young. Without them, I would not be able to travel to the week-long international tournaments to compete and I would not be able to help coach the Stanford team.”

Fendrick will also have assistance from one of the best in the business on court as she will have 33-year-old Emily Stockman as her partner for the 2022 season. One of the best American defenders in international beach volleyball, Stockman had a good run with Kelley Kolinske over the last four years and is currently ranked 12th in the world.

Fendrick and Stockman are seeded ninth in Tlaxcala and will begin the tournament in the main draw. They will have to play the qualifier at the Rosarito Elite 16 event from March 23-27.

“I’m so excited to compete with Emily,” Fendrick commented. “She’s such a great athlete and she’s so professional with everything that it makes it really easy. And I really love her energy on the court. I’m excited to see what Emily and I can bring as a team. We have all the pieces necessary to beat any team out there. There was another moment in the past when we almost got to play together and I’ve always wondered how we would’ve done. Now I get the opportunity to battle alongside her. We’re really focused on the World Championships and we are specifically focused on doing well in these early tournaments to have a shot to compete there.”

Fendrick's goals as a beach volleyball player are as big as they’ve always been, but she now feels ready to celebrate the small things her career brings too. After the revolution she experienced in her life in the last three years, embracing everything that comes her way is at the top of her wish list as she resumes her career.

“What motivates me now is just the simple privilege to compete,” the blocker said, “to get the chance to express myself through my play in a way that I maybe didn’t let myself before. It’s not something I feel I’ve been particularly great at through my career, but I hope I can find the mindset to truly feel the joy and gratitude of living life alongside the fear, the doubt, the frustration and the anxiousness that competing and trying to get better at something can bring. Finding the freedom and trust in myself regardless of the circumstance or conditions is one of my main goals. We might win, we might lose, but I get to compete and that is a privilege.”

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