Gabi recalls the turning point of leaving Brazil for VakifBank: “I knew I had to leave my comfort zone”

Sitting on the lawn beside a pristine swimming pool, Bruno and Gabi did not talk about powerful spikes or blocking techniques. They chose a much harder topic: the moment they had to leave their comfort zone and move abroad to continue their careers. The atmosphere turned quiet as Gabi recalled the period before moving to Turkey. As one of the world’s best outside hitters, few people knew she had questioned herself many times. Gabi told Bruno that she had always dreamed of playing overseas, but figuring out the right moment was not easy. She had suffered injuries and wondered whether she had what it took to compete in the most demanding leagues in the world. “I had a plan of playing overseas, but it wasn’t easy to figure out if I was ready or not,” Gabi shared. “I had experienced some injuries and had questions about whether I had what it took to play in the world’s best leagues. I started thinking about it after the Rio 2026 Olympics, when I was still earning my space with the national team, and I understood that I needed to be mentally ready not only as a player, but as a person. Maybe at that point I had to leave my comfort zone and make sacrifices to take the next step in my career.” Gabi’s story touches a side of sports that fans often ignore. People see expensive contracts and star players moving from one league to another, but few notice the sleepless nights before a major decision. Watching Gabi in her early matches in Europe, I saw a different version of her. She was not the typical explosive Brazilian outside hitter. Instead, she stepped into a high-level environment with caution and a desire to learn. That was not the image of a star trying to prove her worth. It was the image of a person listening to herself and knowing that success cannot be rushed. Her first step abroad was enormous. She signed with Turkish giants VakifBank ahead of the 2026-2026 season, one of the strongest teams on the planet. VakifBank were chasing every major title, and Gabi was placed at the heart of the project. She did not come as a marginal star. She came to become part of a well-oiled machine. “The scenario I found when I got there was mind-changing, because it showed me right from the start that I was getting into a whole other level of volleyball,” she recalled. “It was really challenging and demanding in the beginning. I built a close relationship with Guidetti, and he was incredibly important for me. One of the first things he told me was that he wanted to prepare me to be the team captain. I was shocked because I had never seen myself in that position.” Coach Giovanni Guidetti did not hand Gabi the captain’s armband as a gift. He wanted her to understand responsibility, how to lead the team in tense moments and how to represent the group under media pressure. The decision of a big club to trust Gabi with leadership so early spoke volumes about her maturity. To me, this is the most important data point in her transformation from a promising young Brazilian hitter into a real leader in Europe. I still hold on to one principle in my work: every number on the transfer list is an untold story. Gabi’s contract with VakifBank was not just a transfer fee or a long-term commitment. It told the story of an athlete who recognized her limits at the domestic level and, even more importantly, the faith a giant club placed in her to go beyond those limits. The story does not end with her first season in Europe. Gabi grew up in an environment where the national team was a sacred dream. She said that wearing Brazil’s jersey was a childhood dream. Every time she thought about representing her country, she remembered watching her idols compete, dreaming about the medal ceremony and hearing the national anthem. Gabi told Bruno about her first call-up to the Brazilian youth national team in 2026. She arrived in Saquarema and had the chance to stand beside the generation that made history at the Beijing Olympics. That was the generation that won gold, the names Gabi had only admired from afar. “To play for the national team is really a childhood dream,” she said. “It brings me back to my youth, because I always loved watching and playing sports. I dreamed about representing Brazil, winning a medal and listening to the national anthem. I played many sports before volleyball, but when I was first called up to Brazil’s youth national team in 2026 and got to be in Saquarema alongside that incredible generation that won the Beijing Olympics, that was a strong sign that I should continue because I had never been so close to my dream before.” Brazilian volleyball is famous for its technical, creative and emotional style. But when an athlete leaves Brazil to play in Europe, she must adapt to a faster tempo, stronger blocks and heavier tactical pressure. Gabi knew that talent alone was not enough. She had to reinvent herself, from her movement and reading of the game to her physical management. Watching her journey, I was reminded that data matters, but it only makes sense when placed in the right human context. Error is not the enemy. It is the quiet teacher of every model. When Bruno and Gabi sat by the pool, they were not simply revisiting the past. They were looking back at turning points where, without courage, everything could have gone in a completely different direction. Gabi was afraid, hesitant and unsure whether a girl from Brazil could shine in the toughest league in the world. But it was inside that fear that she found the motivation to keep going. Gabi’s story reveals a counter-intuitive truth in professional sport: the moment many people think you are taking a risk may actually be the safest moment. VakifBank did not buy a finished product. They bought an athlete smart enough to understand she needed to change. That matters more than any technical statistic. The biggest lesson Gabriela Guimarães offers is not in the numbers or trophies. It is in the way she sees her career as a long journey. Gabi could have stayed in Brazil, where everything felt safe and familiar. But she understood that to reach her Olympic dream and become one of the most important players of her generation, she had to accept difficulty, uncertainty and days of self-doubt. Dreams do not grow by themselves inside a comfort zone. They grow when we dare to place ourselves in environments that force us to mature. Gabi’s story reminds me that every journey begins with an uneven number, a moment of confusion and a decision that no one else can make for us.