Collective sports crisis in Serbia: Water polo slapped, football in a ditch, basketball drowning

Serbia's water polo players were defeated by Spain 10-9 (6-6) in Friday's match in the quarterfinals of the European Championships in Budapest and failed to win gold for the fifth time in a row, which is a kind of record - while gold was the goal.

This defeat hurts fans in Serbia all the more because in addition to basketball and the 5th place in the World Cup, the handball squad, the "traditionally" underperforming footballers, and volleyball players who failed to qualify for the Olympic Games during a tournament in Berlin - this marked a new defeat of Serbian collective sports.

For decades, synonymous with Serbia as the legal successor to Yugoslavia was the word "team." No matter what sport it was, we were considered "fearsome," tough opponents to the world's best squads. Still, the impression is that much has changed since in recent months national teams in the most important team sports have been experiencing no end to defeats.

Thus, a new "slap" by the Spaniards, who also kicked the rejuvenated Dolphins from the World Cup at the end of July last year, echoes and begs the question: Are we still that good and the best? The answer is, as hard as it is to admit - NO longer! And there are many reasons.

When it comes to water polo, it is enough to point out that we can count on the fingers of our hands the indoor pools that we as a state have at our disposal. Over the years, we have been able to "sin" against the most trophy sport and bring it down, despite the legendary water polo players still "ruling" abroad, to a semi-amateur level.

Young people are not worked with in a planned manner, experts mostly go abroad, and the problems of cold pools, unresolved property issues, conditions, funds for going to a game, which in many countries are not raised as a problem, are a major problem for us.

The clubs are not worth talking about either, because from the once strong Partizan, Becej, Red Star, Radnicki from Kragujevac, Vojvodina, Sabac, we have been reduced to mutual squabbles and fight for a mere existence. There are few who care about young people who will succeed Pjetlovic, Prlainovic, Filipovic. And there should be more.

During this time, once inferior countries have been able to catch up thanks to systematic work and get to lecture the greats now and again. One example is Hungary, which has its Danube water polo arena, which is home to their national sport and is literally a "spaceship" compared to conditions in Tasmajdan and Banjica arenas in Belgrade.

Of course, while "the red alarm" is on for the future, there is nothing, and it would not be appropriate, to hold against those national team members who made the nation happy so many times. A spot in the Olympics has been secured, where a good result would completely overshadow the current elimination.

Basketball - after the World Cup in China, Tokyo as a lifeline?

Two games, against Spain and then Argentina, at the World Cup in China last September dispelled the "myth" of invincibility of perhaps the strongest assembled Serbian basketball team after the gold won in Indianapolis in 2002. Sale Djordjevic, now the former head coach, had the best of the best at his disposal, but injuries of Teodosic and Milosavljevic, as well as leaving Kalinic and Nedovic out of the team, and the death of Vasa Micic's mother, affected the squad to finish only 5th in the competition.

Victory over the weakened US "dream team" merely alleviated the pain of basketball fans and gave hope that something could change.

A shock, the sobering, facing reality or something else, the fact is that the continuity of winning medals that started in 2014 at the World Cup in Spain has been broken. Kokoskov was hired as head coach for only one purpose - to take the Eagles to the Olympics this year, via Belgrade, which, thanks to the state's guarantees, hosts the qualifying tournament. A great extenuating circumstance.

However, this is only a momentary delay of numerous problems, which is something pointed at by many experts, including trophy-winning coach Svetislav Pesic in an interview with the sports daily Zurnal.

"Without ny dilemma, Kokoskov is a great choice. But when it comes to Serbia, I always wonder what happens next. Our goal is to always play in the Olympics, plus if possible win some medal. Still, what next."

"Who determines the policy of the profession, who makes the model of the Serbian player, who creates the model and philosophy of the game, attack, defense, the team. Who determines how the team is selected and how work is done with these players, we don't even have professional coaches. Not even for seniors, let alone for junior teams. Coaches are hired, with different philosophies, each with their own system of work and preparation. Who determines if this is good? The people in charge have to think about it. The Olympics will come and go quickly. And then what? To change coaches every year."

Exactly in this statement lies the essence of the problem, which is all the greater if one considers the "collapse" of junior basketball teams and the lack of results in all championships played last year. It makes no sense to talk about medals because over the past summer we have been losing to non-basketballing countries like the United Kingdom.

The shine and misery of Serbian football

Qualifying for the World Cup in Russia in 2018 and the goal scored in the first game by Aleksandar Kolarov from a free kick instantly ignited all the most unrealistic passions among football fans, that were quickly extinguished.

Thus, statements like, "give us Brazil to play," "we can at least reach the last 16 and then you never know," and "we will punch holes in the Swiss like in cheese," were replaced by excuses for the match against them, and a few months later Krstajic's debacle against Ukraine, his dismissal, new scandals that don't seem to have an end...

Considering that even the younger categories have not been brilliant, it's not difficult to conclude that there's trouble in this collective sport as well. The current and short-term "salvation" is seen in the League of Nations and the playoffs against Norway and later Scotland (if we knock out Norway), which would secure Serbia's first trip to a European Championship after 2000.

Handball hits rock bottom

"We renounce many too easily, while nothing changes only in the Alliance. The profession always pays the price of failure, but no one is responsible when it comes to the top of the organization itself. In Serbia, handball is in 5th or 6th place," former head coach Veselin Vukovic, who won silver at the European Championship in Belgrade in 2012, thus taking Serbia to the Olympic Games in London, said in a recent interview for Telegraf.

Handball, too, at the club level, is falling to the levels of semi-amateurism, with barely two serious clubs, Vojvodina and Metaloplastika playing in the SEHA League, while others barely make ends meet. There's no planned work with younger categories, and there's less and less interest.

As a consequence, results from major competitions are lacking year after year, while we increasingly lag behind superpowers, whom were were able to defeat as recently as in 2012. So we will have to pre-qualify for the next big competition.

Volleyball - European champions and skipping Olympics

Taking into account all sports, in recent months the volleyball team, both in men's and women's competition, brought some successes. Head Coach Boba Kovac's chosen ones, as well as Zoran Terzic's ladies, climbed to the summit of Europe, which, given the difficult conditions in domestic championships, is a miracle. Still, quality leadership and a number of top players have contributed to the incredible success.

However, the beginning of the year was marked by the Olympics qualifying tournament for men in Berlin, after which only France managed to qualify for Tokyo. A lack of concentration in the crucial moments, as well as a harsh competition system where only one team progresses, left us without another national team's participation in the most massive sports competition in the world.

What next?

Serbia's collective sport is in a major crisis of results, and there is little time to stabilize and get it back on track. Underinvestment, lagging behind the best, neglecting the "Serbian school" and work with the young, defining a clear path in a particular sport from junior to senior teams, moving to "modern" trends that don't work, bad relationships in alliances, debatable professional quality, failing to invite the best to the squad, are just some of the reasons for the "slaps" suffered by the athletes, and with them, the fans.

The impression is that, first and foremost, interest in sport would have to be increased among the youngest, secured and be used where it already exists, conditions, with current athletes "swallowing" all the vanities and setting a clear goal and work plan in order for us to remain "a country of collective sports" - and not be down to the huge successes of individuals like Novak Djokovic, Ivana Spanovic, Milica Mandic, Tijana Bogdanovic and several other top athletes. We are Serbia, after all.

(S.G.)