Dejan Udovičić

Serbian water polo player and coach
Dejan Udovičić
Personal information
Born (1970-07-26) July 26, 1970 (age 53)
Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia

Dejan Udovičić (Serbian Cyrillic: Дејан Удовичић; born 26 July 1970) is a Serbian professional water polo head coach.[1] He was named head coach for Serbia in June 2006, after the dissolution of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro. As a senior, he played for Partizan Belgrade and VK Beograd, while his coaching career started with Partizan where he stayed for nine seasons (2000-2009). His most notable achievement with the club was third place at the 2007 Euroleague Final Four in Milan. As its head coach of the Serbia national team, they won gold medals at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships and the 2006 Men's European Water Polo Championship, as well as the 2012 Men's European Water Polo Championship. He has also steered the national team to a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Early life

Dejan and his twin brother Darko began playing water polo in primary school, after a friend of their father's recommended that they tried it out. Both were attracted to other sports as well, but in the end decided to stick with water polo. At that time, Partizan had top level coaches who had emerged from the famous Yugoslav water polo school headed by Bata Vlaho Orlić (1934-2010). One of the top experts was Nikola Stamenić, who saw, early on, Dejan's potential as a player and even as a future coach. Dejan went on to play for Partizan with great success and became a member of the national team which he then captained for almost 15 years. On the other hand, Darko became the record holder for most games played in of the most successful national water polo teams of all time. While Darko ended his career as a player, Dejan decided to try himself as a coach.

Club career as a coach

VK Partizan (2000–2009)

Udovičić left the club on April 23, 2009, after his team's defeat against Jug in the Euroleague quarterfinals, which meant the Serbian champions failed to qualify for the Final Four.

Career as a Serbia national team coach

2012 Olympic Games in London

At the first training session before the 2012 European Championship, Udovičić showed his players an image of the golden medals which were to be awarded to the winners of the Olympic tournament in London. He told his players, When you start feeling like training is taking a toll on you, these images should remind you to keep working as hard as you can!"[2]

Honours

As a Coach

VK Partizan

  • National Championship of Serbia (4): 2001–02, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
  • National Cup of Serbia (4): 2001–02, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09

Individual

Public Engagements

In 2011, Udovičić - with his fellow countrymen Vlade Divac and Slobodan Soro - appeared in a TV commercial for a Quit smoking campaign.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Dejan Udovičić" (in Serbian). Serbia Water Polo Federation. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Udovičić igračima podelio slike olimpijske medalje!".
  3. ^ "Ostavi pusenje osiguraj zivot - Dunav Osiguranje, Dejan Udovicic, Vlade Divac, Slobodan Soro". 24 November 2011.

External links

Serbia squads
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Serbia squad2006 European Championship – Gold medal
Serbia
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Serbia men's water polo squad2007 World Aquatics Championships – 4th place
Serbia
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Serbia squad2008 European Championship – Silver medal
Serbia
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Serbia men's water polo squad2008 Summer Olympics – Bronze medal
Serbia
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Serbia men's water polo squad2009 World Aquatics Championships – Gold medal (1st title)
Serbia
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Serbia squad2010 European Championship – Bronze medal
Serbia
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Serbia men's water polo squad2011 World Aquatics Championships – Silver medal
Serbia
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Serbia squad2012 European Championship – Gold medal
Serbia
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Serbia men's water polo squad2012 Summer Olympics – Bronze medal
Serbia
United States squads
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United States men's water polo squad2013 World Aquatics Championships – 9th place
United States
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United States men's water polo squad2014 FINA World Cup‎ – 4th place
United States
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United States men's water polo squad2015 Pan American Games – Gold medal
United States
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United States men's water polo squad2015 World Aquatics Championships – 7th place
United States
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United States men's water polo squad2016 Summer Olympics – 10th place
United States
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United States men's water polo squad2017 World Aquatics Championships – 13th place
United States
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United States men's water polo squad2018 FINA World Cup – 6th place
United States
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United States men's water polo squad2019 World Aquatics Championships – 9th place
United States
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United States men's water polo squad2019 Pan American Games – Gold medal
United States
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United States men's water polo squad2020 Summer Olympics – 6th place
United States
Club squads
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  • Radnički Kragujevac
  • 2012–13 LEN Euro Cup champions
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Sportsman of The Year
Sportswoman of The Year
Men's Team of The Year
Women's Team of The Year
Team Sport Athlete of The Year
Young Athlete of The Year
Coach of The Year