PARIS — Brandie Wilkerson thought she was going to be a rugby player when she grew up.
Or an artist.
But when she was in high school, her mother Stephanie brought her to what was supposed to be a closed volleyball tryout in Toronto. York University coach Hernan Humana invited her in and saw this tall girl who could jump through the gym roof with an NBA-playing father and mom who ran for the Swiss national team.
Of course, there was room for Brandie at York.
On Wednesday, Wilkerson and Hernan’s daughter Melissa advanced to the Olympic beach volleyball semifinal with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) victory over Spain’s Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno at the jaw-dropping Eiffel Tower Stadium.
The former indoor teammates will be the first Canadian females in play for an Olympic beach medal when they face the Swiss duo of Tanja Huberli and Nina Betschart on Thursday (11 a.m. ET).
“He’s the one who forced me to play volleyball,” the 32-year-old Wilkerson said of Hernan. “I didn’t know much about the sport. It was basically, this is when the tryout is. Go.”
Her partner beamed at the memory.
“She was a walk-on on our (York) team and then she became the all-star on our team,” 31-year-old Melissa Humana-Paredes said. “Thank you, dad. We wouldn’t be here if she didn’t go to that tryout.”
It took a while to forge this partnership. Humana-Paredes lost in the quarterfinal round with Sarah Pavan three years ago at Tokyo while Wilkerson and Heather Bansley fell at the exact same point.
Now as teammates, they found a way forward.
“It’s the first step there,” Humana-Paredes said. “There’s still a lot to go. This is the first step in what we promised ourselves and when we got together, what we said we were going to do. We’re holding each other accountable to doing that and really growing the game, hopefully making our country proud and inspiring young women — young girls of colour — to play beach volleyball and look at (the game) and be yourselves.”
At critical times in the match, they imposed their will on the Spaniards, who play NCAA beach volleyball with the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. This was the first meeting between the grizzled Canadian vets and the Summer Games rookies.
“We have the experience and (used) that to our advantage to a younger, newer team,” Wilkerson said. “A lot of the commitment in making history is a big thank you to all the Canadian women that played before us — our ex-partners, ex-opponents — that have slowly been paving the way all this time.”
John Child and Mark Heese won Canada’s only medal on the beach 28 years ago in Atlanta. Hernan Humana coached them at the time, too, and has passed on those qualities to his daughter.
“I remember the grit, the journey, that it takes,” Melissa said. “I remember the relationship my dad had with his players and with Mark and John as a team. I remember the emphasis they had on unity and mindfulness and the intangibles of the game. It wasn’t the percentages, the side out, the bumps-and-spikes. It was the heart and the grit. That’s what I remember and that’s what I believe in our team.
“I believe we have intangibles. We play volleyball for the joy of it, the joy of finding our true potential. Those early lessons from my dad, even Brandie reminds me of them from time-to-time.”
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson took the long way to the semis. They beat the Czech team of Hermannova/Stochlova in the lucky loser round, then stunned the Americans Kristen Nuss and Taryn Koth to reach the quarters.
Their coach Marcio Sicoli had a strong scout ready for the Spaniards and it paid off. He has been there before with Olympic medals of every colour, including gold with Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh Jennings in London 2012 and Walsh Jennings/April Ross in Rio four years later.
“He has the magic,” Humana-Paredes said. “What he’s so great at is he has such a broad vision not just of the game -– but the human experience, It’s coming to the Olympics, being vulnerable, putting yourself out there on the court and it’s very humanizing how he approaches our relationship as coach-athlete, partner.
“He prioritizes life, and life outside of sport. He’s really creative and honest. I think that’s what we needed – someone who was there for us as humans, not just as athletes.”
The bond the two Canadians have created is strong right now.
“I don’t think there was ever a moment we didn’t trust each other,” Wilkerson said. “If anything, we trusted each other so much that we were like, ‘Yeah, we’ll figure it out’. It did take some shaking of each other (this tournament). Like, let’s go.”
After all these years, they’re here together.
None of it happens if Hernan Humana didn’t see Wilkerson at a random tryout that led to York.