Nikola Stamenić ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Стаменић; born 17 April 1949), also known as "The General", is a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

water polo Water polo is a 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 ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

coach widely considered one of the greatest coaches in water polo history. Under his guidance,

Yugoslavia men's national water polo team Yugoslavia men's national water polo team was the national water polo team that represented the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1920–1929), the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1929–1941) and the Federal Yugoslavia (1946–1992). They were o ...

won the gold medal in both the 1991 World Championship in Perth and the 1991 European Championship in Athens, becoming World and European Champions in the same year. At club level he successfully coached (most notably)

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

Crvena Zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in B ...

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 ...

Bečej Bečej ( sr-cyrl, Бечеј, ; hu, Óbecse, ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 23,895, while the municipality has 37,351 inhabitants. It ...

and

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Playing career

Stamenić was born in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

. He played water polo most notably 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 ...

, where he won two back-to-back European Champions Cups in 1975 and 1976 under the guidance of coach Vlaho Orlić. He was also a member of the

, winning two bronze medals in the 1973 World Championship in Belgrade and the 1974 European Championship in Vienna.

Coaching career

In 1988, after the departure of

Ratko Rudić Ratko Rudić (born 7 June 1948 in Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a retired Croatian water polo coach and a former water polo player. , he has won 38 medals as a coach at major events, making him the most successful water polo coach in h ...

, he became the head coach of

(and after 1992, head coach of the

Serbia men's national water polo team The Serbia men's national water polo team represents Serbia in international water polo competitions and is controlled by the . They have won gold medals in the Olympics, World and European Championships, World Cup, FINA World League, Mediterr ...

until 1999). Under his guidance, Yugoslavia was crowned

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and European Champions in 1991 and won numerous gold and silver medals in many major international water polo competitions. At club level he coached VK Crvena zvezda to the first

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

in their history in 1992. Stamenić then moved to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, where he coached

ANO Glyfada The Athletic Nautical Club of Glyfada , or "ANOG" (Greek: Αθλητικός Ναυτικός Όμιλος Γλυφάδας, "ΑΝΟΓ") was founded by 20 local sportsmen in 1946 and is located in Glyfada, Athens. The first name of the club was ' ...

from 1994 to 1997. In 1997 he coached

VK Bečej VK Bečej (full name: Vaterpolo klub Bečej; lit. Water polo club Bečej), was a water polo club from Bečej, Serbia. Founded in 1947, the club disbanded in 2002 due to the bad financial situation. History The club was established in 1947. Its go ...

and led them to the domestic double, winning both the Serbian Championship and Cup. In 1998 he became coach of

and led the Greek powerhouse in two consecutive Greek Championships (1999, 2000) as well as the final of the 1999

LEN Cup Winners' Cup The LEN Cup Winners' Cup was a European water polo club competition organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. National cup winners qualified for the tournament. After 2003, the nationalcup winners qualified for the LEN Euroleague, and the cup ...

. He became a legend for the club and his contribution to Olympiacos and to Greek water polo in general is considered enormous. He coached

CN Marseille The Cercle des nageurs de Marseille (Circle of Marseille's swimmers) is an elite swim club based in Marseille, France, founded in 1921. It is best known for its water polo team which is the most decorated in France, and also for training many of the ...

from 2002 to 2005 and won the

French Championship The French rugby league championship (french: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s. ...

in 2005, which was Marseille's first championship title since 1996. His training methods, his tactics and his deep understanding of every aspect of the game of water polo exerted a great influence on every player that ever played under his guidance.

External links

Athens 1991: Stamenić leads Yugoslavia to gold

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stamenic, Nikola Living people Olympiacos Water Polo Club coaches Serbian water polo coaches Serbian male water polo players Yugoslav male water polo players Sportspeople from Belgrade 1949 births World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Yugoslavia Competitors at the 1991 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1997 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in water polo Yugoslav water polo coaches

Playing career

Coaching career

See also

External links

References