T hese girls embarked on the new and important challenge of competing worldwide in volleyball following serious prepara- tions and with great expectations and desires, with the motto “every game is a new battle”. Internationals Tijana Malešević, Jovana Stevanović and Stefana Veljković spoke to us prior to taking on another sporting challenge - the World Championships in Japan (from 29th September to 20th October). Is your desire to win medals the same as it was before? JOVANA: I’m never full from medals [laughs]. I view victories and defeats in the same way as I did before. My collection is only missing
since the age of 17, since my teenage phase, now we’ve already become women and know the rules of behaviour. Special chemistry is always created on the court. What do those final seconds look like prior to an important, final match? JOVANA: I tremble before every game, because I want to give my all. But I noticed that it’s hardest for me to play in front of my home audience, even if that’s only a friendly game, because I want to delight them. There’s no such ten- sion playing abroad. TIJANA: I always have a strong desire and positive nervousness, but not fear that can prevent you from giving your all. I believe everyone has that nerv- ousness and excitement. STEFANA: Excitement. There is positive
a medal from the World Championships, and even if I won one I wouldn’t stop there [laughs]. TIJANA: That desire isn’t as pronounced with me as it is with Jovana [laughs]. This is my second world championship, as I played in 2014 in Italy, but my contribution to that whole sto- ry wasn’t so great. It’s true that the Olympic Games represents the crown of one’s career, but it’s enough to say world championships for that to sound like something special. What does it feel like to defend your coun- try’s colours? JOVANA: That’s the dream and desire of every athlete. It means a lot to me. I love my coun- try and love to bring happiness to the people by winning. When you land at the airport with a medal and see the faces of people, that feel- ing’s indescribable. It’s a great honour to play for the national team. STEFANA: That’s a special kind of emo- tion that can’t be compared with anything.You need to experience that to understand it. It’s a great responsibility, especially when you play for a national team that achieves historic suc- cess. It’s up to us to give our all at every tour- nament and to be ready. TIJANA: We play abroad a lot, spending only a little time in Serbia, and we’re not even aware of how much joy we bring to people. I come from Užice, from a smaller envi- ronment, and I can feel that excitement even more. When you do what you love and have a chance to win medals, that’s a great gift both for us and for them. How important is it to playing well for teammates to have good re- lations? TIJANA: Honestly, it’s very impor- tant.Whenyouhaveagoodunderstand- ing with someone privately, it’s easier to transfer that to the court. But if you don’t get on with someone, you leave that to one side while training takes place and while matches last. If we want to achieve a result, to win, every player must be our best friend, comrade, sister, everything. JOVANA: You can’t get on and hang out with everyone. Some people suit you more, some less, but we all come togeth- er to achieve one goal and look only to that goal. On the court everyone is our sister and brother, but off the court it’s a case of needs must. STEFANA: I’ve been in the team
trembling, but it lasts only briefly. As soon as the match begins, that slowly translates into power. And when you’re victorious, when you win a medal, how do you celebrate? TIJANA: We celebrate immediately after the match at the hotel. The celebration actually lasts a couple of days [laughs] in stages. We first celebrate in the city where we win the medal, then we celebrate on the way back to Serbia, then in Belgrade, then with family and friends, and finally with club teammates. STEFANA: All emotions are expelled on the court. If our obligations permit, we also cel- ebrate in some nightclub. An important place among the fans is occu- pied by the members of your families... JOVANA: My dad [Goran Stevanović, for- mer football player and coach] is my toughest critic, he pulls no punches – not because I’m his daughter, but because he’s honest at every mo- ment. That sometimes hits me, but I’m grateful to him for that and accept his criticisms. Natu- rally, he praises me when I deserve it [laughs]. He sends me messages before every match and before each match I speak with my family, my mom, my brother. That’s one of my rituals, I call them and it’s easier for me. TIJANA: Family is the base from which everything stems; it is my support in everything I do, not just in sport. Both when things goes well and when they’re not so good, they are with me, to praise me and criticise me, but the most important thing is to take that the right way. STEFANA: They never criticise me, they have no reason [laughs]. But they sup- port me, watch me, we talk constantly, but I don’t like to talk about the matches un- til they’re over. How did you fall in love with this sport? JOVANA: My first coach, Marko Sto- jković from Sterija, asked my mother if she would bring me to volleyball training. She told him she could, but on condition that I be with a selected team, and not with 30 or 40 children. He replied:“How can I put her in a competitive team when she doesn’t know anything?” She told him that I didn’t have to play, just to be in the team. I went to the first training, liked it and stayed. My mum pushed me into everything. TIJANA: I tried basketball and at one time I practised folklore, but I didn’t like it.
JOVANA STEVANOVI (26) Iz Beograda je. Srednji bloker je u reprezentaciji, u kojoj igra od 2015. Okitila se medaljama na evropskim igrama, svet- skom kupu i evropskom prvenstvu. Kao najznačajnije i naj- teže utakmice izdvaja osvajanje državnog prvenstva Italije i polufinale sa SAD na OI u Riju. Igrala je za Crvenu zvezdu, sada nosi dres italijanskog kluba Savino del Bene Skandići. Krivac za sve je njena mama, čija je ideja bila da Jovana tre- nira odbojku. A native of Belgrade, this Middle Blocker has been playing for the national team since 2015. She has won medals at the European Championships, the World Cup and the Eu- ropean Championship. As her toughest and most impor- tant matches, she singles out winning the national cham- pionship of Italy and the semi-final of the Rio Olympics against the U.S. She’s played for Red Star and now wears the uniform of Italian club Savino Del Bene Scandicci. The blame for everything lies with her mother, whose idea it was for Jovana to train volleyball.
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