SÃO CAETANO DO SUL, Brazil — When Tifanny Abreu slammed the volleyball over the net, her frizzy ponytail flying behind her, most spectators at a recent game moaned out loud: another point for the visitors.

But not everyone in the stands was rooting against her.

Even when Ms. Abreu travels with her team to away games, she often has a small, loyal group of fans cheering her on. This game in a satellite city of São Paulo, played more than 200 miles away from her team’s home base, was no exception.

Supporters wore pink and held colorful balloons to celebrate a woman who is now among Brazil’s most talked about, and controversial, athletes.

One of the top-ranked players in Brazil’s professional Superliga, the country’s premier women’s volleyball league, Ms. Abreu is transgender, which has made her a polarizing figure among those who follow the sport.

For her fans, she is an inspiration.

“If it weren’t for Tifanny, I couldn’t even be here,” said Julia Bueno, a young transgender woman studying psychology, who was watching Ms. Abreu’s team, Vôlei Bauru, compete this month against the hometown club in São Caetano do Sul in São Paulo State.

“Sports games are not usually comfortable spaces for trans people,” Ms. Bueno added. “She is doing so much for us, so we want to do something for her, too.”

Volleyball is the second-most popular sport in Brazil, after soccer, and millions tune in for big games.

Ms. Abreu, 33, is the first transgender volleyball player to make it to Brazil’s top ranks. If she qualifies for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo — which experts say is probable — she would be making history as one of the first openly transgender athletes to participate in the Games.

The 2020 Games are expected to be the first in which openly transgender athletes will compete, even though guidelines establishing eligibility based on hormone levels have been in place since early 2016.

Excerpt from here:

Transgender Volleyball Star in Brazil Eyes Olympics and Stirs Debate