On August 1st 2010, the Mississauga Croatia Girls U16 team did something that no other Croatian Canadian girl’s team had ever done before. For the first time, a team of Croatian Canadian girls traveled to Croatia to tour the country and play soccer against Croatian girl’s teams.
The Members of the team that traveled to Croatia were the following players
#2 – Nika Tomljenovic
#3 – Elena Pranjic
#4 – Marina Mogus
#5 – Adriana Hari
#6 – Martina Kolakovic
#7 – Maja Sabljak
#8 – Danka Miljak
#9 – Julia Beljo
#10 – Ana Tominac
#14 – Rose Tominac
#15 – Jasmina Pisacic
#16 – Vedrana Banjavcic
#17 – Kristina Mesic
# 21 – Jelena Banjavcic
#23 – Victorija Peric
#25 – Martina Perkovic
The coaching staff included Mike Tominac, Zeljko Sablak and Mike Kolakovic. The team’s Manager was Mirjana Beljo. Together with our parents, brothers and sisters, the tour included 40 people.
The tour began with the team meeting on the morning of Sunday August 1st 2010 at our hotel in Zagreb – Hotel Dubrovnik. Located in the centre of the capital city, the girls and our entire contingent enjoyed one of the nicest hotels in Croatia. The first stop for the tour was to go to mass that morning to visit the former parish priest of Mississauga’s Croatian Martyrs’ Roman Catholic Church – Father Ivica Kecerin. The entire team and our parents went to the beautiful church “Sveta Marija na Dolcu”. The next day the team played our first game against “ZNK Agram” at the NK Sava stadium in Zagreb. The game was well played and thanks to a wonderful goal by Jelena Banjavcic the game ended in a 1-1 tie. The friendly folks from ZNK Agram treated all of the Croatian Canadians to a wonderful lunch. Afterwards we toured the city of Zagreb.
On August 3rd 2010 we left Zagreb and travelled to Plitvice travelling through Karlovac and stopping at Turanj to see the Military museum from the war fought in the 1990’s. We also stopped in Rastoke in Slunj to do some site seeing. Arriving in Plitvice we spent all day touring the beautiful lakes and enjoyed a wonderful day. That night we stayed in Korenica at Hotel Macola. Another wonderful hotel with great food. Our stay in Korenica was marked by an interview from the website “SlobodnaLika.com” who took pictures and wrote a story about our tour.
The next day saw our team travel to Knin where we had the privilege of meeting the Mayor of Knin Josipa Rimac while we were touring the ancient Castle in Knin. Our hosts “Sport Za Sve Knin” made sure that we saw the crystal clear river Krcic and laid a wreath at the local cemetery. Finally we also had a chance to walk around downtown Knin and enjoy the sites. Our trip to Knin was marked by interviews by Radio Knin and the fact that our visit was recorded by TV Dalmacija. The game against “Sport Za Sve Knin” was an indoor 5 aside game that resulted in a 5 -1 loss. The lone goal for Mississauga Croatia was scored by Elena Pranjic. The MVP for Mississauga Croatia as selected by an impartial judge was Ana Tominac. That night we had a special dinner in our honour once again hosted by “Sport Za Sve Knin”.
The next day was August 5th 2010 and is a statutory holiday in Croatia. Our schedule saw us travel to Cavoglave to play in a game against our hosts “ZNK Split”. This game was arranged thanks to Coko and Lily Filipcic who ensured that our team could take part in the festivities in Cavoglave. That day, under a hot buring sun, our team played at 3:00 pm on a asphalt field and lost 3-1. Our lone goal was scored by Maja Sabljak. After the game the team and the parents were able to stay in Cavoglave and even watch the concert by Marko Perkovic Thompson along with approximately 60,000 people.
The next day was also a busy one as our team took the time to explore the city of Split, visit some beaches and generally enjoy themselves in a wonderful city. However, that did not mean we did not play soccer. That night at 7:00 pm we played our hosts again “ZNK Split” at the Dalmatinac stadium in Split. The game was a hotly contested affair and our team lost a close game 2-1. Julia Beljo scored a beautiful goal in the second half. That night we were guests of Matica Iseljenika at a wonderful dinner. The girls from our team and “ZNK Split” left dinner early to enjoy the city of Split without their parents.
Our friendship with the “ZNK Split” team was deepened the next day when our two teams travelled south to Rogoznica beach. There the girls spent all day enjoying one of the nicest beaches on the Adriatic. Our lunch was a special affair as our hosts ensured that we had a lunch cooked” ispod peka”. For those who have never tried this it was an absolutely unforgettable lunch. Our hosts gave us more gifts and made us feel at home. The friendship between “ZNK Split” and Mississauga Croatia was cemented when our team promised to donate a set of uniforms to our Croatian Hosts as a gesture of thanks for all that they had done for us.
On August 8th our tour turned northward again as our team travelled to Rijeka stopping in Sibenik and then Zadar along the way to enjoy the sites. Arriving in Rijeka we continued onwards to our hotel in Opatija “ Ceteri Cvijeta Opatijska”. The hotel was wonderful and the food was amazing. Walking the streets of Opatija was truly a memorable event and one that all Croatians should enjoy. The next day our team toured the wonderful city of Rijeka and was also able to visit the Trsat church and the old Frankopan castle. Finally on the last day of the tour we travelled to a suburb of Rijeka Grobnik to play the girls team in Rijeka known as “JackPot”. This was possibly the best game we played in Croatia and the action was truly memorable. While we lost 3-1 the quality of soccer was something we were proud of and our goal scorer Kristina Mesic came close to scoring more than one goal.
The tour ended with parents and children dispersing in all directions. Some stayed longer and others heading home to Canada.
By all accounts this tour was a special event in the lives of the girls and the parents. Our trip was marked by friendly and warm people throughout Croatia. It was a tour that went smoothly and had a great mix of culture, sport and history. More importantly it was great fun and we think we have broken the ice for more teams from Mississauga Croatia to travel to Croatia – especially Girls teams.
There are many people who need to be thanked for the success of this tour.
Mirjana Beljo , the teams manager helped organize the tour and the logistics.
Our fundraising was a success due to a great idea by Vesna Kolakovic to hold a New Years dance. That dance saw all of the parents of the girls band together and pull off a great event at the Croatian Centre in Norval.
Our own Mississauga Croatia Soccer Club helped the team by contributing to the trip as per the Clubs policies. For that we are all grateful.
Finally a special thanks is reserved for two organizations who helped Mississauga Croatia Girls Under 16 team organize this tour. Namely “Matica Iseljenika” in Croatia and “ZNK Split”. From “ Matica Iseljenika” special thanks is directed towards Branka Bezic Filipovic and Gordana Vojvodic . These two wonderful ladies helped ensure that our tour was scheduled properly from start to finish. From “ZNK Split” we especially thank their President Vinka Fabjanac along with two executives from the girls club Tonci Adoric and Ljubo Martic. They were wonderful hosts who also organized the soccer games against the other teams.
Mike Tominac
