1.
Umag
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Umag is a coastal city in Istria, Croatia. The city hosts a yearly ATP tennis tournament on clay courts and it is the westernmost city of Croatia, and the municipality includes Savudrija/Salvore, the westernmost point of Croatia. Umag has a population of 7,769, for a municipal population of 13,064. Like many other towns in Istria, Umag has a multi-ethnic population. Croats comprise a majority with 59. 6%, Italians 18. 3%, Serbs 3. 8%, Slovenes 2. 2%, Bosniaks 1. 7%, Albanians 1. 3%. Umag was mentioned for the first time in the 7th century by a citizen from Ravenna. Proof of that is found in the remains of Roman retreats. The towns history is linked to the settlement of Sipar whose ruins can be found on the narrow cape. In the 9th century, the settlement of Sipar was devastated by invaders. However, after this unfortunate incident Umag grew in significance thanks also to its location and it was actually this location that safeguarded the settlement from the continuous invasions throughout the centuries. The Roman period of prosperity was substituted by one of insecurity caused primarily by frequent invasions, outbreaks of plague, cholera. The number of its dwellers declined rapidly, Umag became part of the reigns of Odoacer, Theodoric, and was also ruled by the Langobards. From the 6th to the 8th centuries it fell under Byzantine dominion, followed by the rule of the Lombards in 751, the period to come was marked by insecurity and frequent changes of government from the Patriarchs of Grado and Aquileia to the Bishops of Trieste. However, the increasingly powerful Venetian Republic imposed its rule over Istria, forcing Umag, actually, in 1269, the Commune of Umag promised loyalty to Venice which from that time all through 1797 was to appoint governors of Umag from among its nobility. This period was by no means a peaceful one, century old clashes with Genoa brought about more destruction and looting. In 1370 the Genovese navy attacked Umag, destroying the towns archive, the outbreaks of plague that decimated the dwellers forced the Venetian authorities to consider colonising the area with new settlers, mainly from the territories threatened by Turkish invasions. The harbour of Umag was utilised for loading agricultural surplus from the hinterland, up to the collapse of Venice Umag had lived like other Istrian towns. Its communal arrangement was guaranteed in the Statute from 1541, with the fall of the Venetian Republic, Umag, like the entire eastern Adriatic coast, came under the rule of France until 1815 when it passed over to Austria until 1918
2.
Mostar
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Mostar is a city and municipality in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Inhabited by 105,797 people, it is the most important city in the Herzegovina region, its capital. Mostar is situated on the Neretva River and is the fifth-largest city in the country, Mostar was named after the bridge keepers who in the medieval times guarded the Stari Most over the Neretva. Human settlements on the river Neretva, between the Hum Hill and the Velež Mountain, have existed since prehistory, as witnessed by discoveries of fortified enceintes and cemeteries, evidence of Roman occupation was discovered beneath the present town. As far as medieval Mostar goes, although the Christian basilicas of late antiquity remained in use, few historical sources were preserved, during this time it was also the seat of a kadiluk. Since Mostar was on the route between the Adriatic and the mineral-rich regions of central Bosnia, the settlement began to spread to the right bank of the river. Prior to the 1474 the names of two towns appear in historical sources, along with their later medieval territories and properties – the towns of Nebojša. In the early 15th century the county of Večenike covered the site of the present-day Mostar along the bank of the Neretva, including the sites of Zahum, Cim, Ilići, Raštani. It was at the center of area, which in 1408 belonged to Radivojević. Mostar is indirectly referred to in a 1454 charter of King Alfonso V of Aragon as Pons, prior to 1444, the Nebojša fort was built on the left bank of the Neretva, which belonged to the late medieval county still known as Večenike or Večerić. ”. In 1468 the region came under Ottoman rule and the urbanization of the settlement began and it was named Köprühisar, meaning fortress at the bridge, at the centre of which was a cluster of 15 houses. Following the unwritten rule, the town was organized into two distinct areas, čaršija, the crafts and commercial centre of the settlement, and mahala or a residential area. The town was fortified between the years 1520 and 1566, and the bridge was rebuilt in stone. The stone bridge, the Old Bridge, was erected in 1566 on the orders of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent,28 metres long and 20 metres high, quickly became a wonder in its own time. In the late 16th century, Köprühisar was one of the towns of the Sanjak of Herzegovina and it is thrown from rock to rock as high as the sky. During this period, Mostar was recognized as the capital of Herzegovina. The first church in the city of Mostar, a Serbian Orthodox Church, was built in 1834 during Ottoman rule, in 1881 the town became the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mostar-Duvno and in 1939, it became a part of the Banovina of Croatia. During World War II Mostar was also an important city in the fascist Independent State of Croatia, after World War II, Mostar developed a production of plastics, tobacco, bauxite, wine, aircraft and aluminium products
3.
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
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Covering an area of 255,804 km², the SFRY was bordered with Italy to the west, Hungary to the north, Bulgaria and Romania to the east and Albania and Greece to the south. In addition, it included two autonomous provinces within Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina, the SFRY traces back to 29 June 1943 when the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia was formed during World War II. On 29 November 1945, the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed after the deposal of King Peter II thus ending the monarchy. Following the death of Tito on 4 May 1980, rising ethnic nationalism in the late 1980s led to dissidence among the multiple ethnicities within the constituent republics. This led to the federation collapsing along the borders, followed by the final downfall and breakup of the federation on 27 April 1992. The term former Yugoslavia is now commonly used retrospectively, the name Yugoslavia, an Anglicised transcription of Jugoslavija, is a composite word made-up of jug and slavija. The Serbo-Croatian, Slovene and Macedonian word jug means south, while slavija denotes a land of the Slavs, thus, a translation of Jugoslavija would be South-Slavia or Land of the South Slavs. The term is intended to denote the lands occupied by the six South Slavic nations, Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Montenegrins, Slovenes, the full official name of the federation varied significantly between 1945 and 1992. Yugoslavia was formed in 1918 under the name Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, the name deliberately left the republic-or-kingdom question open. In 1963, amid pervasive liberal constitutional reforms, the name Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was introduced, the state is most commonly referred to by the latter name, which it held for the longest period of all. The most common abbreviation is SFRY, though SFR Yugoslavia was also used in an official capacity, particularly by the media. On 6 April 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers led by Nazi Germany, by 17 April 1941, Yugoslav resistance was soon established in two forms, the Royal Yugoslav Army and the Yugoslav Partisans. The Partisan supreme commander was Josip Broz Tito, and under his command the movement soon began establishing liberated territories which attracted the attentions of the occupying forces. The coalition of parties, factions, and prominent individuals behind the movement was the Peoples Liberation Front. The Front formed a political body, the Anti-Fascist Council for the Peoples Liberation of Yugoslavia. The AVNOJ, which met for the first time in Partisan-liberated Bihać on 26 November 1942, during 1943, the Yugoslav Partisans began attracting serious attention from the Germans. In two major operations of Fall Weiss and Fall Schwartz, the Axis attempted to stamp-out the Yugoslav resistance once, on both occasions, despite heavy casualties, the Group succeeded in evading the trap and retreating to safety. The Partisans emerged stronger than before and now occupied a significant portion of Yugoslavia
4.
KK Partizan
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KK Partizan is a Serbian professional basketball club based in Belgrade. It is part of the multi-sports Belgrade-based club Partizan, the club competes in the KLS and Adriatic League. Since 1945, Partizan has won around 45 trophies, and is the holder of the 21 national champion titles and they have also won 14 national basketball cups and 6 Adriatic championships, and notably the European Champion trophy at the Final Four of the Euroleague in Istanbul in 1992. Same year club took national championship and cup, and won Triple Crown, KK Partizan was not allowed to defend the Euroleague title in the 1992–93 season, because of UN sanctions. They also won 3 Korać Cups in 1978,1979 and 1989, in September 2009, KK Partizan became the first Serbian team to play an official game against NBA teams. The club was founded on 4 October 1945, as a section of the Sports Association of the Central House of the Yugoslav Army. KK Partizan officially ceased to be a club of the Army in 1953, since the sports society became independent. Although with a roster, including players who played for the national team of Yugoslavia. In the early 1970s, when players started to run the club. He made a selection of young players led by Dražen Dalipagić. He gathered around him other young professionals, and in late 1970s and this period in the clubs history included a few trophies. The first of these was the title of Yugoslav champion in 1975–76 season, after a calm period due to a change of generations, by the end of the 1980s under the leadership of new club director, Dragan Kićanović involved young experts, such as Duško Vujošević. After losing in the semifinals to Maccabi Tel Aviv, Partizan won over Aris, in 1989, enforced by young Predrag Danilović, Partizan won the FIBA Korać Cup for the third time, triumphing over Wiwa Vismara Cantù. After losing the first game in Italy, Partizan celebrated the return leg in Belgrade with 101–82 and that same season, Partizan won the Yugoslav Cup over new European champions Jugoplastika. Vlade Divac and Žarko Paspalj in late 1989, along with Dražen Petrović from Cibona became the first players from the territory of Yugoslavia who pursued their careers in the NBA league. For the new coach, management chose a team captain and former team player with almost no coaching experience. His professional counselor became former Partizan coach and player, top European basketball expert, FIBA decided not to allow teams from the former Yugoslavia to play their home games at their home venues, because of open hostilities in the region. Belgrades Black and Whites have opted to be hosts in the Madrid suburb of Fuenlabrada, obradovićs team began a long season of European and domestic matches, often traveling thousands of kilometers in just a few days, with performance gradually improving
5.
KK MZT Skopje
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KK MZT Skopje Aerodrom is a basketball club based in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. The club competes in the Macedonian First League and Adriatic League, the clubs home ground is Jane Sandanski Arena, but due to small capacity the matches in the Adriatic League and Eurocup from 2012-2014 were played in Boris Trajkovski Arena. From the season 2014/2015 the new home is the renewed Jane Sandanski Arena, in its history, MZT Skopje has won the Macedonian First League 11 times also won the Macedonian Cup 8 times and Macedonian Super Cup 3 times. KK Skopje was formed in 1966 by a group of enthusiasts led by the first president of the club Mile Melovski, the interest in basketball was high, and even though there were four clubs in Skopje, there was still need for more clubs. That is why the appearance of KK Skopje was welcome, and numbers of people joined the club. The first team consisted of Trpezanovski, Atanasovski, Strezovski, Lazarevski and Domlevski. In two years the club became a member of the Macedonian league, many people expected KK Skopje to get relegated, but the team fought hard and became a standard member in the league. In 1971 Uroš Maljković was chosen to be the new president of the club, after the reorganization of the leagues in Yugoslavia, KK Skopje gained the right to play in the Second league – South. In the first season of this league KK Skopje finished 7th, the second season the team reached the First league qualifications. The first try failed and due to leaving the field in Ivangrad KK Skopje received a penalty of 8 points for the next season, KK Skopje got relegated again to the regional league and Taki Dzikov was selected to be the head coach. In 1979 the team finished first in the Macedonian league and managed to qualify for the Second league yet again, with this success the factory Metalski Zavod Tito or MZT started investing in KK Skopje. Slobodan Mucunski, one of the people of MZT became the president of KK Skopje. In 1984 MZT completely took the club under their wing, building the new arena Jane Sandanski in Aerodrom, in 1986 KK Skopje, under the new name MZT Skopje and the leadership of Lazar Lečić, reached the Yugoslav First Basketball League where they competed for two seasons. The debut team in the Yugoslav First Basketball League, MZT Skopje, has made a pleasant surprise in the season 1986/1987, after many years of domination by Rabotnički, the MZT team climbed to the top of the Macedonian basketball – and they kept it so far. It is interesting that from the bench they were led by the legend of the city rival Lazar Lečić. With two victories in the local derby they secured their existence, and they left Rabotnički with a lower ranking. At that period, the most prominent individuals were Vlatko Vladičevski with an average of 16,4 points, Vojislav Zivčević with 15,6 points, there was also significant contribution by the former players of Partizan - Milan Medić and of Crvena zvezda - Aleksandar Milivojša. In the fourth final of the play-off, as expected, Cibona had the least problems, after the independence of Macedonia, MZT Skopje immediately became one of the leading basketball clubs in the country
6.
Sportske novosti awards
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Sportske novosti awards refer to annual sports awards given by Sportske novosti, a Zagreb-based Croatian daily sports newspaper. The awards originated in the 1950s and went on to one of the most prestigious Croatian awards in sports. The winners are decided by polling sports journalists, Sportske novosti was founded in 1945 and it first began awarding the Yugoslav Sportsman of the Year and Yugoslav Sportswoman of the Year awards in 1950 for greatest achievements in Yugoslav sports. The award, one of several Yugoslav national-level sporting awards, was every year between 1950 and 1990, when it was discontinued due to the breakup of Yugoslavia. In 1952, the newspaper had launched an award for Croatian athletes which honored best sporting achievements by sportsmen and sportswomen hailing from SR Croatia. Award winners in both categories are referred to as the Golden Roll. The current award is considered one of the most prestigious Croatian national sporting awards, in 1990 the categories for Mens Sports Team of the Year and Womens Sports Team of the Year for notable achievements in team sports were introduced. Athlete also won the Croatian Sportsperson of the Year award, by sport This table lists the total number of awards for individual sportsmen and sportswomen by recipients sporting profession. Golden Badge - Award for Yugoslav Athlete of the Year, awarded by the Belgrade-based sports daily Sport since 1957
7.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
