A scene was repeated for the third time in this edition of the Intercolegial: Aurora Mendonça and Juliana Cruz climb to the highest place of the podium, the medals on their chests, the sand still stuck to their legs, and the coach Ana Paula Pimenta watches from afar, the suppressed smile of someone who knows that victory is the result of hard work. With its victory on the last day of competition, at Sesc Nova Iguaçu, Colégio Pedro II won the third women’s beach volleyball championship, a campaign that is also a direct reflection of the trajectory of the technique that, for decades, has seen the growth of girls in this sport inside and outside of school. At Intercolegial, female participation has increased over the years: in 2025, they represented 48% of enrolled students, a historic record, and is expected to reach up to 50% next year, according to the Intercolegial organization.
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Ana Paula is the central figure of a movement that is gaining more and more importance. A coach of indoor volleyball and beach volleyball, she has closely followed the explosion of student interest in the sport, a phenomenon reflected in the two-time champion’s dominant performance.
— Aurora and Juliana have been playing together for three years, they are very in tune. We entered them both in external competitions, and the results came in: they won two, came second in another. This gave them enormous confidence to come strong in search of sorting — says the teacher and former athlete.
The technique speaks to the experience of those who carry the Intercollegiate in their memory and their body. She participated in the first editions as an athlete, in 1983 and 1984, and since 1991 she has worked as a coach in schools. He joined Pedro II in 1995 and since 1998, he has seen generations pass through the courts bearing the school’s name.
— This is the oldest competition we have at school level. It has gigantic historical value. As it is eliminatory, it requires strong emotions from the first point. I experienced that as an athlete and I pass that on to them. Intercollegiate builds character and prepares these girls for life, he said.
The 2025 edition saw a significant increase in the number of girls registered, following the expansion of women’s sport and the consolidation of teams in different schools. There are newcomers, like Notre Dame, bronze in under-15 women’s futsal, and already established powers, like Santa Mônica and Loide Martha, who have also taken a growing number of female athletes to Intercollegiate.
In addition to teaching techniques and resources to practice sport and discipline in order to face daily challenges, Ana Paula has become an emotional reference for her athletes. Aurora, now three-time sand champion, recognizes this role:
— There is still a very masculine vision of competition and training. Having two women leading our team, Ana Paula and Nathalia (Menezes, head of the school’s sports department), shows that this space is also ours. We want more girls to be inspired, like they inspired us.
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