You can find Emily Stockman in quite a few places: the beach, mountains, on a trail, camping in the woods, biking, in any of the dozens of countries in which she has competed. There is one setting, however, in which you will not likely find the 6-foot defender from Colorado Springs: Inside.
She’s an outdoorsman, Stockman, in every type of way. She’s made her living playing beach volleyball. When she’s not playing beach volleyball, there’s a good chance she’s in the mountains she loves, snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking. Living in the fresh air.
That’s who she is. What she does. She’s a beach volleyball player, yes, but more than that: She’s just a lover of all things outdoors. It helps explain why she’s so good at a career that keeps her outside, located in some of the most beautiful places on the planet, playing a sport that requires her to remain one of the fittest people in the world — seriously, she was voted as one of the top 20 fittest women in the world.
“We’re like Brazilians now,” Stockman said of her and partner, Kelley Kolinske. “Just non-stop.”
Indeed, Stockman and Kolinske are as non-stop as anyone in this sport. In 2019, they played 10 tournaments in 10 weekends, criss-crossing the globe, from Poland to Seattle, Brazil to China.
“LAX is our home,” Kolinske said, laughing. “It was a lot of travel. We would be at a tournament overseas then come back for a tournament, be home for a few days, and we’d be back and forth. We’ve been gone the majority of the time.”
Such is the enviable yet demanding life of a beach volleyball player. It’s a lifestyle that fits Stockman, for even when she’s home, and can alas get some much-needed rest, maybe even a few extra hours of sleep, she’s back on the road. She spent her 2020 off-season, extended due to COVID, mostly in her beloved Colorado mountains, mountain-biking, camping, hiking, lifting. Throughout it all, she was regularly meeting via Zoom with her trainer, Mykel Jenkins, a no-nonsense man who currently trains potential Olympian Tri Bourne. He put her through grueling workouts that feature thousands of reps and minimal rest.
Stockman loved all of it.
“The nice thing with Mykel’s workouts are you don’t really need equipment,” Stockman said. “Whatever you need, you bring with you, and he writes them specifically, and if you have to do them in your hotel room, that’s fine. You don’t ache and your joints hurt after a session with him. You get off a plane and you’re like I can’t wait to move around and do one of his workouts because it makes you feel good. Everything’s firing, you get everything moving.”
That sentiment, right there, sums up perhaps everything you need to know about Stockman: You get everything moving. That’s her, in a brief sentence: Always moving. Always outside.
“Every movement we do in the gym is very related to volleyball and has a purpose for why we’re doing it,” Kolinske said. “His workouts are killer. You get your butt kicked and you don’t lift a single weight, it’s bizarre. It’s definitely helped us conditioning wise in matches this year. I hardly ever felt winded or gassed and I think it’s a lot due to us training.”
Training. Moving.
Chasing. Always.
