21/02/2016 10:12
Mira Golubovic: a special helping hand for Volero ZÜRICH
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women
Zurich, Switzerland, February 21, 2016. In this interview living Volleyball legend Mira Golubovic shares insights on her ‘comeback’ to Volero ZÜRICH as team manager, her little piece of paradise in Switzerland’s largest city and on why she cannot live without Volleyball.
Mira Golubovic and Volleyball: it is without a doubt a real love story – and maybe even one of the most successful ones in sports. The living Volleyball legend from Serbia claimed twelve national championship trophies in five different countries (Serbia, Romania, Switzerland, Spain, and Azerbaijan) as well as the 2000 edition of the Champions Cup with Foppapedretti BERGAMO and the FIVB Women’s Club World Championship with Rabita BAKU in 2011 to shape up a truly impressive resume during her career as professional Volleyball player.
One of the most outstanding moments of her life, however, was her last game at the 2014 FIVB Women’s Club World Championship in Zurich, she confesses. “I shed a lot of tears – but not because my career was over. I knew it was the right moment. I was just grateful that so many people wanted to share this very poignant moment with me. That means the world to me,” Golubovic remembers with a glint in her eyes. “My teammates from Volero prepared a big banner wishing me all the best and FIVB President Dr Ary S. Graça F° awarded me a prize after the game. This was the crowning moment of my career.”
Nonetheless, her farewell was not going to last that long: “After my retirement from competitive sport, I took one month off. I met friends and enjoyed the time with my family, but suddenly after some weeks, I missed Volleyball. It felt like an important part of me was missing.”
No wonder Golubovic did not need a second thought when Volero ZÜRICH asked her to become their team manager in the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League: “Volero are my second family and Zurich my second home. I owe so much to this club and to the players. I am really grateful that the club wanted to give me this opportunity to see Volleyball from a different point of view.”
And so Mira Golubovic returned to Volleyball – and during the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League home games to Zurich too. A special feeling for the Serbian native: “I lived here in Zurich for so long and fell in love with the city. I have even found my little piece of paradise right here in the forest close to Waid, where you can enjoy the beautiful view over Zurich, the lake and the Swiss Alps. When I am in Switzerland, I always go there just to sit back and relax for five minutes.”
Nevertheless, Mira Golubovic is not back in the business to chill, she has big plans with Volero ZÜRICH in the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League although not being on the court herself: “I sometimes get quite nervous as I cannot play myself. From time to time, I just get the feeling to put on my shirt and help during the thrilling stages of a game.”
Golubovic, on the other hand, knows that she can do her share to Volero’s success off the court: “I know all of the players very well and love them like my own family. That is why I want to be there for them: sometimes they just want to talk or ask me for advice. I think I can give my contribution with my experience.”
The Serbian Volleyball legend is sure that Volero ZÜRICH have improved a lot since her retirement: “In my opinion and of many others, Volero’s roster is one of the best in the world this season. Now we have to prove it on the court.”
Actually, Volero already have to demonstrate it at the Saalsporthalle in Zurich next Thursday: after their bitter first defeat of the season in Baku last week, the multiple Swiss champs have to prevail in front of their supporters if they want to keep alive their dreams of glory in Europe’s premier competition.
Golubovic is confident that the fans will see another side of Volero ZÜRICH: “We didn’t play our game last week, but I saw that this setback in Baku did not harm our chemistry. The players are poised to answer to the defeat last week – and I am going to cheer them on from the stands.”
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