Head coach of women’s senior volleyball national team of Montenegro, Nikola Masonicic, has resigned from that position because he can’t lead national team on Euro Volley 2023 Qualifiers due to his obligations at the club.
“Unfortunately, due to club obligations, I am not able to lead national team in the upcoming Qualifiers for Euro Volley. Last year, I signed a two-year contract with Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia, an agreement with club that I could also be a coach. Unfortunately, due to postponement of start the season in Saudi Arabia (September 15th), the club insists that we start preparations early in August and there is no understanding for delay of a month. I was informed that eventual termination of contract would be possible only with compensation. I would like to thank the leaders of VF Montenegro, first of all, president Cvetko Pajkovic, for the chance he gave me to be head coach of the women’s senior national team for almost four years. I tried to justify the trust with my work. I would also like to thank the entire professional team staff for their professional relationship and, of course, the players, who always did what we asked from them without discussion. I would like to wish good luck to entire team in the upcoming qualifications, with a wish that they will qualify for the Euro Volley, which the players and the Federation certainly deserve”, said Masonicic.
Everyone in VF Montenegro was extremely satisfied with the work and seriousness of Nikola Masonicic and expressed regret that he could not complete the long-term project. On the other hand, it is necessary to understand the situation he would find himself in if he unilaterally terminated his contract with the club, so we would like to take this opportunity to thank Nikola for everything he has done as a national team head coach.
Managing Board of the Volleyball Federation of Montenegro named Milorad Krunic as a new head coach, an expert from Bosnia and Herzegovina who has been an extremely successful coach of the Croatian team Marina Kastela for many years and who will be in next season coach of Herceg Novi, volleyball club from Montenegro.
Krunic is born on March 9th, 1981 in Ljubinje. He started his coaching career in 2002 in Ljubinje. He continued his career in Serbia, where he won Vojvodina League in 2005 with “Novi Sad”, the third league in 2007 with “Mladost”, and the second league in 2010 with “Dunav Volley” team. From 2012 to 2016 he worked in the Croatian men national team as an assistant coach and won second place in the European League 2013 and qualified for the Euro Volley 2015. From 2013 he led OK Marina Kastela and in nine seasons played 12 senior finals and won five trophies. In the season behind us, he won the Croatian Cup and played in the playoff finals. The volleyball club Herceg Novi, which recently won a place in the women’s First League of Montenegro, chose Krunic as a long-term coach solution.