SCG women look to follow the success of men's team
05/23/2006
Tokyo, May 22, 2006 -- If the present is looking good for women's volleyball in Serbia and Montenegro (SCG), the future is even brighter.
They have qualified for the World Championships for the first time in 28 years, and hope that Japan 2006 will mark a turning point for women's volleyball back home.
"Our participation in the World Championships means a lot," says head coach Zoran Terzic.
"We'll give our best to be ranked as high as possible. Our wish is to enter the second round, to place ourselves among the best 16 teams in the world. Realistically, entering the best 12 or eight would be fantastic," he added.
There is much reason for Serbia and Montenegro to be optimistic, despite their relatively low world ranking of 30th.
They fought their way through three European qualifying rounds -- in England, Croatia and Germany -- to book a ticket to Japan, beating Germany 3-2 along the way and losing narrowly by the same score to reigning European champions Poland.
Not only that, they have a lot of talented young players coming through the ranks, such as Jovana Vesovic, who was named MVP of the 2005 junior women's Under-20 World Championship in Turkey.
Serbia and Montenegro won the silver medal in that tournament, behind Brazil, and this followed a bronze medal for the girls' youth team at the 2003 European Championship and a silver for the same generation in the European Championship for junior women in 2004.
These results, along with the success of the men's team, has produced greater interest in volleyball among young people in Serbia and Montenegro.
All the activites of the national teams are followed closely, as well as domestic competitions and European cups, and a recent survey showed that most young girls play volleyball (76 per cent), while football is the most popular for the boys (40 per cent). On top of that, many new clubs are being formed, with a high level of organisation.
The last time the women's team competed in the World Championships was in 1978 under the former Yugoslavia, and the "Blue Girls" finished 16th.
But don't expect the women to follow the men's World Championships silver medal-winning campaign of 1998 -- 28 years after their previous qualification in 1970.
Head coach Terzic explains: "In the women's competition there is a greater number of teams capable of winning finals. Poland is the European champion, Italy the world champion, Brazil is the World Grand Prix winner and China is the Olympic champion.
"It is very hard to reach the level of these teams. I hope we will follow our guys, meaning that when we win the first medal we will continue our journey to the top of the world.
"We have a team that has been able to play together a long time, and the first success would be a great initiative for our girls to advance, for our federation and also for our fans."
In 2006, the women's team is predicted to confirm all the potential and talent they possess with good results at the World Championships, and take a big step forward on the long road to the top.
1) The senior women's national team of Serbia and Montenegro
2) The junior women's national team of Serbia and Montenegro who won the silver medal at the 2005 World Championships in Ankara, Turkey.
3) The junior women's national team of Serbia and Montenegro after their semi-final win in Ankara, Turkey.
