Anja (Spasojevic) Pesic started volleyball at 12. Played for Red Star in Belgrade, Serbia for 6 years and afterwards in 5 countries as a pro for ten years earning 7 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS. As a standout player on the Serbian National Volleyball Team 2000-2008 she earned bronze and silver medals in major international competition. This was until unfortunately internal team issues kept her from continuing with Team Serbia. She is now married to Milos Pesic (Former Handballer), retired, planning a family & entering a family business
Athlete Case Study
Episode 1: We start this podcast journey off huge with the true honor to interview a good friend and great champion Anja (Spasojevic) Pešić of Serbia. Such a down to earth, responsible and humble person. It was a pleasure to sit with her and chat about volleyball & life. We're here in a wonderful city I'm calling a second home, Belgrade, situated in the forest mere steps from Belgradian's summer lake getaway Lake Ada and families enjoying the HEAT!
She's not only won multiple international pro titles with teams from Russia, Italy, France, Switzerland and Turkey but national (Olympic) team before 2007 with the Serbian national team helping to propel them into the international spotlight.
In this episode we get to learn fun stuff about Anja & about how she fell into volleyball and although she still(?!) can't pancake (dive) like a Logan Tom she gets it done on the court in her special style. A style which has been created by watching the greats of her sport play and incorporating their psychological and technical tatics into her own.
Big lessons about how parent's can support a child's path into sports, how finishing education should be #1 before turning pro, how mentorship is invaluable in helping players make tough decision while they are young and stay on the right path & MORE!
Anja's now retired officially and while she didn't get teh international spotlight as she very well deserves she built an image and name for herself showing resiliency in the face of defeat and always being a self-starter and her own worst criticmade it to the top tier of professional athletes globally in volleyball.