School, Sports Are Challenge for Brazilian Student

Sooner or later, it happens to every child.

The eyes begin to search farther along the horizon and the mind begins to wonder what lies beyond the safe borders of one’s hometown.

It’s the desire to strike out on one’s own that brought Caleb Guimaraes to the United States from his hometown of Niteroi, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“I wanted to get an education, that was my main point. I wanted to meet people, to have an experience here in America,” he said. “[I wanted] to do things on my own.”

Guimaraes also is an exceptional volleyball player. He played 2 1/2 years for Canto do Rio, a club team in Brazil, and also played for an excellent high school team, Salesiano. He had heard about the prestigious, local high school programs from his uncle, Paulo Rosa, who lives in Costa Mesa.

“Over there, the [high school] sports are not as popular. They have good teams, but they are not so important,” he said. “[Rosa] invited me to come over here.”

This season, Guimaraes, a 6-foot-3 senior outside hitter, is helping Huntington Beach roll over most opponents. Huntington Beach (6-0) won the Orange County Championships March 22 and is ranked No. 1 in the county.

Things are going smoothly these days for Guimaraes--his eligibility has been cleared, he’s playing outside hitter next to Long Beach State-bound opposite Dave McKienzie, and he has learned to speak English. But when he speaks about his “adventure” in America, he now speaks as someone who has learned that on every adventure, there are a few rocks to climb.

In August, 1995, Guimaraes said goodbye to his parents, Vera and Sandoval, and to his brother Filipe, 17, and his sister, Rebecca, 14, and boarded a plane for LAX.

When he arrived, Guimaraes was impressed by the expensive cars and big streets, but at the same time he was a bit apprehensive.

“I was sad to leave my country,” he said. “I used to miss [my family] a lot.”

He moved in with Rosa and his wife, Marilia Rose, and enrolled at Huntington Beach, where his cousin, Tim, is a junior on the Oiler volleyball team.

Shortly after he arrived that summer, Guimaraes was told he would have to wait six months until high school volleyball season began in February.

“I said, ‘Six months?’ That was the first thing that got me discouraged,” he said.

The second blow came before he played a match--when he discovered he was not eligible for his junior season. Under Southern Section rules, foreign students are only eligible if they have come through an approved exchange program or if they have moved in with a legal guardian in the United States because of a hardship. Guimaraes fits neither scenario.

“When [Huntington Beach Coach Rocky Ciarelli] told me I wasn’t going to be eligible, I got really sad. I thought that was the end,” Guimaraes said. “But I had trust and I kept coming to school and doing my job and I knew God was going to help me.”

Guimaraes, whose native language is Portuguese, spoke very little English when he arrived. He excelled in the English as a Second Language program at Huntington Beach.

“It helped me a lot,” he said. “When I first got there, I couldn’t understand many words.”

This year, Guimaraes speaks English well enough to take several classes with the mainstream students at Huntington Beach--geometry, health and U.S. history.

After sitting out last season, Guimaraes is eligible to play this season under Southern Section rules. A knee injury at the beginning of the season tested his patience again, but treatment has helped and Guimaraes’ mobility is almost back to 100%.

Ciarelli expects Guimaraes to continue to improve dramatically during the season.

“For two years he has been sitting around and for a kid that age, that’s a long time not to be doing anything, so I think he’s going to improve a quite a bit before we get done,” Ciarelli said.

Guimaraes hopes to play college volleyball in the United States and might play for a local community college after this season.

No matter how far Guimaraes’ adventure in U.S. volleyball takes him, the journey has been worthwhile.

“I learned how to live on my own,” he said, “how to see things as an adult.”