Lead by our very own Vedran Cirkovic, on the 6th of July a group of 16 boys aged between 15 and 17 headed off to Europe on what was a trip of a lifetime. 11 of the boys were from Cronulla and the remaining 5 were from other Sydney clubs. Vedran was joined by Cronulla club photographer (and dad) Milos Lekovic and the two of them were set the challenging task of looking after the group of boys on the 16-day tour.
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With a group of adolescent boys, what could go wrong? Well in this case, absolutely nothing! Both Vedran and Milos were overly pleased and extremely impressed by the attitude and behaviour of all the boys on tour.
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Vedran stating, “The boys were really good and well behaved, their attitudes were perfect and for me, besides the water polo, this was a big highlight of the tour. With just Pedrag, Milos and myself being the only adults there, the boys had to take on a lot responsibilities, especially in the second half of the tour”.
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He continued, “One of the main aims of the tour was that we wanted them to use their own brains and learn how to react well to situations in a different environment to what they are used to. And they did just that, they were smart and independent”.
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Milos shared a similar opinion, “I personally didn’t know what to expect, I have been on a lot of rugby and water polo tours in the past and I was a little concerned as there are usually more parents. But full credit to the boys, they were a really great bunch of guys and very well behaved. As each day progressed I saw an increase in maturity, we gave them enough latitude and responsibility to take care of themselves and the chance to build new friendships”.
","stylesMapId":"CK_EDITOR_PARAGRAPH_STYLES","linkList":[]},"dataItem-jk7zgiuv":{"type":"TPAWidget","id":"dataItem-jk7zgiuv","metaData":{"isPreset":false,"schemaVersion":"1.0","isHidden":false},"applicationId":"1850","appDefinitionId":"14271d6f-ba62-d045-549b-ab972ae1f70e","referenceId":"dc1f17d7-f23b-42b2-92b1-672c6d7582f2","widgetId":"142bb34d-3439-576a-7118-683e690a1e0d"},"dataItem-jk82qtr8":{"type":"StyledText","id":"dataItem-jk82qtr8","metaData":{"isPreset":false,"schemaVersion":"1.0","isHidden":false},"text":"The 16-day tour saw the boys visit four countries, with 2 training sessions on most days and a tournament in both Valjevo Serbia & Montenegro. The first stop on the tour was six days in Valjevo, Serbia where the boys spent the first half of the week training and the second half competing in a tournament against 5 other teams. With one team not being eligible for a placing, as they were significantly older than the rest, the boys came away with the Bronze. It was the 1st time the tournament has been held and it was a huge success, leaving the organisers wanting to make it an annual occurrence. Vedran talked of the style of the tournament, “it was very challenging for the boys as we were versing competitive teams that were our age or older, so it was quite physical”.
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Whilst of course water polo was a big part of the tour, the boys managed to get in some sight seeing and from what I have been told, an “eventful” hike. When I spoke to Vedran he mentioned that I should call Milos and ask for his thoughts on the day that they spent hiking, and after no less than two minutes on the phone I came to understand why. From the get go I could tell this was going to be an interesting report of events, when I asked what the hike was like, Milos instantly referred to it as, “hiking to the next level”. This is Milos’ humorous tale…
","stylesMapId":"CK_EDITOR_PARAGRAPH_STYLES","linkList":[]},"dataItem-jk82vngl":{"type":"StyledText","id":"dataItem-jk82vngl","metaData":{"isPreset":false,"schemaVersion":"1.0","isHidden":false},"text":"“We were told that we were going on a hike with a few river crossings but I’d be more inclined to call it walking through the river with some land crossings”!
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While the boys continued on one trail, Vedran and Milos were set the task to get to the venue they were hiking to a little earlier than the boys to set up. They were instructed to take a quicker route and to follow the markings.
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“Vedran took off so I followed him and typically when you are on a hiking trail you would see some sort of markings, but at the time I thought maybe in Serbia they don’t mark it. When we got to the top after walking uphill for an hour (Vedran on the verge of passing out) I said, ‘dude I think there’s another trail’. Sure enough when we got back down to the bottom we found the right trail, one where there was actually markings. Eventually after taking a considerably harder and more treacherous route we made it to the venue an hour after all the boys were already there.”
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Milos summarised, ”all in all it was a great experience, in parts people needed more support than others but when it got tough all the boys locked together and helped each other out. There were two or three other teams from Serbia that came along and the hike really helped consolidate the relationship between us all.”
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\n\nNext up was Montenegro, where the boys spent 8 days with day trips to both Dubrovnik and Bosnia included during the week, where they played a training game at each location. In Montenegro, the boys competed in an official national cup against some of Montenegro’s best U14 teams. Differing from their first tournament in Serbia where the style of play was quite physical, this one focused more on the technicalities of the game. As Vedran told me, “the tournament in Montenegro was much more official as it was played under FINA rules with the whole formal set up. The first game was a little confusing for the boys as it was a different style of play and the skill levels of the opposing teams were higher than ours but the boys improved game by game and ended up wining the last game”.
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Aside from the incredible water polo experience the boys gained in Montenegro, they also took a day to go on boat trip off the Montenegro coast to go snorkelling and visit the blue caves.
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","stylesMapId":"CK_EDITOR_PARAGRAPH_STYLES","linkList":[]},"dataItem-jk82y2sx":{"type":"Image","id":"dataItem-jk82y2sx","metaData":{"isPreset":false,"schemaVersion":"2.0","isHidden":false},"title":"","uri":"ab1dfb_e431884c8f314427b4ff0a4e202fffcc~mv2.jpg","description":"","width":1200,"height":800,"alt":"37910053_676718442678966_210542955303062","name":"37910053_676718442678966_210542955303062"},"dataItem-jk82y2ti":{"type":"Image","id":"dataItem-jk82y2ti","metaData":{"isPreset":false,"schemaVersion":"2.0","isHidden":false},"title":"","uri":"ab1dfb_f40ab742b05e4efabc903f5ab8d1ad76~mv2_d_2016_1512_s_2.jpg","description":"","width":2016,"height":1512,"alt":"37847881_676721529345324_897569558802045","name":"37847881_676721529345324_897569558802045"},"dataItem-jk834u78":{"type":"StyledText","id":"dataItem-jk834u78","metaData":{"isPreset":false,"schemaVersion":"1.0","isHidden":false},"text":"The tour was an amazing experience for all involved, and allowed the boys the chance to gain an incredible life experience as well as the opportunity to develop their water polo knowledge and skills.
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Thank you to the teams and clubs that hosted Vedran, Milos & the boys during their travels. These clubs provided a water polo ‘home away from home’ for the guys and we as a club will be more than happy to return the favour!
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On behalf of Vedran we would like to thank the parents as without them and their financial support, the boys would not be granted this amazing opportunity. Vedran also wanted to thank Predrag and Milos especially for their amazing support & help during the tour, and a special mention to Milos for providing his authentic “Aussie energy” at all times.
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We would also like to thank all the boys that went, as both Vedran and Milos had nothing but positive things to say about their behaviour and attitudes.
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All of us at ACU Cronulla Sharks Water Polo Club are more than thrilled that we have people like Vedran at our club that can make experiences like this possible. On behalf of the club we would like to thank Vedran for all his hard work, dedication and commitment to the club and the future generations of water polo players.
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Most importantly, we want to continue to allow our young players the opportunity to improve and grow as people and players through tours such as this one. We will continue to work alongside Vedran’s organisation, International Sports Development to make these tours possible in future years to come. With the proposed aim of Vedran’s being to take both a boys and a girls team next year. #FinsUp
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\n\nIf you want to view more of the awesome photos that Milos (SouthSideStudios Photography) captured on the tour click here.
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