25/06/2015 17:38
Jelena Nikolic – The ‘mother’ of Team Serbia at the Baku 2015 European Games
2015 European Games
Baku, Azerbaijan, June 25, 2015. They say it is not polite to talk about a woman’s age. But in the case of Serbia’s Jelena Nikolic it would be a pity not to mention the fact that she turned 33 two months ago.
The undisputed leader and captain of the Serbian team is 13 years older than the youngest member of the group. As Jelena Nikolic moves around the court at Crystal Hall you can sense her experience. Though the lost balls still seem to upset her as much as they do to her younger teammates, she is the first one in the huddle to cheer up the team who gathers around her like a natural centre of attention.
“I just try to do my job in the best possible way and in that way I can help the other players. I try to generate good energy on the court. If I see that they are a little afraid, I try to tell a joke and this way to bring the smile back on their faces,” she says.
“We do not look at who are the oldest or who are the youngest ones on the team. But in the eyes of the young players, I am the most experienced one. They trust me a lot and I am trying to help them as much as I can and to give them some good advices,” she adds.
Today she played the semi-final at the European Games in Baku against Poland – yet another big match for the 194 cm tall outside spiker.
Her impressive resume includes a bronze medal from the 2006 World Championship in Japan, three CEV Volleyball European League titles in a row in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and two bronze medals from the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix (2011 and 2013). Jelena Nikolic also has a silver medal from the 2007 CEV Volleyball European Championship but most of all she can be proud of the gold she claimed at home in Belgrade in the 2011 edition of Europe’s flagship event.
Back then, after winning the CEV Volleyball European Championship, she took a break from the sport due to happy circumstances – she was pregnant.
“Normally, I am with the national team every summer. Suddenly, I had a lot of time to travel, to be at the seaside and do the things I normally do not have time to do. So in the summer time it was pretty nice to be away from Volleyball,” she recounts.
“Then came October and November and the games started. I followed them closely and I could feel how much I missed playing Volleyball. I knew that I would come back and play after the birth of my child. I could not wait to start again.”
Due to her pregnancy Jelena Nikolic did not play at the 2012 London Olympics and left her Turkish club team, VakifBank. In January 2013 she became a mother giving birth to her baby boy named Aleksa – and started practicing Volleyball again.
“When I started again, it was difficult. My focus had changed, and so had my body. But I got back in good shape and found my rhythm, and came back to my normal game.”
“Now I am the happiest person in the world. I have a child, my biggest love, and I can play Volleyball. It has been too long since I have seen him, because this tournament is really long. In two days I will hug him again,” she says.
She spent quite many years in Turkey playing for VakifBank and with this team she claimed the 2011 edition of the CEV Volleyball Champions League as well as gold at the 2013 FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship. This season Azeryol BAKU in Azerbaijan’s capital had the pleasure to exploit her skills and in 2015-2016 she will head back to Turkey to play for BURSA BBSK.
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