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 (appro ...

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 * Coac ...

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 city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

parents. He started to play basketball in the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

of his hometown team

. However, his family later fled to

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, 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 from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

Coaching career

Youth teams

Guša worked as a

coach for teams from

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

. 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, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

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

Zlatibor Zlatibor ( sr-cyr, Златибoр ) is a List of mountains of Serbia, mountainous region in western Serbia. Among the most popular places in Serbia for tourism, Zlatibor's main attractions include health tourism, skiing, and hiking and the lo ...

of the

Basketball League of Serbia The Basketball League of Serbia (), commonly abbreviated as KLS, is a Serbian basketball league system, top-tier men's professional basketball Sports league, league in Serbia. Founded in 2006. It is currently not run by the Basketball Federation o ...

. 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 Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, 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 co ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, United Arab Emirates. At both tournaments, Guša coached players such as Stefan Peno and

Vanja Marinković Vanja Marinković (, born 9 January 1997) is a Serbian professional basketball player and the team captain for Partizan Belgrade of the Basketball League of Serbia (KLS), the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he plays at the shoot ...

. In 2015, Guša was the head coach of the Serbian university team at the

Summer Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

, 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 fi ...

(2011–2013). In February 2019, Guša signed with the Bahrain Basketball Association as the head coach for the Bahrain junior national team.

Career achievements

* Serbian League Cup winner: 1 (with

: 2017–18) * Nike International Junior Tournament champion: 2 (with FMP U18: 2007–08, 2008–09) * Kuwait Baseketball League Championship winner: (with Al Kuwait SC: 2017) * 2011 European Youth Olympic Festival: * 2013 European Youth Olympic Festival:

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