The one who has never been in the business premises if the Handball Club ‘Borac’, lokked at all the trophies, pictures of famous players on the wall and returned back to glorious past might seem a bit inappropriate to compare the former and the current situation. But, this club might be the example of long-term neglecting and unconscientiously management could lead to the situation when the case ‘turn-key’ does not seem impossible. This is why ‘Borac’ can and should be reminder to all who care about future of entire sport and future of young talented players.
By: Senka Trivić
Why is it when we mention Handball Club ‘Borac’ nowadays we immediately think of crisis and not sport results and nicer stories?
Crisis is present in entire society and it is normal it affected sport as well. When talking about HC ‘Borac’, the only answer I can offer is unconscientiously management of people who lead the Club. I am directly involved in the Club work and have been an Acting director of the Club for approximately ninety days, so situation became clearer to me. The principle of work was ‘someone has promised something to someone’ and this was the base of a plan and program for the following few months or for the upcoming season, or for the years to follow. I cannot say if it has been unconscientiously or not, but the fact is that the HC ‘Borac’ is facing a big crisis and its debts amount to almost two million BAM. Players were brought and contracts were made also based on promises, which is a big absurd.
What are concrete moves undertaken to bring the Club in the survival situation?
There are many liabilities of the Club and I am attending meetings every day, in various situations, where we tend to find a solution to bring ‘Borac’ back to life, to avoid blockades. Today, I went to ‘Elektrokrajina’ company and there is a debt as well, since they come and turn off the electric power any of these days. So, we need essential things for the Club to function, to operate as an office. We have only recently paid telephone bills, which have not been paid for several months, as well as Internet bills, and function of a modern club cannot be possible without all this. We dealt with this, but this is not a base for future. I am waiting for to be admitted for the meeting with the Mayor and the people who really can help – people who helped us so far, to see what we are going to do. Does our town need HC ‘Borac’ at all or not? I believe it does need and there are several possibilities to get ‘Borac’ out of crisis. There is no one who would bring two million BAM and say: ‘Here, take this money and solve all the problems’. We realize that the Club has to repay the debts, but we would like to get to the solution how to do it together, because the debts cannot be repaid at once. There should be a period of re-program period created for certain creditors. There is a big debt in the reference to players as well, and Club cannot exist without them. Our players are impatient, we fight. We, the people who came to the Club now, are the people who grew up in ‘Borac’ and people who were provided by almost everything we have in our lives.
Do you believe in positive outcome of changes together with the new management?
When talking about the new management, I believe in their honesty and sincerity. This is what I need. If we are going to find BAM 100,000 or two or ten million BAM, that is something else, but I am interested in honest and sincere work. If we had a budget amounting to a hundred thousand, then we would work with it and no more. There should be a clear vision of spending these assets. In the period of ninety days, the young people have already showed they want to help and if it was not for them, we would not played in the SEHA league. Please do not ask us how we play. How do we get along, in what ways, where we get money if we are blocked? So, these people want to help ‘Borac’ live.
What motivated you to accept the position in the Club?
I was invited by the Mayor and during establishment of the working group; I was involved in the work since I am a child of this Club. I accomplished a lot in my career through this sport and this is the reason they believed I should be here. Other members of the working group went through the same, but they are no longer interested in so much, nor ambitious to run the Club, but will be more than happy to help. I have decided to accept the position with their help when talking about salvation of the Club. I believe I should be here. My father and my uncle as well as entire family have been there ever since the Club was established; I should try it, too, why not? I do not know if I am going to be successful and I do not want to make any promises. I am here to provide for the Club to live today, and if it will live tomorrow, we have to wait and see. I might have regretted it sometime if I had not accepted this position.
Generally, how do you see situation in sport? What should be changed in order to improve it?
In order to change some things, we should certainly change the law, because we all witness that those times when we had a large number of companies and factories, which could have supported sport in many ways, are over. Today, it is completely different. The needs to be changed and, why not, allow interested people, for example, to come and buy the Handball Club ‘Borac’. There is no point of our knocking on the Mayor’s and President’s door to give us money, because there isn’t any. Privatization of Clubs is the only answer. When taking about the handball itself, it is an inexpensive sport and one would need a small amount of money to get to real success, to real presentation of the club in pubic, as well as pole managing the club and working there.
How did you get an idea to work with young talented players after you returned from Germany?
When I came back to Banjaluka in 2007, I played for a season in ‘Borac’, then I went to Sarajevo in ‘Bosna BH gas’, and the end of my career came soon afterwards. However, I got an idea to work with DanijelŠarić and overtake Handball School ‘Cepelin’, which was about to dissolute, and we registered it as a club afterwards. We have worked for three years; we had four selections and competed in youth leagues. Many of these players left BiH to play abroad. Our goal is to attract as many children as possible, in order to take them away from the streets and learn them to love sport. Now, we gathered kids from ‘Borac’ and ‘Cepelin’, made four selections, and they are trained by trainers from ‘Borac’. We would like to strengthen our youth since we need them to create the future.
What would be the way to prevent young people from leaving our country?
Young people could be kept only by honest work and talking as well as good conditions. Our problem is that parents more often are more ambitious than children and they strive to the West, which offers more when talking about sport.
What are your reasons for coming back to Banjaluka?
I hurt my back and I could not have played the end of the final season in Germany. Additionally, I had personal problems I decided to come back for in order to be with my mother in Banjaluka. Now, I want to be a part of the Club and to provide them with my help in experience and contacts, regardless the position. It is important for us to watch and learn how to play the way players play abroad, out of our country, to fit it in realistic frames and to wait for better times when talking about sports existence in this region.
