Dejan Udovičić ( sr-cyrl, Дејан Удовичић; born 26 July 1970) is a Serbian professional

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

head coach. He was named head coach for

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

in June 2006, after the dissolution of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro. As a senior, he played for

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, link ...

and VK Beograd, while his coaching career started with

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

where he stayed for nine seasons (2000-2009). His most notable achievement with the club was third place at the 2007

Euroleague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, f ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. As the head coach of the Serbian national team, he has won gold medals at the

2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships ( it, Campionati mondiali di nuoto 2009) or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines ...

and the 2006 Men's European Water Polo Championship, as well as the

2012 Men's European Water Polo Championship The 2012 Men's European Water Polo Championship took place at the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swim Stadium in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, from 16 to 29 January 2012. Road to the 2012 Olympics The championships was part of the qualification proce ...

. He has also steered the national team to a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Early life

Dejan and his twin brother Darko began playing water polo in primary school, after a friend of their father's recommended they tried it out. Both were attracted to other sports as well, but in the end decided to stick with water polo. At that time,

had top level coaches who had emerged from the famous Yugoslav water polo school headed by Bata Vlaho Orlić (1934-2010). One of the top experts was Nikola Stamenić, who saw, early on, Dejan's potential as a player and even as a future coach. Dejan went on to play for Partizan with great success and became a member of the national team which he then captained for almost 15 years. On the other hand, Darko became the record holder for most games played in of the most successful national water polo teams of all time. While Darko ended his career as a player, Dejan decided to try himself as a coach.

Club career as a coach

VK Partizan (2000–2009)

Udovičić left the club on April 23, 2009, after his team's defeat against

Jug A jug is a type of container commonly used to hold liquids. It has an opening, sometimes narrow, from which to pour or drink, and has a handle, and often a pouring lip. Jugs throughout history have been made of metal, and ceramic, or glass, and ...

in the Euroleague quarterfinals, which meant the Serbian champions failed to qualify for the Final Four.

Career as a Serbian national team coach

2012 Olympic Games in London

At the first training session before the 2012 European Championship, Udovičić showed his players an image of the golden medals which were to be awarded to the winners of the Olympic tournament in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He told his players, ''When you start feeling like training is taking a toll on you, these images should remind you to keep working as hard as you can!"

Honours

As a Coach

VK Partizan * National Championship of Serbia (4): 2001–02, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 * National Cup of Serbia (4): 2001–02, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09

Individual

* OCS Coach of the Year Award (1): 2009

Public Engagements

In 2011, Udovičić - with his fellow countrymen

Vlade Divac Vlade Divac ( sr-Cyrl, Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento Kings ...

and

Slobodan Soro Slobodan Soro (Serbian Cyrillic: Слободан Соро; born December 23, 1978) is a Serbian-born Brazilian water polo goalkeeper. As a member of the Serbia men's national water polo team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Oly ...

- appeared in a TV commercial for a ''Quit smoking'' campaign.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Udovicic, Dejan 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Belgrade Serbian male water polo players Serbian water polo coaches Serbia men's national water polo team coaches Water polo coaches at the 2008 Summer Olympics Water polo coaches at the 2012 Summer Olympics United States men's national water polo team coaches Water polo coaches at the 2016 Summer Olympics Water polo coaches at the 2020 Summer Olympics