Nikola Stamenić

Nikola Stamenić (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Стаменић; born 17 April 1949), also known as "The General",[1][2][3] is a Serbian water polo coach widely considered one of the greatest coaches in water polo history.[4][5][6][7] Under his guidance, Yugoslavia men's national water polo team won the gold medal in both the 1991 World Championship in Perth[8] and the 1991 European Championship in Athens, becoming World and European Champions in the same year. At club level he successfully coached (most notably) Olympiacos, Crvena Zvezda, Partizan, Bečej and Marseille.

Nikola Stamenić
Personal information
Nickname(s)The General
BornApril 17, 1949 (1949-04-17) (age 74)
Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Medal record
Men's Water Polo
Representing  Yugoslavia and
 Serbia and Montenegro
World Championship
Gold medal – first place1991 PerthTeam (coach)
Bronze medal – third place1998 PerthTeam (coach)
European Championship
Gold medal – first place1991 AthensTeam (coach)
Silver medal – second place 1989 BonnTeam (coach)
Silver medal – second place 1997 SevilleTeam (coach)
World Cup
Gold medal – first place1989 BerlinTeam (coach)
Silver medal – second place1991 BarcelonaTeam (coach)
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 1997 BariTeam (coach)
Silver medal – second place1991 AthensTeam (coach)

Playing career

Stamenić was born in Belgrade, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia.[9] He played water polo most notably for Partizan Belgrade, where he won two back-to-back European Champions Cups in 1975 and 1976 under the guidance of coach Vlaho Orlić. He was also a member of the Yugoslavia men's national water polo team, winning two bronze medals in the 1973 World Championship in Belgrade and the 1974 European Championship in Vienna.[9]

Coaching career

In 1988, after the departure of Ratko Rudić, he became the head coach of Yugoslavia men's national water polo team (and after 1992, head coach of the Serbia men's national water polo team until 1999). Under his guidance, Yugoslavia was crowned World and European Champions in 1991 and won numerous gold and silver medals in many major international water polo competitions.[9]

At club level he coached VK Crvena zvezda to the first National Championship in their history in 1992. Stamenić then moved to Greece, where he coached ANO Glyfada from 1994 to 1997.[9] In 1997 he coached VK Bečej and led them to the domestic double, winning both the Serbian Championship and Cup. In 1998 he became coach of Olympiacos and led the Greek powerhouse in two consecutive Greek Championships (1999, 2000) as well as the final of the 1999 LEN Cup Winners' Cup. He became a legend for the club and his contribution to Olympiacos and to Greek water polo in general is considered enormous.[10][11] He coached CN Marseille from 2002 to 2005 and won the French Championship in 2005, which was Marseille's first championship title since 1996. His training methods, his tactics and his deep understanding of every aspect of the game of water polo exerted a great influence on every player that ever played under his guidance.[12][13]

See also

References
  1. "Stamenic's balances" (in Greek). gavros.gr. Archived from the original on 19 November 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  2. Igor Milanović interview (in Greek). 15/09/2013, gavros.gr
  3. "The well-known General of world water polo, coach Nikola Stamenić (in Greek). 12/06/2008, sport24.gr
  4. "Nikos Deligiannis, Greece National Team and Olympiacos goalkeeper: When I was playing for Glyfada I had the chance to be guided by Nikola Stamenić, the greatest water polo coach in the world. I honestly believe that he was being too modest when he was saying that he was 100 years in front of everybody in water polo. In fact, he was much more." (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  5. "The General Nikola Stamenić is considered by many to be the best water polo coach in the world" (in Greek). tovima.gr. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  6. "Interview of Aleksandar Ćirić: Nikola Stamenić isn't a teacher. He is a God. Nobody is like him and nobody did the things he's done. Water polo in its current state is exactly what Stamenic inspired 20 years ago." (in Greek). gavros.gr. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  7. "Srdjan Miljanic, Inside European Water polo - No school like old school: What Nikola Stamenić brought to the water polo sport is a different perspective and understanding of sport itself. Very few coaches work according to the rules of science (...). He is the best coach in the world when it comes to understanding and teaching individual fundamentals and individual tactics.". waterpoloplanet.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  8. Yugoslavia–Spain 8–7 1991 World Championship in Perth, match highlights, youtube.com
  9. "Jugend - Europameisterschaft 1987 in Athen - Nikola Stamenić" (in German). sgh-wasserball.de. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  10. "Stamenić's everlasting influence" (in Greek). gavros.gr. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  11. "Έρχεται ο δάσκαλος" (in Greek). gavros.gr. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  12. "Στη Βοζντόβα για τον Στάμενιτς" (in Greek). redopinion.gr. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  13. "The Great Nikola" (in Greek). gavros.gr. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
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