The Medicinar from Sabac has four victories from the first five games of the women’s Super League of Serbia, with a young team in which only three professional players play, the other girls are still going to school, points out Sandra Kolaković, the head of the professional staff.
It is the third season since she took over the „helm“ of the club in which her career began, later crowned with numerous trophies in the Buducnost jersey, the Champions League with Crimea and bronze from the World Championship in Italy 19 years ago.
Two years ago, when we started, Bojan Radukić and I were aware that girls born between 2002 and 2005 could not always wear the game of Medicinar, but now is their time. The late Zoran Obrenović gathered that generation and we continued to work.
He has an eye to recognize talent, but also to convey, above all, love for this game and playing experience.
The right thing requires work, patience and conditions. They need a minimum of four hours of training a day and we have six hours a week, three times an hour and twice an hour and a half without a gym. We are making good results because we have a compact team. They are used to my thinking system, they listen to me, we don’t waste time, we only spend the time we have on handball.
Unresolved property sports put the Zorka hall out of function, so the teams should divide the terms in the remaining halls, all the best are of course busy and the question of the balance between school obligations and free terms remains, Sandra Kolaković points out.
I have to praise the basketball players who did it for us, so they let us do some things for about 15 minutes. So we steal for a while because in real conditions it takes us 15 minutes to warm up and in the remaining 45 I don’t know what I would do first, whether attack or defense.
The defense is the basis of everything, and the head of the Shapchanka group pays a lot of attention to that segment.
That is number one for me, that’s why I have a consultant, George Rasic, a well-known „alien“ who not only listened but also lived and played in the 3: 2: 1 zone, and Dragan Djukic’s excellent book on that topic is a good introduction. Djordje Rasic knows all the finesse, the smallest details, how the defender behaves, what the wing does, center midfield, etc. He coached me and my brother and he coached our father, so we are in the same handball system. I have no problem asking what I don’t know, two heads know more, more eyes see better … Vladimir Pavlović works with the wings and the front line, Mladen Oljača, former Metaloplastika players, works with the goalkeepers. Milan Vujasin takes care of his condition. So everyone does their part, but we are a real team and the biggest emphasis is on individual work. They are in a sensitive period and they definitely need it the most.
A fantastic start in the league, four wins from five games is worth every praise.
Wonderful result. On Thursday, I was not even aware that we managed to beat Indjija, which is better than us in all parameters, after the trench fight. I feel pride, obligation and desire to make even more progress. I’m so used to it, always if I can, why not the most. One should be strict with oneself in terms of analyzing and finding the error of non-criticism in order for a person to progress. After each unit, we have to „strip“ what we have done to see what we have learned, what we recognize and what we have not, and then we still need to work, study, improve what we have learned, renew what we have adopted in order to reach the routine, says Sandra Kolaković.
