Raúl Papaleo Pérez (born October 11, 1971 in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

) is considered by many islanders to be the all-time greatest

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

player from

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. He won the bronze medal in the men's beach team competition at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, partnering with

Ramón Hernández Ramón José Hernández Marin (; born May 20, 1976) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Oakland Athletics (1999–2003), San Diego Padres (2004–2005), Baltimore Orioles (2006 ...

Early years

Born in the Ocean Park section of San Juan, to a middle-class family, Papaleo is one of three siblings. Papaleo received his primary and secondary education in Colegio San Jose de Caguas and also played others sports like baseball, basketball and motorcross. His father is a coach for an elementary school, where he started playing the sport. Papaleo, attended

Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th st ...

after graduating from

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

and studied Human Resources. In the meantime, he continued playing volleyball.Puerto Rico Herald
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Puerto Rican National Team

In 1990, Papaleo qualified to play for the Puerto Rican National Team which is governed by the Puerto Rican Olympic Committee. He played Indoor Volleyball and in 1991 he made a Final Four appearance. In 1992, Papaleo qualified for the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

All-American second team. That year, he also made the Volleyball Monthly All-American third team and helped his team to another Final Four appearance. In 1995, Papaleo won the

AVP AVP may stand for: Medicine * Anthrax Vaccine Precipitated, a British anthrax vaccine * Arginine vasopressin, the form of the antidiuretic hormone vasopressin found in most mammals Popular culture * ''Alien vs. Predator'', a science fiction fran ...

qualifier in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

in Beach Volleyball. That same year, he played in the Pre-Olympic qualifier for Puerto Rico. In 1996 he was named AVP Rookie of the Year.

International competitions

In the

Pan-American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

held in the

in August 2003, Raúl Papaleo and his teammate, Ramon Hernandez, won the

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

Medal by defeating the U.S. team, represented by David Fischer and

Brad Torsone Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

, by 21-17 and 21–14 in 43 minutes. Raúl Papaleo and Ramon Hernandez represented Puerto Rico in the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

which were held in

Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. This was the first time in the history of Puerto Rico that the island was represented with a Beach Volleyball Team in an Olympic competition. Papaleo's total domestic earnings from 1994 to 2003 were $74,560 and his total international earnings from 1996 to 2004 have been $34,626 for a grand total of $109,185 monies earned.

Later years

When not playing internationally, Papaleo plays locally for the " Caribes de San Sebastián" in the " Liga Superior de Voleibol Masculino" (Superior League of Masculine Volleyball) of Puerto Rico. In 1999, he was awarded the "Gentleman of the Year Award" from the league. The basketball court, where volleyball is also played, of the

José Gautier Benítez José Martín Antonio Gautier Benítez (April 12, 1848 – January 24, 1880) was a Puerto Rican poet of the Romantic Era. Early years Gautier Benítez was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico to Rodulfo Gautier and the Puerto Rican poet, Alejandri ...

high school of

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was founded ...

is named after Raúl Papaleo. He played the 2006 NORCECA Men's Beach Volleyball Continental Championship along with Joseph Gil. They finished in second place, after Gil suffered several injuries playing the semifinals. At the

NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit 2008 The 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit is a North American beach volleyball tour. The tour consists of seven tournaments with both genders. Tournaments * Presidente Light Boca Chica Tournament, in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic – 19–24 ...

, he completed an all Puerto Rican podium at the Carolina Beach Volleyball Tournament. He played with

Norceca Beach Volleyball Circuit 2008

NORCECA The North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) is the international governing body for the sports of volleyball in Northern America, Central America, and the Caribbean. NORCECA is the continental confederation that ...

On July 11, 2008, Papaleo was contracted by the Guaynabo Mets of Liga de Voleibol Superior Masculino (The Superior Masculine Volleyball League).

References

External links