Olympic Beach Volleyballer Melissa Humana-Paredes, Called to Climate Action, Joins EcoAthletes Champions Team
Melissa Humana[1]-Paredes is one of those people who is called to follow her passions.
The Canadian Olympic beach volleyballer had an “immediate calling” to the sport when she was four years old.
The Toronto native with a lifelong appreciation of nature and love for animals then heeded “a calling to dive into environmental studies”.
And now, she’s combining those two passions to follow another calling — making a difference on the #ClimateComeback — by becoming the newest EcoAthletes Champion.
Volleyball has been part of Humana-Paredes’ life since she can remember.
“My father Hernan played indoor volleyball at a high level in his native Chile,” shared Humana-Paredes’. “My mom, Myriam, was athletic as well as she was a dancer for the Chilean Folkloric Ballet. After moving to Canada dad coached indoor and beach, guiding John Child and Mark Heese to bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the first Games to feature beach. For me, I was lit up by the Olympic journey and dream as a kid, following my dad around the world to beach tournaments.”
The young Humana-Paredes, seeing what it took in terms of sacrifices, immersed herself in beach. It paid off — she reached the provincial level at 12 and played in her first youth international tournament at 16. She somehow stepped up her pace at Ontario’s York University.
“I played beach for Team Canada and indoor at York — with the latter being a varsity sport,” Humana-Paredes said. “My typical day was like this: Beach practice in the morning before class, go to class, do homework, practice indoor with the team at night. A serious injury heading into my final year made me realize this dual beach-indoor lifestyle was not sustainable. So, I made the difficult choice to leave the indoor team — I loved my teammates and being a leader — to concentrate on beach, which was going to be my job.”
Melissa Humana-Paredes felt called to beach volleyball from a (very) young age
Melissa Humana-Paredes serves during a training camp in Toronto before she and teammate Sarah Pavan headed to Tokyo for the Olympics last summer (Photo credit: Philip Whitcombe)
Melissa Humana-Paredes, dealing with extreme, scorching heat during the 2017 beach volleyball world championships in Vienna (Photo credit: Philip Whitcombe)
Melissa Humana-Paredes felt called to beach volleyball from a (very) young age
Her first big international beach tournament — the 2015 Pan Am Games, hosted by Canada — was next up. Humana-Paredes and her partner finished 4th, just missing the podium. Still, that result showed her that she had the chance to make it at the highest level in beach.
“Someone once told me that you should ‘work until your idols become your rivals’,” she noted. “It was a slow build. I missed out on making the Canadian Olympic Team at Rio 2016, but fortunately I did get to go as an alternate, which was invaluable — I got to experience the energy of the Games without the pressure of competing and also helped my teammates out.”
Her first big international beach tournament — the 2015 Pan Am Games, hosted by Canada — was next up. Humana-Paredes and her partner finished 4th, just missing the podium. Still, that result showed her that she had the chance to make it at the highest level in beach.
“Someone once told me that you should ‘work until your idols become your rivals’,” she noted. “It was a slow build. I missed out on making the Canadian Olympic Team at Rio 2016, but fortunately I did get to go as an alternate, which was invaluable — I got to experience the energy of the Games without the pressure of competing and also helped my teammates out.”
Humana-Paredes and a new partner, Sarah Pavan, teamed up to make a run at Tokyo 2020. They complemented each other well, with the older, 6’ 5” Pavan showing the younger, 5’ 9” Humana-Paredes the ropes.
“We started playing together in 2017 and started winning tournaments,” she reported. “By 2018, we took over the #1 spot in the world. The next year, we became the first Canadians to win the Beach World Championships in Hamburg, Germany, which is an incredible legacy. Our focus then shifted to Tokyo 2020.”
Then the pandemic hit which posed unique challenges for the duo.
“Sarah lives in Los Angeles with her husband, and I was living in Victoria, British Columbia for what I thought would be a couple weeks,” Humana-Paredes recalled. “It turned out to be many months of trying to keep fit in my living room due to the lockdowns. So, we didn’t see each other for about eight months. And then of course the Games were postponed until 2021. Unfortunately, we severely underperformed in Tokyo, losing in the quarterfinals to Australia, ultimately finishing 5th. It’s been hard to process, even now. But my mindset — heading into the new Olympic cycle — is to be open to change, to be uncomfortable, so we can grow. I am still in that uncomfortable phase, which is a good thing.”
Humana-Paredes also gradually opened up to using her voice, even if it made her uncomfortable at times, to make a positive difference on the environment, and climate change in particular. Her passion for the issue percolated while she was at York.
“I loved my environmental studies courses,” she enthused. “And then I started watching climate and environmental documentaries, learning about the 6th great extinction — due to humans. Extreme heat at our tournaments became much more common. And when I saw global wildfires and massive flooding hit close to home in British Columbia, it really impacted me. I felt anger, despair, and anxiety. Starting in 2016, I began to act, organizing beach cleanups, creating a fundraiser for the Canadian Bee Research Fund, offsetting the carbon emissions from travel to and from all my tournaments and then using my social media platform to communicate on climate.”
Humana-Paredes believes that becoming an EcoAthletes Champion will accelerate her ability to impact the #ClimateComeback.
“I first heard about the organization from Canadian EcoAthletes Champion and Olympic bobsledder and sprinter Seyi Smith,” Humana-Paredes shared. “I loved that there was an organization that connects sports and climate, and I knew I had to be a part of it. Now, I’m feeling empowered and excited by the possibilities of leading climate action, not scared by the problems. So, let’s GO!”
EcoAthletes founder and CEO Lew Blaustein is ready.
“I will tell you this: After talking with Melissa Humana-Paredes for five minutes, you will want to volunteer on a climate project,” Blaustein proclaimed. “EcoAthletes looks forward to amplifying Melissa’s voice so many more people get inspired by her.”
[1] Melissa’s mother’s surname is spelled Humaña, with the ‘ñ’ in her native Chile but was Anglicized when she moved to Canada.