Betsi Flint, the Supermom of professional beach volleyball

MANHATTAN BEACH, California — Dawn has not yet broken on the morning of August 20. It is just before 5 a.m., that blurry time where, for some, it is late in the night and, for others it is early in the morning.

This is not an unusual time for Betsi Flint to be awake.

Her daughter, Cora, has never been much of a sleeper, which puts her 7 a.m. match, the earliest you will ever see on the AVP Tour, and Flint’s seventh total of the 2023 Manhattan Beach Open, directly in Flint’s wheelhouse.

Of the six players Flint will play that Sunday in Manhattan Beach, only Flint has changed diapers at 2 a.m., rocked a baby back to sleep numerous times throughout a night, lifted and competed and practiced regularly off of four hours of sleep (often less). Only Flint’s body has undergone the vast changes that come with having a baby, and only Flint has recovered from such a drastic shift, both physical and psychological.

Only Flint, in the deepest sense, knows what she is truly capable of — and make no mistake, she is capable of much.

“I’m a mom, I’m up at 5 a.m. with Cora so I was in my element ready to go,” Flint says. “Thriving. That’s my time, 5 a.m.”

So she heads out into the silent blackness of pre-dawn, into an awaiting tropical storm, prepared to do what few thought possible.

“All of a sudden I have this softness, this sweetness, this tenderness …”

Betsi Flint occupies a rare space in the world of professional beach volleyball: A mom who continues making her full-time living competing. On the AVP Tour, there are only two active mothers among the top-50 ranked players: Flint, and Aurora Davis. Expanding that list to the top 100 adds only two more. The reasons why are numerous, and many of these are obvious, beginning with the astonishing changes a woman’s body undergoes throughout a pregnancy, and the challenging and vexing recovery that comes after, not to mention the small matter of the added responsibility of raising another human being.

Perhaps more complex is what happens to a new mother’s mind: Will the competitive drive that fueled her to become one of the top players in the United States remain, or will it be diminished by a newfound, potentially overpowering maternal instinct?

For some — take Kerri Walsh Jennings, Laura Ludwig, and Agatha as examples, all of whom have enjoyed enormous success since having children — becoming a mom only fueled their drive, the general thinking being that they are…