Nikola Grbić

Nikola Grbić (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Грбић) (born 6 September 1973) is a Serbian professional volleyball coach and former player, head coach of ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle.[1] He was a member of the national volleyball teams of Serbia and Montenegro in 1995–2006 and Serbia in 2006–2010, gold medallist of the Olympic Games Sydney 2000, bronze medallist of the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996, participant of the Olympic Games (2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing), multiple World Championship, European Championship and World League medallist, two–time Italian Champion (2008, 2010), Russian Champion (2014). Grbić was named European Player of the Year in 2007 and inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Nikola Grbić
Personal information
Nationality	Serb
Born	6 September 1973 Klek, Yugoslavia, Serbia
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
College(s)	BK University – Management in Sports
Coaching information
Current team	ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle
Previous teams coached Years Teams 2014–2015 2015–2019 2016–2019 2019– Sir Safety Perugia Serbia BluVolley Verona ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle
Volleyball information
Position	Setter
Career
Years Teams 1987–1990 1990–1994 1994–1995 1995–1996 1996–1997 1997–1999 1999–2000 2000–2003 2003–2007 2007–2009 2009–2013 2013–2014 Gik Banat Vojvodina Novi Sad Gabeca Pallavolo TNT Traco Catania Gabeca Pallavolo Piemonte Volley Volley Treviso Volley Milano Pallavolo Piacenza Trentino Volley Piemonte Volley Zenit Kazan
National team
1991–1992 1995–2006 2006–2010 Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro Serbia
Honours Men's volleyball Representing  Serbia and Montenegro Olympic Games 2000 Sydney 1996 Atlanta FIVB World Championship 1998 Japan CEV European Championship 2001 Czech Republic 1997 Netherlands 1995 Greece 1999 Austria 2005 Italy/Serbia and Montenegro FIVB World Cup 2003 Japan FIVB World Grand Champions Cup 2001 Japan FIVB World League 2003 Madrid 2005 Belgrade 2002 Belo Horizonte 2004 Rome Representing  Serbia FIVB World Championship 2010 Italy CEV European Championship 2007 Russia FIVB World League 2008 Rio de Janeiro 2009 Belgrade Head Coach  Serbia FIVB World League 2016 Kraków 2015 Rio de Janeiro CEV European Championship 2017 Poland

Early life

Grbić was born in Klek, Serbia, Yugoslavia. He has an older brother Vladimir, who is also former professional volleyball player.

Personal life

From 2006, he is married with Stanislava and they have two sons who practice volleyball.

Career as player

Clubs

After the embargo was lifted in 1994, Nikola Yugoslavian national team career resumed at a time when he transferred to Italian club team Gabeca Montichiari, which started a 13-year career playing for eight different Italian teams and resulting in eight league titles from 1994 to 2013. He won two Championship titles in Italy (2008 Trentino – 2010 Cuneo), and one in Russia (2014 Zenit Kazan). He also won two CEV Euro Champions League titles (2000 Sisley – 2009 Trentino).[2]

National team

He started with senior national team in 1991, when he was 18 years old. Then, for two years (1992–1994) wasn't playing because of international embargo. He was a captain of his national team in 1999–2010. In 1996 Yugoslavia, including Grbić, won bronze medal of the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996. Nikola was honored as the European Championship Best Setter in 1997 as Yugoslavia earned the silver medal. In 1998 Yugoslavia on Volleyball at the World World Championship won a silver medal. At the next Olympics his team achieved gold of the Olympic Games 2000 in Sydney. Yugoslavia went on to capture the 2000 Olympic Games gold-medal with a dominating three-set win over Russia in the finals. They beat Russia in final match (3-0).[3] Again, in 2010, with Serbia his team won a bronze medal. Nikola career was not over following Beijing as he helped Serbia win bronze at the 2010 FIVB World Championship in Italy where he was named Best Setter of the tournament. Nikola career was not over following Beijing as he helped Serbia win bronze at the World Championship.

Career as coach

In May 2014 he became head coach of Italian club Sir Safety Perugia.[4] On 3 February 2015 Grbić was announced new head coach of Serbia men's national volleyball team.[5][6] Nikola in the first step winner Silver medal at 2015 FIVB World League. In next year Serbia with powerful presence winner Gold medal 2016 FIVB World League. Serbia had lost their five previous appearances in World League final including three times to Brazil and last year’s against France, now after five silver medals and three bronze, in 2016 year won first Gold medal.[7]

Sporting achievements

As a player

• CEV Champions League
  • 2008/2009 – with Itas Diatec Trentino
  • 2012/2013 – with Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo

• CEV European Champions Cup
  • 1999/2000 – with Sisley Treviso

• CEV Cup
  • 1997/1998 – with Alpitour Traco Cuneo
  • 1998/1999 – with TNT Alpitour Cuneo
  • 2005/2006 – with Copra Berni Piacenza
  • 2009/2010 – with Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo

• CEV Challenge Cup
  • 2003/2004 – with Coprasystel Ventaglio Piacenza
  • 2006/2007 – with Copra Berni Piacenza

• National championships
  • 1990/1991 Yugoslavian Championship, with Vojvodina Novi Sad
  • 1991/1992 Serbia and Montenegro Cup, with Vojvodina Novi Sad
  • 1991/1992 Serbia and Montenegro Championship, with Vojvodina Novi Sad
  • 1992/1993 Serbia and Montenegro Championship, with Vojvodina Novi Sad
  • 1993/1994 Serbia and Montenegro Cup, with Vojvodina Novi Sad
  • 1993/1994 Serbia and Montenegro Championship, with Vojvodina Novi Sad
  • 1997/1998 Italian Championship, with Alpitour Traco Cuneo
  • 1998/1999 Italian Cup, with TNT Alpitour Cuneo
  • 1999/2000 Italian Cup, with Sisley Treviso
  • 2000/2001 Italian Championship, with Asystel Milano
  • 2003/2004 Italian Championship, with Coprasystel Ventaglio Piacenza
  • 2006/2007 Italian Championship, with Copra Berni Piacenza
  • 2007/2008 Italian Championship, with Itas Diatec Trentino
  • 2008/2009 Italian Championship, with Itas Diatec Trentino
  • 2009/2010 Italian Championship, with Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
  • 2010/2011 Italian SuperCup, with Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
  • 2010/2011 Italian Cup, with Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
  • 2010/2011 Italian Championship, with Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
  • 2013/2014 Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan

As a coach

• National championships
  • 2019/2020 Polish SuperCup, with Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle
  • 2020/2021 Polish SuperCup, with Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle

Individual awards

• 1997: CEV European Championship – Best Setter
• 1997: Sportsman of The Year by the Olympic Committee of Serbia
• 2000: Italian Championship – Best Player
• 2000: Italian Championship – Best Foreign Player
• 2001: CEV European Championship – Best Setter
• 2003: CEV European Championship – Best Setter
• 2003: FIVB World Cup – Best Setter
• 2005: CEV European Championship – Best Setter
• 2006: Top Teams Cup – Best Setter
• 2009: FIVB World League – Best Setter
• 2010: Italian Championship – Best Setter
• 2010: Italian Cup – Best Player
• 2010: CEV Cup – Best Setter
• 2010: FIVB World Championship – Best Setter
• 2014: CEV – Ultimate Team Leader

External links

• Coach profile at CEV.eu
• Player profile at CEV.eu
• Coach profile at LegaVolley.it
• Player profile at LegaVolley.it
• Player profile at Olympic.org
• Player profile at Volleyhall.org
• Coach/Player profile at Volleybox.net

References

1. POL M: Serbia national team head coach Grbić takes charge of Zaksa – worldofvolley.com – 20.05.2019
2. Grbic excited to start work with Serbian team – fivb.org
3. Yugoslavia Rolls Russia for First Gold – articles.latimes.com – 01-10-2000
4. Perugia: L'Assessore ufficializza... Grbic allenatore Archived 2015-02-03 at the Wayback Machine – volleyball.it – 09-05-2014
5. Pravi čovek za pravo mesto: Nikola Grbić selektor odbojkaša Srbije! – sport.blic.rs – 03-02-2015
6. Nikola Grbic è il nuovo coach della Serbia. Le congratulazioni del presidente Sirci – legavolley.it – 03-02-2015
7. Serbia win first ever World League title - FIVB.com – fivb.com – 17.07.2016