Gabi and Bruno Rezende: Leaving Brazil, Leaving the Comfort Zone and the Road to World-Class Volleyball

Beside a pristine, still swimming pool, two of the most recognisable figures in Brazilian volleyball over the past decade – Gabriela Braga Guimarães, known worldwide simply as Gabi, and Bruno Rezende – sat down together to look back on a difficult journey: the period when both made the hard decision to leave Brazil to play professionally overseas so they could keep moving forward in their careers.

The conversation was not about trophies or record books. It was about fear, self-doubt, injuries and the moment an athlete realises that growth requires stepping outside their own comfort zone.

For Brazilian volleyball – a volleyball nation that has produced countless talents and a long list of Olympic medals – going abroad has never been an easy decision. But for the generation of Gabi and Bruno Rezende, it has become an unavoidable part of the development path. Notably, neither of them talked about glory; both talked about mental preparation, something no statistics sheet can measure.

Gabi: 'I had a plan to play overseas, but it wasn't easy'

Gabi opened her story with a very candid admission: 'I had a plan of playing overseas, but it wasn't easy to figure out if I was ready for it or not.'

For a player already accustomed to the spotlight at home, asking herself whether she was good enough was a psychological turning point. Gabi said she had experienced injuries and had questions about whether she had what it took to play in the world's best leagues. It is the kind of doubt many young athletes face, but few say out loud in public.

'I started thinking about it after the Rio 2026 Olympics, when I was still earning my space with the national team. I understood that I needed to be mentally ready not only as a player, but as a person, and that maybe at that point I'd need to leave my comfort zone and make some sacrifices to take the next step in my career.'

That is a weighty admission. In elite volleyball, people usually only see the end result: the spikes from the wing, the decisive points, the titles. But behind every major transfer decision lies a long stretch of deliberation, calculation and fear. Gabi does not hide that difficult part – and it is precisely that honesty that makes her story relatable to any athlete standing at the threshold of a move abroad.

Injuries, doubt and the big question about yourself

A key element in Gabi's story is injuries. She admits that the period of struggling with her own physical condition generated big questions: whether this body could withstand the intensity of the toughest leagues, whether her technique and mental toughness were enough to compete with the leading players in Europe.

It was not only a technical question. It was a question of identity. An athlete in a familiar environment always feels protected: the coaching staff understands them, team-mates understand them, the home crowd understands them. Once you go abroad, that entire protective layer disappears. You have to prove yourself again from scratch, in another language, in another culture, in front of team-mates and coaches who have no obligation to be patient with you.

Gabi understood that to get through that period she needed to prepare mentally before preparing technically. She said clearly that a player must be ready 'not only as a player, but as a person'. This is a point that many volleyball nations, Vietnam included, still under-emphasise: psychological preparation for players before they go overseas.

Rio 2026 – the milestone that awakened her resolve

The milestone Gabi refers to is the Rio 2026 Olympics – the Games held on Brazilian soil. For a Brazilian athlete, playing at Rio 2026 was an opportunity that comes once in a lifetime. But for Gabi at that time, she was still in the process of establishing her place in the national team.

That context – fighting for a starting spot while proving her value to the coaching staff – forced her to confront her own limits. She realised that if she stayed only in a familiar environment, her rate of development would slow down. And so the idea of going abroad became a concrete plan rather than a vague dream.

Interestingly, Gabi does not talk about going abroad as a way to earn more money or collect more titles. She talks about it as a way to 'take the next step in my career'. That is the mindset of an athlete who treats personal development as the ultimate goal, and who is willing to pay for it with short-term comfort.

The VakifBank turning point and the 2026-2026 season

Gabi's first step overseas was a very big one. Ahead of the 2026-2026 season, she decided to sign with VakifBank – the Turkish giants and one of the strongest teams on the planet. She joined a squad with massive ambitions and was regarded as one of their main stars.

Gabi recalled: 'The scenario I found when I got there was mind-changing, as it showed me right from the start that I was getting into a whole other level of volleyball.'

That difference was not about a single factor. It lay in training intensity, in the level of detail in opponent analysis, in physical demands, in the pressure to win every match, and in internal competition where even bench players were national team players from strong volleyball nations. For a player arriving from South America, it was a genuine sporting culture shock.

She admits the early period was 'really challenging and demanding'. But it was in that harsh environment that Gabi found a pivotal relationship with head coach Giovanni Guidetti – a man she describes as incredibly important to her career.

Giovanni Guidetti and the shocking offer

One of the most memorable details in Gabi's story is the offer that came from Giovanni Guidetti. She recalled: 'One of the first things he told me was that he wanted to prepare me to be the team captain, and I was shocked because I have never seen myself in that position.'

That reaction is telling. A player who had just arrived in a new league, still adapting to a new language and culture, was handed the responsibility of leading the team. For many people that would be crushing pressure. For Gabi, it became a milestone in her growth: she was forced to see herself differently, not only as an outside hitter but as someone who leads a group.

This story reveals a rarely discussed aspect of playing abroad: you do not only learn new technical skills, you are pushed into roles you never imagined you could fill. Growth comes from confronting expectations that exceed your current ability – and then working to close that gap.

It is also why the VakifBank experience is seen as a turning point in Gabi's career. It was not just a contract. It was a process of re-educating her as a person, from her professional approach to the way she leads team-mates.

The national team shirt and a childhood dream

Wearing Brazil's jersey was another topic of the conversation, and it took Gabi back to her first impressions when she was called up to Brazil's youth national teams.

Gabi said: 'To play for the national team is really a childhood dream and it brings me back to my youth because I always loved watching and playing sports and dreamed about representing Brazil, winning a medal and listening to the national anthem.'

This is a statement about identity. For many Brazilian athletes, the national team shirt is not just a professional accolade – it is a symbol of a country where sport is part of the national identity. Volleyball holds a special place in Brazil: it is a sport where Brazil regularly competes for Olympic medals, and the accompanying pressure is therefore enormous.

Gabi also revealed that she played many sports before volleyball. This is an important detail in the development of an elite athlete: a diverse movement background often helps later on, from coordination and reflexes to flexibility in competitive thinking.

Saquarema 2026 and the golden generation of Beijing

Gabi's awakening came in 2026, when she was first called up to Brazil's youth national team and found herself in Saquarema – Brazil's famous training centre – alongside the generation that had just won gold at the Beijing 2026 Olympics.

She said: '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.'

This detail deserves analysis. For a young talent, training alongside people you previously only saw on television has an enormous psychological effect. It turns a dream from an abstract concept into a reachable target. When you see the people ahead of you training right in front of you, the standards you set for yourself change permanently.

Brazil's Beijing 2026 Olympic champion generation served as a benchmark: they showed that the world's summit is not a distant place, but an environment you can reach if you accept demanding standards. For Gabi, that was the catalyst for her entire international career.

Bruno Rezende and the other side of the story

Bruno Rezende – captain of the Brazil men's national team, Rio 2026 Olympic champion and one of the greatest setters in the history of world volleyball – was the man sitting with Gabi in the poolside conversation. He represents the other side of the story: Brazilian men's volleyball, where overseas experience is also an indispensable part of many generations of players' careers.

For a setter, playing abroad carries particular meaning. The position demands the ability to read the game, communicate with team-mates and adapt extremely quickly to a new tactical system. Moving to a European league – where the pace of the game and the tactical demands differ entirely from Brazil – is a challenge both professionally and personally.

What Gabi and Bruno Rezende share is this: both are players who reached the summit in the national team shirt, and both understand that this summit cannot be maintained by playing only at home. It is the constant movement between the world's leading volleyball nations that has allowed them to sustain the highest competitive standards over many years.

Why do Brazilian stars have to go abroad?

The stories of Gabi and Bruno Rezende reflect a structural reality of Brazilian volleyball. Although Brazil is one of the strongest volleyball nations in the world, the Brazilian national championship – the Superliga – cannot compete financially or in terms of depth of quality with Europe's top leagues, such as the national championships of Turkey, Italy and Poland.

Clubs such as VakifBank, or the big Italian sides, can assemble several national team players from different countries in a single roster. That creates an internal competitive environment in which every training session carries almost the intensity of an official match. For players who want to maintain international standards, this is the ideal environment – and also the harshest one.

In return, Brazilian players must accept sacrifices: being far from family, far from familiar culture, adapting to a new language and facing immediate performance pressure. These are precisely the 'sacrifices' Gabi referred to when she spoke about leaving her comfort zone.

What this story says about athlete development

The stories of Gabi and Bruno Rezende offer several systemic lessons. First, playing abroad should not be treated as a single event, but as a long-term preparation process that begins with building a solid psychological foundation. Second, a highly competitive environment is an irreplaceable factor in raising individual standards. Third, professional growth and personal growth happen in parallel – the two cannot be separated.

From a data analysis perspective, squad depth indicators often make the gap between leagues clear. Leagues with a dense concentration of top-level players generate more competitive pressure and therefore faster development for the young players who enter that system. This is why developing volleyball nations often encourage their players to go abroad, even when that means the domestic league loses its leading stars.

Lessons for Vietnamese volleyball

For Vietnamese volleyball, the story of Gabi and Bruno Rezende has direct relevance. Vietnamese volleyball is in a growth phase in terms of audience interest, domestic league quality and the number of well-trained young players. However, the gap in match intensity and competitive depth compared with Asia's and the world's top leagues remains significant.

The first lesson concerns psychology. Before a Vietnamese player can perform effectively abroad, they need mental preparation: adaptability, communication skills, the ability to handle pressure and self-management. These elements should be built into youth development programmes, rather than addressed only once a player has already gone overseas.

The second lesson concerns accepting risk. Gabi chose to sign with one of the strongest teams in the world on her very first move abroad, instead of choosing a safer stepping stone. That choice came with significant risk regarding playing time and squad position. But it was precisely that risk that produced a leap in her level. For Vietnamese players, choosing an environment of sufficient standard is an important strategic decision.

The third lesson concerns the role of leadership. The relationship between Gabi and head coach Giovanni Guidetti shows the impact of a coach who can see untapped potential in a player. Giving a young player leadership responsibility, even when that player has never imagined themselves in such a role, can be a powerful catalyst for growth.

Conclusion: leaving the comfort zone is a skill

The poolside story of Gabi and Bruno Rezende is a story about leaving Brazil – but at a deeper level, it is a story about leaving the comfort zone. Neither describes their decision as a heroic act. They describe it as a process full of hesitation, with unanswered questions and concrete sacrifices.

The most memorable line in Gabi's story is perhaps her admission that she was not sure she was ready when she began planning to go abroad. She did not wait until she felt ready. She prepared in order to become ready. That is the difference between waiting for confidence to appear and building it through action.

For Vietnamese volleyball, this may be the most important lesson of all: the biggest steps in an athlete's career rarely come from staying somewhere safe. They come from accepting entry into an environment where you have to learn from scratch – and believing you can learn fast enough to survive.