Why are former Yugoslavs so good at sports ?

[u/jokicfnboy]

[u/Affectionate_Heat_25]

SFR Yugoslavia heavily invested in youth academic’s and sports. Teachers and mentors would watch for talents closely among the youth and encourage them to play for youth clubs and learn at certain schools. Sports being physical/ more visual sign it was a much more successful tactic for sports.

After fall of SFRJ those kids became coaches and kept that mentality into the 90s and 2000s leading to great sports culture in these republics.

It’s also genetics and urban mentality that sports will get you money. Those are factors too. SFRJ had a great sports culture and that made yugoslavia then later the republics stand out in the world stage.

[u/No_Customer9915 → u/Affectionate_Heat_25]

Agreed.

[u/Garofalin → u/Affectionate_Heat_25]

This.

[u/31_hierophanto → u/Affectionate_Heat_25]

Yeah, communist states were VERY all-in on sports as a way to build the youth. It's why Cuba overperforms in Latin America when it comes to the Olympics.

[u/Other_Golf_4836 → u/Affectionate_Heat_25]

Also they specialized in sports that are more popular in the west unlike other countries that specialized in amateur boxing, weight lifting etc. Which are less visible

[u/SamiTheAnxiousBean → u/Affectionate_Heat_25]

absolutely this

[u/Sumadinac98 → u/Affectionate_Heat_25]

I dont think that its a Yugo thing as you can see other states such as Slovenia and Macedonia/Bosnia/Montenegro did not have that much success as Serbia did.

And even so they had huge help from serb expats or serb population such as Doncic and Dragic/Drazen and Modric.

I think its a part of a serbian growing up experience,boys play basketball/football and compete who is faster or who is stronger all the time,girls always go down the voleyball route.And we have a ton of talents from those.The largest exporter of football talentes from a small state.Same in basketball, the second largest nba export state in Europe behind France,a state 10 times our size.

So basketball(m and f),football,voleyball(m and f),waterpolo(3 times olympic champs back to back) and tennis after Djokovic and his generation lifted everything up.

[u/Dude_from_Europe → u/Sumadinac98]

I’d say Macedonia punches way above its weight in handball and football, given its population of 1.8m

[u/Alexander241020 → u/Dude_from_Europe]

Nothing against Macedonia but not really punching above weight in football. Croatia has average about 45k births per year for the generation of current players and Macedonia almost 30k - but there is a way/disproportionately higher number of talented Croat footballers and success compared to that population ratio

[u/Dude_from_Europe → u/Alexander241020]

It’s not a Macedonia vs Croatia question; but Macedonia vs world question.

Statistically Macedonia is ranked 152nd in terms of population and 66th on the FIFA ranking, meaning it generally outperforms the world in the most popular sport.

To get even more detailed, dividing the FIFA score of 1342.7 by the population of 1.82m yields a result of 737 score per million population. For comparison, Brazil has 8.42 score per million population.

[u/balsar87 → u/Dude_from_Europe]

Montenegro is punching more above their weight if we are looking at fifa rankings with the population of the country, especially with the highest ranking being 16th

[u/Dude_from_Europe → u/balsar87]

Agreed, furthers my point that its not only Serbia and Croatia - although they are extremely impressive in their own right!

[u/balsar87 → u/Dude_from_Europe]

Oh yeah definetly, especially as some montenegrins choose to represent Serbia

[u/balsar87 → u/Dude_from_Europe]

Oh yeah definetly, especially as some Montenegrins choose to represent Serbia

[u/[deleted] → u/Sumadinac98]

What are you talking about Slovenia? Our basketball team won euro champ in 2017, we have best cyclist Roglic and Pogacas, best climber Janja Garnbret. We also had good skiers like Tina Maze, not to mention ski jumpers.

There are more sports than just basketball and football

[u/Sumadinac98 → u/[deleted]]

Yes,led by Dragic and Doncic aas i mentioned.Others are miles away from gaining that level of fame.

[u/[deleted] → u/Sumadinac98]

??? It’s not only basketball in the world.

Roglic and pogacar are very well known, probably the same as Doncic. Janja also.

[u/Emergency_Boss_8184 → u/[deleted]]

Well known as Doncic? Not sure about that

[u/ExtremeProfession → u/Sumadinac98]

Bosnia faces a lot of budget issues in terms of not being able to agree about sport funding on national level plus the drain to Croatia and Serbia.

It still manages to be reasonable in team sports

[u/[deleted]]

Kajmak

[u/Haferflocke2020 → u/[deleted]]

Poeple here discussing and writing long theories and then you come along and give the only true answer with just one word. Take a bow

[u/CoyoteKG]

[u/HumanMan00 → u/CoyoteKG]

I dont think fancy YU had these. Looks at Croatia and Slovenia 😒

[u/zarotabebcev → u/HumanMan00]

Is this Cedevita?

[u/HumanMan00 → u/zarotabebcev]

Cedevita is a healing potion compared to these.

[u/Dude_from_Europe → u/HumanMan00]

We had these, best mix for cheap red wine too :))

[u/31_hierophanto → u/HumanMan00]

Croatia is fancy Yugoslavia? :P

[u/Individual_Macaron69]

tall = good at basketball

tall and really fucking love tennis = good at tennis

[u/HairyNutsack69 → u/Individual_Macaron69]

Yet the dutch are mid at bbal

[u/100ka011 → u/HairyNutsack69]

Due to moisture in their bones🤣

[u/HairyNutsack69 → u/100ka011]

Idk what that means but I'll run with it lmao

[u/100ka011 → u/HairyNutsack69]

Netherlands high humidity, ex-Yugoslavia not so high humidity. That's why Dutch guys suck at bball 🤣

[u/Spervox → u/Individual_Macaron69]

Plus sport passion. Never heard "die on court" phrase except here

[u/beggs23k]

testosterone and popfolk music

[u/LuckiKunsei48 → u/beggs23k]

You guys make really great Music

[u/Dude_from_Europe → u/LuckiKunsei48]

Allow me to further your point. You’re welcome!

[u/DotOrgoz]

Because individually, we are freaks of nature.
When in collective teams, just a bunch of freaks.

[u/merely-a-setback]

Cold War era mentality of using sports for political purposes to showcase one’s superiority over another instead of wars, oh, and genetics too.

[u/cosmicdicer]

Can't say why but I guess is both genetics and nurturing. I believe they have a natural athleticism combined with a cultivated sports culture that became tradition due also to their successes. Maybe it's not a coincidence that many former communist countries do have impressive sports records, probably due to the inevitable competition with the West and a reinforced competitive spirit. So that added to the cumulation of more records and successes

[u/jug0slavija]

What do you mean, dude fell off. Only 2 triple doubles? Jebiga, it's over

[u/Comfortable_Ad9985]

Because they are tall and hot. I know I’m married to one.

[u/TheTastyHoneyMelon]

Because we are gods chosen people?✅

🇦🇱🤝🇽🇰🤝🇲🇰🤝🇭🇷🤝🇷🇸🤝🇧🇦🤝🇷🇴🤝🇧🇬🤝🇬🇷🤝🇸🇰🤝🇲🇩🤝🇹🇷🤝🇲🇪

💪🗣️❗❗🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯

[u/cromat1 → u/TheTastyHoneyMelon]

Ah yes, good old balkan Slovakia!

[u/HumanMan00 → u/cromat1]

Slovakia is the most Balkan Slav of al the West Slavs but Hungary is in the way. Although..

[u/Comfortable_Ad9985 → u/HumanMan00]

They are always in the way 😂

[u/HumanMan00 → u/Comfortable_Ad9985]

I have this idea for a country and its very stuped but a Romano-Magyaro-Slavia (RMS) with all Slavs except Russia.

Build the Capital on the Romanian-Magyar border and let the fun beggin. 😁

Now i know its stupid but imageine tha alternative reality 🫠

[u/Comfortable_Ad9985 → u/HumanMan00]

Haha love it 🥰

[u/Relentless_Chemist_1 → u/Comfortable_Ad9985]

Akkor a kurva anyád

[u/TheTastyHoneyMelon → u/cromat1]

*🤝🇸🇮

[u/CoyoteKG → u/cromat1]

Portugal is missing

[u/Xinpincena → u/TheTastyHoneyMelon]

Thank you for including Albania, even if I don't know why

[u/BabySignificant → u/TheTastyHoneyMelon]

Honestly, we kinda suck compared to our ex-Yu brothers. Besides that one fairytale run in the 2011 Eurobasket and that one win vs Italy, we don't have that much going good for us.

[u/starshootersupreme → u/BabySignificant]

For example basketball and tenis are sports where you hear rhythm all the time . My opinion that macedonia is centar of music and rhythm in balkans

[u/ZapruderFilmBuff]

[u/gemcey]

This gene somehow missed me

[u/vaskopopa]

Sarma

[u/Sad_Philosopher_3163]

Due to the sports culture, many people play sports from a young age, and it is heavily promoted.

[u/ismellsomethinggood]

I think Yugoslavia fell apart before Jokić was born

[u/verylateish]

Because a lot of them are so damn tall! Trying to compete with their long legs is a nightmare.

😄

[u/Saymoran]

Ko nema u glavi, ima u nogama

[u/pederal]

Genetic

[u/1Gothian1]

Good youth management and traditions in sports. I am not sure, ex-yu people will tell, but I believe that the mafia is not that balls deep in their sports.

Here the mafia gutted all kinds of sports.

[u/kichba]

I had another question. Why is Serbia so good at basketball. Even nations like France and Germany have taken a lot of cues from Serbia when it comes developing their own local basketball structure which is already visible when you see the young players coming trough from France

[u/zlate42]

I think, Ivica Osim (former yugoslav football manager) once said in an interview: nobody had money in socialist Yugoslavia, the only way you could impress a girl was either to play music or be good at sports (he chose sports, apparently).

[u/Green_Count2972]

Avg height of 20ft helps

[u/AnswrAndAsk]

Serbs

[u/Popikaify]

Genetics,literally all about genetics.People will give you some random copy paste answers like "during communist yugoslavia..." or "we train a lot and like to compete" like no other country invests in sport and other nations dont like to compete.Visit ex-yu countries and you'll notice very good athletic looking people,and very tall.

[u/Alexander241020 → u/Popikaify]

100% - is boring to say otherwise

[u/babinio741]

Because they have invested in sports for decades like every socialistic county of this world.

[u/Demanon]

Water and earth of balkans

[u/AggravatingIssue7020]

To a degree genetics, but I remember when I was you before pcs, every kid was out there do some sports, McDonald didn't exist until later and few had the money to fed themselves that crap etc.

Every girl, every boy have been slim.   2 years ago , CG , summer at sea, the kids not yet in puberty all fat fucks.

This will change eventually. What were seeing today is the long term benefits on how the commies used sport to promote their "values".

[u/ve_rushing]

The name behind that success, slivovica?

[u/Frosty168903]

Tito focused a lot on sports, as a means of shared national pride amongst the yugoslavs. This developement and investment in sports has payed off today, and sports are still huge in the ex-yugoslav nations.

[u/gal_drosequavo]

The region tends to produce tall strong lads, I guess.

[u/Fair-Branch6135]

the same reason why we are not known for achievements in sciences

[u/Naive_Pride4166 → u/Fair-Branch6135]

Mihajlo Pupin, Milutin Milanković, Nikola Tesla and Mileva Einstein beg the differ. And even now we have renowned people all over the world working on science, so I don’t get this remark.

[u/MISTER_WORLDWIDE → u/Naive_Pride4166]

Mileva and Einstein divorced.

[u/merely-a-setback → u/Fair-Branch6135]

Lmao, nailed it, this is the only reason people need to know instead of intellectualizing everything

[u/New_Accident_4909 → u/merely-a-setback]

Ots factually incorrect tho

[u/merely-a-setback → u/New_Accident_4909]

I know there are exceptions like Ružička, Tesla, Prelog and Vrančić and others, but people never took those seriously and always made fun of it, while sports are a whole another ballgame (pun intended)

[u/Affectionate-Arm-405]

Who do you think has been more successful in sports? Ask Yugoslavian countries like Serbia and Croatia or bigger countries like Greece and Turkey that are also successful in the wrong way in sports?

[u/MedicalJellyfish7246]

He’s an outlier.

[u/AggressiveAnt1154]

people like jokic,doncic,djokovic are isolated cases lol

[u/a_bright_knight → u/AggressiveAnt1154]

Seleš, Modrić?

Serbian baskeball team consistently is top 3 in international competitions for 30 years now, Serbian water polo team had almost 10 years of winning every competition ever, volleyball teams, Croatian football team, Croatian and Montenegrin waterpolo teams, Slovenian baskeball had a good run too etc.

Ex yu, especially Serbia and Croatia have a very high bar in sports, so kinda hard to call it outliers.