Vanja Guša ( sr-cyr, Вања Гуша; born 28 July 1966) is a Serbian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Early life

Guša was born in

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

, SR Croatia,

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 ...

to Serb parents. He started to play basketball in the youth system of his hometown team

. However, his family later fled to

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 ...

, at the start of the

Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

Coaching career

Youth teams

Guša worked as a youth system coach for teams from

, such as: Beovuk 72 (1993–1995; 2003–2007), Beobanka (1996–1999), Avala Ada (2000–2003),

FMP Železnik FMP may refer to: Entertainment * For My Pain..., a Finnish gothic metal band * Fox Movies Premium, an Asian movie channel * Free Music Production, a German jazz record label * Full Moon Productions, a defunct American record label * ''Full Metal P ...

and Crvena zvezda. He won two Nike International Junior Tournaments (NIJT) with the FMP Železnik U18 team (2008, 2009).

Senior teams

In August 2013, Guša went to

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. He was an assistant coach for Kazma of the Kuwaiti Division I League. On 23 July 2016, he was named the head coach for

Al Kuwait SC Kuwait Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الكويت الرياضي) is a Kuwaiti professional football club based in Kuwait City. The football team has won Kuwaiti Premier League 17 times. Kuwait SC also has over 50 trophies in Kuwaiti Club foot ...

. On 13 July 2017, Guša was named the head coach for Zlatibor of the

Basketball League of Serbia The Basketball League of Serbia ( sr, Кошаркашка лига Србије, Košarkaška liga Srbije; abbr. КЛС or KLS), is a top-tier men's professional basketball league in Serbia. Founded in 2006, it is run by the Basketball Federatio ...

. He parted ways with Zlatibor in February 2019. On 4 February 2021, Guša became the head coach of Montenegrin team Teodo Tivat. However, he parted ways with Teodo prior his debut. On 13 February, FMP hired Guša as their new head coach. He left FMP after the end of the 2020–21 season.

National youth teams

Guša was the head coach of the Serbia U16 team that won the silver medal at the

2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship was the 27th edition of the European Under-16 Basketball Championship. 16 teams participated in the competition, which was held in Kyiv, Ukraine, from 8 to 18 August 2013. Turkey were the defending champi ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, Ukraine. Next year, he was the head coach for the Serbia U17 national team that won the bronze medal at the

2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship The 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship (Arabic: بطولة العالم لكرة السلة 2014 تحت 17 سنة ) was the 3rd edition of the FIBA Under-17 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship cont ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, United Arab Emirates. At both tournaments, Guša coached players such as Stefan Peno and Vanja Marinković. In 2015, Guša was the head coach of the Serbian university team at the Summer Universiade in

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

, South Korea. His team finished 9th with a 6–2 record. Also, Guša coached a boys team for the

European Youth Olympic Festival The European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) is a biennial multi-sport event for youth (14 to 18 years old) athletes from the 50 member countries of the association of European Olympic Committees. The festival has a summer edition, held for the fir ...

(2011–2013). In February 2019, Guša signed with the

Bahrain Basketball Association Basketball was introduced in Bahrain through schools’ matches at the early 1940s when the first game between Kuwait and Bahrain teams was played at the Industrial School grounds in Manama. In 1974 the Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) was e ...

as the head coach for the Bahrain junior national team.

Career achievements

* Serbian League Cup winner: 1 (with Zlatibor: 2017–18) *

Nike International Junior Tournament The Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament is an international boy's youth age basketball tournament that is contested between the best basketball clubs in Europe in the Under-18 age category. The tournament is organized by Euroleague Ba ...

champion: 2 (with FMP U18: 2007–08, 2008–09) * Kuwait Baseketball League Championship winner: (with

: 2017) * 2011 European Youth Olympic Festival: *

2013 European Youth Olympic Festival 2013 European Youth Olympic Festival may refer to: *2013 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival *2013 European Youth Winter Olympic Festival The 2013 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival was an international multi-sport event held between 17 a ...

References

External links

Coach Profile
at eurobasket.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Gusa, Vanja 1966 births Living people Serbs of Croatia Croatian expatriate basketball people in Serbia KK Crvena zvezda (youth) coaches KK FMP coaches KK Zlatibor coaches Serbian men's basketball coaches Serbian expatriate basketball people in Bahrain Serbian expatriate basketball people in Kuwait Sportspeople from Zadar University of Belgrade Faculty of Sport and Physical Education alumni Yugoslav Wars refugees