Nataša Kovačević-Stojaković (; sr-Cyrl, Наташа Ковачевић-Стојаковић, ; born 20 May 1994) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. Standing at , she played in the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

position for Serbian League teams Partizan,

Voždovac Voždovac ( sr-Cyrl, Вождовац, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 174,864 inhabitants. The municipality is located in the south ...

, and

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

, as well as for UNI Győr in Hungary. She won a

national cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League (England), National Basketball League. For most of th ...

with

in 2016. Kovačević-Stojaković played on the Serbia national team, winning a bronze medal at the U20 European basketball Championship in 2012.

Professional career

Kovačević began her in Partizan in 2008. In the 2008–09 season with Partizan, she won second place in the

Serbian League The Serbian League () is the third level football league in Serbia. It consists of four groups, namely Belgrade, East, Vojvodina, and West. The winner of each group earns promotion to the Serbian First League. History 1992–1995 In the summer o ...

championship. In January 2010, she moved to

. In the 2010–11 season with Voždovac, she played in the

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, ...

and

where her team took ninth and fifth place, respectively. The following season, her team was eliminated in the semifinals, winning the bronze medal of the play-off. By the end of December 2012 Kovačević still played for Voždovac, which played in the Adriatic League. As the club went into financial problems, she moved to become a player of

in January 2013. With Crvena zvezda, she reached the semi-finals of the

. In the third-place game series, Crvena zvezda beat

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 ...

with a cumulative score of 190–187, winning the third place. In June 2013, she signed a contract with the Hungarian

UNI Győr Uni or UNI may refer to: Entertainment *Uni Records, a division of MCA, formally called Universal City Records *"U.N.I.", a song by Ed Sheeran from ''+'' (''Plus'') *Uni, a species in the Neopets Trading Card Game *Uni, a character in the anime ...

. On 7 September 2013, while on the road together with a team of UNI Győr set for the match against

UNIQA Euroleasing Sopron Sopron Basket is a Hungarian professional women's basketball club from Sopron. Founded in 1921 as the women's section of Soproni VSE, it has played in the Hungarian National Championship since 1986. It plays its home games in the Aréna Sopron ...

, a traffic accident occurred, which killed the coach Ákos Fűzy and general manager of the club Péter Tapodi. As a result of the injury, Kovačević had her left leg amputated below the knee. Following the accident, on 28 February 2014, FIBA Europe has been proclaimed her as an ambassador for young people. On 13 March 2014 she established a foundation that will carry her name, and which, as she said, is established to help young athletes. In November 2015, Kovačević signed a contract with

, following recovery from a leg amputation. During this season, has won the

Milan Ciga Vasojević Cup The Milan Ciga Vasojević Cup (Serbian Cyrillic: Куп Милан Цига Васојевић) is the women's national basketball cup of Serbia. It is run by the Basketball Federation of Serbia. Named in honor of Milan Ciga Vasojević, who as c ...

and lost in the final of Radivoj Korać. On 9 August 2016, she announced her retirement from her playing career at age 22 and became the president of Crvena zvezda.

International career

During her career, she represented Serbia in several junior age groups: U16, U18, U19 and

U20 U20 or U-20 may refer to: Naval vessels * * , a sloop of the Royal Navy * , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Other uses * Great truncated cuboctahedron * Meizu U20, a smartphone * Roland U-20, a synthesizer * Small nucleolar RNA S ...

. She took part in the U16 European Championship three times, from 2008 until 2010. Twice she represented Serbia at U18 European Championship in 2011 and 2012; in the second year, winning a bronze medal. She also took part in 2013 in U19 World Championships and once in U20 European Championship.

Post-playing career

On 9 August 2016 she became the president of the Crvena zvezda women's team. In September 2017, she resigned.

Personal life

Nataša's father is Vukašin Kovačević, a former handball player, and her mother is a Natalija Bacanović, a former basketball player who won the

Euroleague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

in 1979 with

. Her brother is Ivan Kovačević, Serbian diplomat. In 2021,

French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

awarded Kovačević with the highest order of France,

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. On 5 March 2022, she married Vuk Stojaković in the

Church of Saint Sava The Church of Saint Sava ( sr-Cyrl, Храм Светог Саве, Hram Svetog Save, lit='The Temple of Saint Sava') is a 79 m high Serbian Orthodox church, which sits on the Vračar plateau in Belgrade, Serbia. It was planned as the bishopric ...

, Belgrade. The Ambassador of France to Serbia, Pierre Cochard, handed to Kovačević-Stojaković an National Order of Merit, the French second highest civilian honor, on 14 April 2022.

References

External links

* * *
Nataša Kovačević
at eurobasket.com
Official website of Foundation Nataša Kovačević

Official page of Foundation Nataša Kovačević
at facebook.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacevic, Natasa 1994 births Living people Sportspeople with limb difference Basketball players from Belgrade Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Ordre national du Mérite Serbian basketball executives and administrators Serbian expatriate basketball people in Hungary Serbian women's basketball players 21st-century Serbian sportswomen Small forwards Sportswomen with disabilities ŽKK Partizan players ŽKK Crvena zvezda players ŽKK Voždovac players Serbian people with disabilities