Dragana Milićević: Without constant presence on the international scene, there is no progress

In the "Expert angle" section, we have not published interviews with active water polo players until now.

Today we make an exception because the interviewee is a woman who has been involved in Serbian women's water polo practically from the beginning of the development of this sport for ladies in our country. Her long playing career still continues, and she is also involved in coaching.

Dragana Milićević has been swimming in the waters of water polo for more than 30 years. The former Yugoslavia national team player spoke about her playing career, her current engagement with Partizan, as well as topics related to Serbian club and national women's water polo, about the past, present, and possibilities for progress in the future, in an interview for the UVTS website.

Water polo interested her from a young age, since her brother was also a water polo player. She did not miss the opportunity in 1991 when the first women's water polo team in Belgrade was founded - Škola vaterpola Banjica - to become a part of it. She won the Yugoslav championship title with Banjica as early as 1992, at the first championship of our country for ladies.

She played and gained knowledge and experience in Pančevo's Dinamo, Bečej, Senta, Vračar, Kecskemét, and Palilula, before returning to Banjica in 2021. She played for ŽVK Partizan and now works as a coach at the black and white club.

At the beginning of the UVTS website interview, Dragana Milićević recalls her greatest playing achievements. She played for the national team from 1993 to 2004:

"The highlight of my generation was the first place in the "B" European Championship, through which Yugoslavia qualified for the European Championship in Seville in 1997, which was also the first participation of our women's water polo team in major competitions. We also qualified for the next continental championship in Florence in 1999, but the bombing prevented further development of that generation."

My favorite trophy won with my daughter as a teammate

She also won club titles with Dinamo and Vračar, with whom she made it to the LEN Cup second stage for two consecutive years.

"The last and perhaps the dearest national champion title was with Palilula in 2019 because I played together in the team with my daughter Ana (now a member of the Serbian national team). Coaching has always attracted me, so I was given the opportunity to transfer knowledge to younger generations, both girls and boys, alongside my playing commitments. Currently, I enjoy working with the girls of ŽVK Partizan, so I hope they enjoy training with me at least as much as I do with them."

Dragana returned to Banjica in 2021, when, at the initiative of Darko Udovičić, and with the support of the then director Nikola Kuljača, the women's black and white club was revitalized, ŽVK Partizan was formed, with the idea of expanding the base of girls in this sport.

At that time, the first Partizan team was also formed, with girls who made their first water polo strokes at Banjica a decade or more ago. As far as I'm concerned, everything started at Banjica, and as things stand now, I will end my playing career at the same pool."

Assessing the achievements of the revitalized Partizan so far and talking about the current situation and plans, Dragana continues:

"In the first two years, bronze medals were won in the Serbian Championship, but the number of young female players could be counted on one hand. Now the situation is slightly better, with around 30 members across various age categories. This season, we introduced girls from our school into the permanent composition of the senior team, which reached the semifinals of the Serbian Cup. Our wish is for them to become the backbone of the team in a couple of years along with the younger ones who are making strides towards that goal with powerful strokes.

The number of female water polo players in Partizan is currently slightly larger than at the new beginning three years ago. What are the conditions for the development of the women's team and younger categories?

Every year the team undergoes significant changes. It is difficult to retain players who yearn for a better environment abroad in terms of sports and education. The current focus is on gaining experience for younger girls who are joining the first team without the pressure of results, with much-needed support and understanding from more experienced players. We are also joined by coach Peđa Vukčević, bringing a better working atmosphere with his presence.

There is unconditional assistance and support from all Partizan water polo coaches, as well as club officials. There is no need to further explain the work system at the Banjica pool, as the results in the men's younger categories are a clear indicator. In the younger age group, girls train together with boys, so I believe that their progress will not be lacking."

Girls who start training in water polo rarely give up, but...

Milićević points out that the situation regarding the number of girls is unfavorable in all Serbian clubs and gives a clear example:

In the younger age categories, three to four teams compete, sometimes there are not enough registered teams to hold competitions, a Cup, or Championship. In general, I think there are fewer children in sports, something systematic should be done, bring back swimming to school environments as mandatory classes. Swimming knowledge should be one of the basics of our culture. It has been shown in the previous period that girls who come to water polo rarely give up, the only reason for that can be parental prejudice. We all need to work on getting more girls to come and try, and I am sure that most will stay at the pool and love water polo."

In senior competitions, the situation regarding the number of teams in the competitions is slightly better (although all teams are very young). More than a decade ago, it happened that the senior national championship was reduced to the participation of two clubs. Now there are more, but still not enough. An additional problem is that this season it is not yet known when the championship will start.

We have eight to nine senior teams, with the focus on the fact that due to the financial situation of the clubs, a smaller number of teams constantly apply for the Serbian Cup. It is undisputed that everyone's interest is to play as many matches as possible and for players to gain necessary experience through official matches. It is mid-December, teams have been in training for a full three months, and we still do not have the schedule for the Serbian Championship. Qualifying matches for the Serbian Cup were played on November 30th and December 1st. The two top-placed teams from last year, Vojvodina and Crvena zvezda, participated in the Challenger Cup, and the first official matches in the domestic competition were played in the last few days.

In this sport, survival is only possible through the love and enthusiasm of everyone involved in women's water polo and with the support of their immediate environment, people from men's water polo who are also mostly in an unfavorable situation.

Instead of opening new ones, we are closing existing women's water polo centers

Dragana Milićević has been in water polo for a long time, both as a player and a coach, so she is the right person to assess the development of our women's water polo over the last few decades. Pioneering steps forward were made in the nineties when she started playing herself.

"I have been actively playing for 32 years, too long (smile), with minor breaks due to maternity leave, and I always returned with even greater expectations, which are no less today.

However, many women's water polo teams have since disbanded. The teams from Bečej, Pančevo, Kikinda, Šabac, Valjevo disappeared, and we expected and hoped that new centers would appear in Kragujevac, Niš, Sombor... They say the end justifies the means, but I think that bringing foreign players into women's water polo has further contributed to the current situation. S space for younger female water polo players eager to prove themselves has been taken by foreigners, who do not bring quality to the international scene but only club prestige. Also, instead of developing new centers, we are shutting them down. We bring players from these environments into existing ones, instead of supporting them to survive and strengthen their player base. There is an increasing exodus of our players abroad, which causes the league's quality to be unsatisfactory with a constant downward trend. It doesn't impress me at all that at 48, I can be part of our championship."

The fact that an increasing number of our female water polo players play abroad, some of them in the strongest leagues, indicates that talented players are emerging in Serbian women's water polo. However, for now, this does not translate into progress in terms of the national team's results, which has not managed to reach the goal of a top-eight placement in Europe.

Speaking on this topic, Dragana mentions an example she has in her own house, her daughter Ana, who played in the Italian league and is now a member of the most successful Greek women's club, Ethnikos:

There was no way to keep my daughter after high school in Serbian water polo, and I know she would most like to play in a strong league and have room to develop in her own country. Despite coming from a country that is not prestigious in women's competition in Europe and the world, the knowledge she gained in Serbia, especially in summer camps at the Partizan water polo club, led by Aleksandar Nikolić, allowed her to be a leader in her team and gain the trust of coaches first in Italy and now in Greece."

The most important precondition for national team progress is not met

Our interviewee adds that numerous girls studying in the U.S. are the mainstays of their college teams. She emphasizes that Nada Mandić and Jelena Vuković have been successful on the international scene for many years. This season, Hristina Ilić, Lolita Avdić, and Tijana Lukić will also compete in European clubs.

Quality is evidently there, but the most important precondition for progress and later results is appearing in competitions. In my time, the interest of people gathered around the women's water polo selection was at an admirable level. Regular presence of the director and national team selection, both in competitions and at club training sessions, with constant insistence on quality work and targeted education for the needs of national teams. I can boast that my first coach was Petar Porobić, and later we trained very well with Aleksandar Krstonošić, Mirko Blažević, Milan Tričković... With superhuman effort and the support of the then director Srđan Miković to provide funding and respect the work plan, preparation tournaments, and actual competitions, which was not easy at the end of the last century."

Serbia is slowly being surpassed by nations that until recently were behind it. This is partly influenced by the lack of strong matches. For example, this season, the Serbian women's senior national team will not have official matches, as it will not participate in the World Cup, which was on national team coach Dragana Ivković's schedule.

Continuous comparison of strengths in world and European competitions in all age categories must be the priority of all structures of the Water Polo Federation of Serbia responsible for the women's national team, which has not been the case for many years. Without the support of the directors of the WFS, progress is not possible. My first coach, Novica Todosijević, who has been present in women's water polo from the very beginning, is a member of the Expert Council.

We have excellent examples of teams that we easily defeated not long ago and are now facing uncertain matches with frequent unfavorable results. National teams under the leadership of Vlada Bajković, Miloš Bradić, and then association president Milorad Krivokapić were constantly present on the European scene. There was no "non-binding" competition that Serbia missed: Balkan Championships, the First European Games in Baku, Universiade, countless tournaments... Competitions are a measure of progress and a huge motivator for athletes. Without competitions, training alone loses its quality, the desire to prove diminishes, and as the worst consequence, athletes stop practicing the sport.

To conclude, Dragana Milićević sent a message to everyone involved in Serbian women's water polo:

We should not be opponents, there are very few of us in women's water polo, there should be no ego, but with united forces, let's raise the level and try to get women's water polo back on the right track.