Gabi opens up on leaving Brazil for VakifBank: 'Guidetti wanted to make me captain from day one'

Beside a calm swimming pool, with no cameras and no crowd, Bruno and Gabi pulled two chairs close together. What they shared did not begin with tactics or records. It began with a very human fear: the fear of leaving Brazil, where everything was familiar, to step into a more demanding volleyball environment. For Gabi, that fear had a name: VakifBank. But before she could think about the Turkish club, she had to face herself. “I had a plan of playing overseas, but it wasn’t easy to figure out if I was ready for it or not,” Gabi said. “I had experienced some injuries and had questions if 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.” That moment was not an explosion. It was quiet, like the way Gabi describes her whole journey: not cheering, not spotlights, but a silent decision to leave her comfort zone. Gabi recalled that her first step overseas was a big one. She chose to sign with VakifBank, one of the strongest teams on the planet, ahead of the 2026-2026 season. She did not arrive as a role player. She arrived as one of the main stars of an ambitious club. “The scenario I found when I got there was mind-changing,” the Brazilian outside hitter reflected. “It showed me right from the start that I was getting into a whole other level of volleyball. It was really challenging and demanding at the start.” But within that challenge, Gabi found a special coach. Giovanni Guidetti was the one who welcomed her at VakifBank. “I built a great relationship with Guidetti, and he was incredibly important for me,” she shared. “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 have never seen myself in that position.” Gabi’s story is not only about changing clubs. It is about the growth of a person who had to face her own doubts. Many people look at a contract with VakifBank and think it is the peak. But for Gabi, it was just the beginning of a journey of learning from scratch. The conversation then turned to wearing the Brazilian jersey. Gabi said playing for the national team was a childhood dream. She remembered the first time she was called up to Brazil’s youth national team in 2026. “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.” Gabi revealed that she played many sports before volleyball. But the decisive moment came when she was called up to Brazil’s youth team and was at Saquarema in 2026. “I got to be there alongside that incredible generation that won the Beijing Olympics,” she recalled. “That was a strong sign that I should continue because I had never been so close to my dream before.” What is interesting about Gabi’s story is that it does not follow the usual narrative of a successful star. It is not a story about a natural talent easily conquering every challenge. Instead, it is a story about a person who constantly questioned herself. Gabi does not hide her hesitation. She had injuries. She wondered if she was good enough to play for a club like VakifBank. She could not see herself becoming captain. But those moments of doubt shaped her. When she talks about leaving her comfort zone, she is not talking about geography. She is talking about leaving behind a safe version of herself. She had to leave behind the idea that she was a promising young athlete and become a true leader on the court. Those who have followed Brazilian women’s volleyball for years will surely notice the difference between the Gabi of the early national team days and the Gabi of VakifBank. For Brazil, she was a piece in a larger group. For VakifBank, she had to become the center of attention, the center of responsibility, and eventually the center of leadership. Guidetti’s role is also remarkable. When he told Gabi that he wanted to prepare her to be captain, he sent a clear message: I do not see you as a foreign player who comes to score points. I see you as part of the future of this team. That changed how Gabi saw herself. For many players, going abroad is a way to earn a bigger contract. For Gabi, it was a way to answer the question she had carried since Rio 2026: Can I stand where no one remembers who I am? The answer, after all, is not in the number of trophies. It is in the way she changed how she saw herself. When she entered VakifBank, she was a talented Brazilian player. When she left, she was a global leader. This story also offers a larger lesson for volleyball in general. People often talk about tactics, fitness, and technique. But at a certain level, the line between success and failure lies in mental readiness. Gabi understood that very early. When she sat by the pool and talked with Bruno, she did not talk about beautiful plays. She talked about sleepless nights, unanswered questions, and facing her own fears. Bruno, a familiar figure in Brazilian volleyball, listened calmly. Between them was the understanding of people who chose to leave their homeland to chase the highest level. There was no need for many words, because they understood that this path always has a price. There is a prejudice that Brazilian players go abroad for money. Gabi’s story shows that this is only a small part of the truth. Money is part of it, but it is not the main motivation. The main motivation is the desire to test oneself in an environment without favoritism. When you leave Brazil, you are no longer “Gabi of the Brazilian national team.” You become a stranger in a Turkish club’s locker room. You have to prove everything from zero. Gabi proved it in her own way. Not through loud statements, but through hard work, the right attitude, and winning the trust of one of the most demanding coaches in the world. Giovanni Guidetti is known for setting high standards. He does not give praise easily. The fact that he saw leadership potential in Gabi from the start shows that he was not only evaluating her through statistics. He saw something deeper. Gabi admitted she was shocked when she heard Guidetti talk about becoming captain. That shock came from never seeing herself in a leadership role. But Guidetti saw something in her that she had not seen in herself. That is the difference between a good player and a leader. A good player focuses only on individual tasks. A leader must make everyone around them believe. And to do that, you must first believe in yourself. Gabi learned this in a demanding environment like VakifBank. Every practice, every match, every pressure to win was a test. But she was not alone. She had Guidetti, world-class teammates, and a growing belief in herself. When talking about the national team, Gabi was not only talking about the past. She was talking about the origin of her passion. She remembered 2026 when she was called to Brazil’s youth team and trained at Saquarema, where the Golden Generation of Brazilian volleyball made history. The generation that won the Beijing 2026 Olympics was a huge inspiration. Gabi lived in the atmosphere of people who had just reached the highest peak of world sport. That planted a seed in her. That seed took years to grow. But when it grew, it created one of the most complete outside hitters of Brazil’s new generation. Gabi’s story can be read on many levels. On the first level, it is a story of a successful athlete. On the second, it is a story of leaving a comfort zone. But on the deepest level, it is a story of a person confronting the limits she imposed on herself. For young girls dreaming of playing volleyball, Gabi’s story is a message: It is okay if you are afraid. It is okay if you do not know whether you are ready. What matters is whether you are brave enough to walk out the door. Gabi walked through that door. And that door, like any other, only opens when you are brave enough to push it. Sitting by the pool, in a conversation with no spectators, Gabi and Bruno seemed to be doing more than remembering the past. They were passing on a belief that the most difficult choices are often the right ones. “The iron door closed, and I knew I could not escape,” Gabi might have thought in her early days at VakifBank. But volleyball, as she proved, always has a way for those who persist. Gabi’s story proves that no road to the top is without rough patches. It is those patches that build the character of a champion. To those who are still hesitating between staying safe and stepping into the wider world, Gabi sends a clear message: If you truly want to grow, you must be willing to leave the familiar. That is not a punishment. It is a gift. The conversation between Bruno and Gabi by the pool might have been private. But for those who hear it, it is a lesson in resilience, ambition, and the courage to change. Gabi did not only become a star at VakifBank. She became a symbol for a generation of Brazilian athletes who understand that borders are not where dreams end. Borders are where dreams are tested. The story started with a hesitant step by Gabi after the Rio 2026 Olympics. But it did not stop there. It took her to Istanbul, to the biggest arenas in Europe, and brought her back as a more mature version of herself. When Gabi wears the Brazilian national team jersey now, she is no longer the young girl of 2026 standing at Saquarema and admiring the older generation. She is a leader, a champion, and someone who turned fear into motivation. That is what makes Gabi’s story go beyond sport. It is a story of a person daring to say to herself: I do not know if I am ready, but I will try. And that trial, as volleyball history has noted, turned out to be one of the most important decisions of her career. Today, when she looks back at her time at VakifBank, Gabi does not only mention trophies. She mentions Guidetti, his first words about the captain’s armband, and the way she had to change to become the person the team needed. She also mentions Brazil, Saquarema, and the 2026 generation that showed her that dreams are real. All those pieces connect to form the journey Gabi just told Bruno by the pool. There is a peace in the way Gabi looks at the past. She is no longer the young woman worrying about injuries or wondering if she could play in the best leagues. She answered that question with her actions. The answer, clearly, is yes. But more importantly, she found her own definition of success. Not trophies, not money, but becoming the best version of herself, even if that meant leaving her homeland and facing nameless challenges. When Bruno and Gabi stood up and left the pool, their conversation would probably still echo in the minds of those who witnessed it. Because there, among honest words, was a timeless lesson: to reach the stars, sometimes you have to leave the ground. And Gabi did just that. Not only through talent, but through the courage to step into a completely foreign world, where nobody owed her anything, and where she had to conquer everything on her own. That, perhaps, is her greatest legacy.