BILJANA

PETROVIĆ
AUTHOR: ANĐELA DAKIĆ III-7
 A WOMAN IN THE WORLD OF FOOTBALL

• Biljana Petrović was born in 1986 in

Bijeljina.
• She has a degree in economics and she
works in the public sector.
• Biljana is the first woman in Bijeljina to
start playing football actively.
• She is a president and coach at a football
school for girls and boys “Soccer kids
Bijeljina“.
 FIRST SPORTS BEGINNINGS
• Biljana started playing sport while she was still in elementary school.
She was competing in several sports and she won many medals and
cups. Then she started actively coaching basketball at a basketball club
“Radnik“ in Bijeljina.

• She also continued to play sport in high school where she was named
the best basketball player and football player in the high school
competition in Bijeljina.
• The award for the best football player encouraged her to actively
train football as well.
IS FOOTBALL FOR GIRLS OR NOT?

• Although many people think that football isn’t for girls,

Biljana doesn’t agree with that.
• When she was little it was her favourite sport and she
could only play football on street with her brother and his
friends.
• She had an innate talent and she started playing football
with her older brother and his friends. They were thrilled
with how Biljana played, she was better than many of
them.
 WORK AND EFFORT PAY OFF

• Since she had nowhere to train football, she decided to start coaching basketball.
• Biljana was successful in basketball. She coached it for ten years and she won the Serbian Cup.
• But she never stopped coaching football. She juggled a ball before each training session and
everyone knew her by that.
• She had a desire to be actively involved in football and that wish came true. Her friend’s uncle
had a women’s football club “Iris“ in Zenica and her friend invited Biljana to come to a
training session in Zenica with her. Biljana was overjoyed to finally be able to play football
with women and the coach was pleased with how she played.
 E D U C AT I O N A N D S P O RT

• Biljana enrolled at the College of Business Economics

at the University Istočno Sarajevo, but she didn’t
neglect sport.
• She continued to coach football and basketball. She
competed in several sports and she won a gold medal in
table tennis at the Student Universiade in Doboj.
• She played basketball in women’s basketball clubs
“Radnik“ and „Plus“ in Bijeljina. But she also played
basketball in women’s basketball club “Rudar“ in
Ugljevik.
 FOOTBALL CAREER

• She started coaching football in women’s football club „Iris“ in Zenica where she became a
pioneer of women’s football in that city. After that she returned to Bijeljina where she won the
Serbian Cup for the first time as a captain in women’s football club “Radnik Bumerang“. Then
she went to a women’s football club “Lokomotiva“ in Brčko.
• During her studies, Biljana managed to win some medals. She performed for the
Administration of the city of Bijeljina at the sports games. While she was coaching football
and building her career in sport, Biljana was also working as a federal referee for the Women’s
Premier League in football.
 REALISATION OF A WISH

• Biljana had a desire to train on the auxiliary field with

girls who love football as much as she does.
• She printed leaflets inviting girls aged 4 to 14 to enroll
in club. Seven girls and two boys appeared at the first
training.
• That was the beginning. About twenty girls came, but
boys also started coming and asking if they could train,
so she decided to register a football school.
• That is how the football club “Soccer kids“ was created.
 “SOCCER KIDS“ BIJELINA
• She founded the first football school for
girls and boys in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- “Soccer kids“ in Bijeljina in 2011.
• This school gathers children in seven age
categories and it is one of the most
popular sports clubs in Bijeljina.
• More than 1,800 girls and boys have
passed through the school so far and many
of them are successful foodball players
today.
“SOCCER KIDS“ BIJELJINA
 FIRST
SUCCESSES

They achieved their first

successes in women's
football, they achieved good
results and a large number
of victories.

Her desire has always been

to show that a woman can
be successful in football.
 S O C C E R D AY ’ S
BIJELJINA

She has been organizing a

tournament since 2012, which
gathers hundreds of children
every year in Bijeljina.

Biljana continues her coaching

career through seminars and
trainings. The highlight of her
career will be the acquisition of
UEFA ProLicense, which will
make her one of the few women’s
football coaches in Bosnia and
Herzegovina with this license.
 WHY IS SHE A SPECIAL PERSON?
• It is difficult for people to be different and to stand out from the crowd, because they are afraid that
the environment will not accept them. People are afraid to be their own.
• They dream of the life they want and dream of the future, but none of them have the courage to
make those same dreams come true.
• They are afraid that if the environment rejects them, they will be lonely. They listen to what others
tell them instead of listening to their heart.
• But there are always those who are ready to leave their comfort zone and stand out from the crowd,
as Biljana did.
• She managed to overcome fear and realize her dream, which makes her a special person. Biljana
should be an example to all of us to believe in ourselves and to be persistent, because only
persistence can lead us to the desired goals.
• We can be whatever we want, an athlete, a scientist, a writer, an actor or a singer, but we can only
become that if we really believe in those dreams and work hard to make them come true.
 EVERY
MORNING
YOU
HAVE TWO
CHOICES:
TO SLEEP
WITH
YOUR
DREAMS
OR
WAKE UP AND
CHASE THEM!