Milan "Ciga" Vasojević ( sr-Cyrl, Милан "Цига" Васојевић; 27 December 1932 – 24 December 1996) was a Serbian professional

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 (appro ...

coach and administrator. He led the national team of Yugoslavia during the greatest successes of

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...

Coaching career

;Women's basketball Vasojević coached two Belgrade-based teams Radnički and Crvena zvezda during the 1960s, winning three Yugoslavian League championships as well as two

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

titles in 1960 and 1962. After leaving Crvena zvezda, Vasojević moved to

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to coach Recoaro Vicenza from 1967 to 1970, leading the team to two Italian League championships in 1968 and 1969. He then joined Standa Milano, where he stayed for six years, winning an Italian League in 1973. In 1976, Vasojević returned to Yugoslavia, where he coached the men's teams until 1979. In 1981, Vasojević joined UFO Schio for a year before moving to Italmeco Bari from 1989 to 1991. He then coached Viterbo for one year in the 1991–92 season before ending his coaching career with Beton Berica Thiene from 1992 to 1994. ;Men's basketball Vasojević coached Radnički Belgrade for two seasons: 1976–77 and 1977–78. In 1977, Radnički reached the Cup Winners' Cup Finals where they lost to Forst Cantù by a single point margin, 86–87. Also, he coached

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

in the 1978–79 season.

National team coaching career

The arrival of Vasojević as a head coach of the Yugoslavia women's national team in 1980 was almost revolutionary move. The greatest achievements of our women’s Yugoslav national team were to follow. On his debut at the 1980 European Championship in

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city in Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is the tr ...

, Vasojević won the bronze medal, and only one month later the same success was achieved at the

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.History of women’s basketball
, kss.rs The change of generations took place under Vasojević. He offered an opportunity to the younger players he fully believed in such as Anđelija Arbutina, Danira Nakić, Razija Mujanović, Jelica Komnenović, Olivera Krivokapić, Bojana Milošević, Slađana Golić. At the 1987 Summer Universiade held in

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, Yugoslavia won the gold medal, the only gold ever in women’s senior international competitions. The same year, at the European Championship in Cadiz, Yugoslavia won the silver medal in a tough final game against the

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which ended with an 83–73 win of the Soviet girls. The 1988 Summer Olympic Games in

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were the crown of one splendid generation. A memorable moment of the semi-final game against Australia is a score of Anđelija Arbutina one second before the game end (57–56) for a place in the Olympic finals. The final game for the Olympic gold medal against the United States national team ended with a 77–70 win of the American girls, but the Yugoslavs showed all their talent and strongly resisted the USA team until the very end of the game.

Post-coaching career

Vasojević was the first director of basketball club Hemofarm from

Vršac Vršac ( sr-Cyrl, Вршац, ) is a city in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the city urban area had a population of 31,946, while the city administrative area had 45,462 inhabitants. It is located in the geographical ...

takes office in 1995.

Career achievements

* Yugoslav Women's League champion: 3 (with Radnički Beograd: 1961, 1962; with Crvena zvezda: 1963) * Italian Women's League champion: 3 (with

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

: 1968, 1969; with Standa Milano: 1973) * Yugoslav Women's Basketball Cup winner: 2 (with Radnički Beograd: 1960, 1962)

Legacy

In 2006, the Basketball Federation of Serbia named the national cup for women in his honor. In November 2022, he was introduced to the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA in 1991. Originally built in ...

References