19/02/2021 11:00
Mileva Magdelinić carries the hopes of Montenegrin Volleyball
News from the National Federations
Podgorica, Montenegro, February 19, 2021. Mileva Magdelinić is making a name for herself in the highest division of the Montenegrin women’s national league – where she has emerged as the MVP in as many as five rounds earlier this season and – more recently – three straight times. The 19-year-old looks just in fine form and she is leading the charge of the young team representing Jedinstvo BIJELO POLJE.
“I am proud of the MVP titles, because it means that I represent my club, the city and myself in a good way. However, this is only the result of a collective effort, the work with the coaches and the great atmosphere in the club. Moreover, everyone in the city is following and supporting us, which obviously means a lot to us,” says Mileva.
Jedinstvo has been enjoying a great season thus far, since Mileva and her friends were able to take one set from reigning national champions Luka BAR, lost to Galeb after five sets only, and in the last game, they won on the road against the pre-favourites of Morača. They are not afraid of playing any opponent.
“We have eight players in the team who finished second at the final stage of the youth national championship last year. I am the oldest at the age of 19. I have to say that we train hard and we are in great shape – as you can see from the results we have achieved this season. The coach Mladen Miladinović is responsible for that; we have excellent communication with him and he spends hours in the gym with us in order to transfer his knowledge and experience. Danilo Palević is our fitness trainer and he helps create a good atmosphere as well.”
As the captain of such a young team, Magdelinić is very satisfied with the results of Jedinstvo. “We have a reason to be happy and proud. We currently sit in seventh place and we have qualified for the semi-finals of the Cup of Montenegro, which is the greatest success of Bijelo Polje in women’s Volleyball so far,” she acknowledges.
She was born in Bijelo Polje, where she graduated from high school, and is currently in her first year at the Faculty of Management in that same city. In addition to her talent for Volleyball and sports in general, she has an interest in music as well, as she plays the flute and has finished primary music school.
Mileva is a native of Bijelo Polje where she started playing Volleyball at the age of 13
Mileva started playing Volleyball at the age of 13. “Like my sister, who did athletics and was twice named the best junior athlete in Montenegro, I inherited my talent for sports from my father, who played football for a long time. I began with athletics too and started to play Volleyball just to be with my friends, and after a few training sessions only, I realised I would want to pursue a career in this sport.”
She has contested with the club from her hometown all age-group competitions and even as a little girl, joined senior championships as well. “We played in the second league of Montenegro for a long time, where we achieved notable results with much less training, and three years ago we secured a place in the First League. It was a new beginning for us. Everything has become a lot more serious and we have been training much more intensively – which may have been hard for us at times, but with good will and hard work, we managed to survive two seasons in the league, which was our goal.”
For the young girl from Bjelo Polje, the greatest recognitions followed soon, with the most important thing - an invitation to the senior national team, yet to come. However, this is most probably only a matter of time. “I was three times on the extended roster of the pre-youth, youth and junior national teams. I was not lucky enough to be on the shortlist, but it was a great success for me and a motivation to work even harder.”
Mileva portrayed together with coach Mladen Miladinović and her teammates from Jedinstvo Bijelo Polje
The future of Montenegrin Volleyball rests on her and her generation, who have been developing their skills in the first and second division of the national league. “The level in the league is getting better with every year. Currently, there are nine quality teams in the First League with very young and promising players. I would like Volleyball to be a little more popular in Montenegro and for more children to play not only Volleyball, but any sport, because through sport, they can learn important things for life and gain eternal friendships,” concludes Magdelinić.
The most-invited person to talk about Mileva Magdelinić is certainly the coach of Jedinstvo, Mladen Miladinović, under whose leadership a generation of talented players from Bijelo Polje is growing. “Apart from the praise for the game of the whole team, I would certainly acknowledge the great performances of our captain Mileva Magdelinić. She is a child of our club, since she made her first Volleyball steps with us and subsequently moved through all age groups. Her characteristics are persistent and hard work, discipline, fine manners and the character of a team leader. Until this year, she was one of the main players of the team, but this is definitely her breakthrough year. She has been in great shape, as shown by her five MVP titles in the league round of the national league. I hope that, if she continues with such performances, she will be on the longlist of the national team, which would certainly be a great reward for her work and an incentive for further development of her career,” said Miladinović.
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