International Volleyball Hall induction celebration: Brazilian Ana Paula Henkel

This is one in a series previewing the inductees going into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in Holyoke, Massachusetts, on Saturday. 
This year there are nine inductees, two indoor players in Italian Andrea Zorzi and Cuba’s Regla Bell; two beach players in American Tim Hovland and Brazilian Ana Paula Henkel; Brazilian coach Jose “Ze” Roberto and ParaVolley coach Hadi Rezaei of Iran; two officials in Argentinian Juan Angel Pereyra and American Sue Lemaire; and Italian Giuseppe Panini, who is going in as a leader.
There are also three special honoree categories recognized this year: John Kessel is receiving the Mintonette Medallion of Merit Award; Bill Kauffman and Ed Chan are being honored posthumously with the inaugural Award for Media Excellence; and Michael Kane, Mike Knapik, Aaron Vega and Don Humason are receiving the Mayoral Award of Excellence.

In this era of specialization, it is profoundly hard to fathom just how great an accomplishment it is to have made it to the pinnacle of both the beach and indoor disciplines of our sport. Harder still, even to imagine an athlete doing it in Brazil, where their women’s Olympic teams since 1996 (when beach was introduced as an Olympic sport), have won more total medals combined in the two disciplines than any other country (13, the USA has won 12).

And then there is Ana Paula Henkel. She made TWO Olympic teams in EACH sport representing her native country. She not only straddled those two disciplines effectively, but also made the transition on the beach from side out/large court, to rally scoring/small court in a meritorious career that spanned 19 total years of world-class volleyball. And there’s more, much more. She can throw a wicked roundhouse punch AND she is one of the foremost political commentators in Brazil.

We will get to all of that.

Is it any wonder then that Ana Paula was the top fan vote getter by far of any member of the 2024 induction class to the International Volleyball Hall of Fame? While Henkel is being inducted as a beach player, like fellow ’24 IVHF class member, Tim Hovland, she cut quite a swath in the indoor game, as well.

“I started to shake like I was 15 years old,” Henkel said, when George Mulry, executive director of the International Volleyball Hall of Fame, informed her of the IVHF’s Board of Directors’ decision. “My legs were shaking.

“My face was burning. I could not control…