Nikola Grbić ( sr-cyrl, Никола Грбић; born 6 September 1973) is a Serbian professional volleyball coach and former player, who is currently serving as head coach for the Poland national team. The

Olympic Champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Winter Olympic sports A. Including military patrol e ...

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, a bronze medallist in the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996, and a multiple World Championship, European Championship and World League medallist. Grbić was named the European Player of the Year in 2007, and inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Early life

Grbić was born in Klek. He has an older brother

Vladimir Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

, who is also a former volleyball player.

Personal life

He is married to Stanislava and has two sons who practice volleyball.

Career as player

Clubs

After the embargo was lifted in 1994, Nikola Yugoslavian national team career resumed at a time when he transferred to Italian club team Gabeca Montichiari, which started a 13–year career playing for eight different Italian teams and resulting in eight league titles from 1994 to 2013. He won two Championship titles in Italy (2008 Trentino – 2010 Cuneo), and one in Russia (2014 Zenit Kazan). He also won two CEV Euro Champions League titles (2000

Sisley Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedicatio ...

– 2009 Trentino).

National team

He started with senior national team in 1991, when he was 18 years old. Then, for two years (1992–1994) wasn't playing because of international embargo. He was a captain of his national team in 1999–2010. In 1996

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, including Grbić, won bronze medal of the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996. Nikola was honored as the European Championship Best Setter in 1997 as Yugoslavia earned the silver medal. In 1998

on Volleyball at the World World Championship won a silver medal. At the next Olympics his team achieved gold of the Olympic Games 2000 in Sydney. Yugoslavia went on to capture the 2000 Olympic Games gold-medal with a dominating three-set win over

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in the finals. They beat

in final match (3-0). Again, in 2010, with

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 ...

his team won a bronze medal. Nikola career was not over following

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 ...

as he helped Serbia win bronze at the 2010 FIVB World Championship in Italy where he was named Best Setter of the tournament. Nikola career was not over following Beijing as he helped Serbia win bronze at the World Championship.

Career as coach

In May 2014, he became a head coach of Italian club Sir Safety Perugia. On 3 February 2015, Grbić was announced as a new head coach of the

Serbia men's national volleyball team The Serbia men's national volleyball team is the national team of Serbia. FIVB and CEV considers Serbia the inheritor of the records of SFR Yugoslavia (1948–1991) and Serbia and Montenegro (1992–2006). Serbia won gold at the Summer Olympics ...

. Nikola in his first step winner Silver medal at 2015 FIVB World League. In next year

with powerful presence winner Gold medal 2016 FIVB World League. Serbia had lost their five previous appearances in World League final including three times to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and last year’s against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, now after five silver medals and three bronze, in 2016 year won first Gold medal.

Honours

As a player

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tot ...

2008/2009 – with

Trentino Volley Trentino Volley is a professional Italian volleyball team based in Trento, in northern Italy. It plays in the Italian Volleyball League without interruption since 2000. It has won four times the Italian Volleyball League, the Italian Cup, the Ita ...

* CEV European Champions Cup ** Gold medal europe

1999/2000 – with Sisley Treviso *

CEV Cup The CEV Cup is the second tier official competition for men's Volleyball clubs of Europe. The competition takes place every year. Until 2000, it was the CEV Cup Winners' Cup. In 2000 it was renamed CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 it was renamed CE ...

1997/1998 – with Alpitour Traco Cuneo ** Simple gold cup

2005/2006 – with

Copra Berni Piacenza Volley Piacenza was an Italian professional men's volleyball club based in Piacenza, northern Italy. They played in the Italian Volleyball League. The club ceased to exist in 2018 due to financial problems. Although the club reached the Italian ...

2009/2010 – with Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo * National championships ** 1991/1992 Simple gold cup

Serbia and Montenegro Cup, with

Vojvodina Novi Sad Sportsko društvo Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Спортско друштво Војводина, lit=Vojvodina Sports Society), commonly abbreviated as SD Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, СД Војводина, link=no), formed in 1914, is a multi-sport club ...

** 1991/1992 Gold medal with cup

Serbia and Montenegro Championship, with

** 1992/1993 Gold medal with cup

Serbia and Montenegro Championship, with

** 1993/1994 Simple gold cup

Serbia and Montenegro Cup, with

** 1993/1994 Gold medal with cup

Serbia and Montenegro Championship, with

** 1998/1999 Simple gold cup

Italian Cup, with TNT Alpitour Cuneo ** 1999/2000 Simple gold cup

Italian Cup, with Sisley Treviso ** 2007/2008 Gold medal with cup

Italian Championship, with Itas Diatec Trentino ** 2009/2010 Gold medal with cup

Italian Championship, with Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo ** 2010/2011 Simple gold cup

Italian SuperCup, with Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo ** 2010/2011 Simple gold cup

Italian Cup, with Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo ** 2013/2014 Gold medal with cup

Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan

As a coach

2020/2021 – with

ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle, officially known for sponsorship reasons as Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle, is a professional men's volleyball club based in Kędzierzyn-Koźle in southern Poland, founded in 1994. They compete in the Polish PlusL ...

* National championships ** 2019/2020 Simple gold cup

Polish SuperCup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been ...

, with

** 2020/2021 Simple gold cup

, with

** 2020/2021 Simple gold cup

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

, with

** 2021/2022 Simple gold cup

Italian Cup, with Sir Safety Conad Perugia

Individual awards

* 1997: CEV European Championship – Best Setter * 1997:

Sportsman of The Year Since its inception in 1954, ''Sports Illustrated'' has annually presented the Sportsman of the Year award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement." Both Americans and non-Amer ...

by the

Olympic Committee of Serbia The Olympic Committee of Serbia ( sr, / ) is the National Olympic Committee representing Serbia. It organizes the country's representatives at the Olympic Games and other multisport events. Members of the committee are 47 sports federations, wh ...

* 2000: Italian Championship – Best Player * 2000: Italian Championship – Best Foreign Player * 2001: CEV European Championship – Best Setter * 2003: CEV European Championship – Best Setter * 2003: FIVB World Cup – Best Setter * 2005: CEV European Championship – Best Setter * 2006: CEV Top Teams Cup – Best Setter * 2009:

FIVB World League The FIVB Volleyball World League was an annual international men's volleyball competition. Created in 1990, it was the longest and richest of all the international events organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB). The wom ...

– Best Setter * 2010: Italian Championship – Best Setter * 2010: Italian Cup – Best Player * 2010:

– Best Setter * 2010: FIVB World Championship – Best Setter * 2014: CEV – Ultimate Team Leader

Early life

Personal life

Career as player

Clubs

National team

Career as coach

Honours

As a player

As a coach

Individual awards

See also

References

External links