Laura Miloš is a relatively new face in the ranks of the Croatian women’s national team.
Although those more superficial volleyball followers even remember her when she played for Poreč, from which she went to study in the USA in 2014, at Oral Robeerts University in Tulsa, on invitation former Poreč player Zvjezdana Širola, who has been a coach in Oklahoma for many years.
This 177 cm tall 26-year-old receiver passed all the younger age national teams in 2013, and in 2013 she was a 19-year-old member of the senior national team at the Mediterranean Games in Turkey when she won a silver medal. But after that, we said, follows a study in the US where she somehow escaped the public eye.
After graduating, she decided to play volleyball professionally, so she first signed for Belgian Charleroi in the 2018/19 season. to then go to the stronger French league, to Saint Raphael Var Volley, where she has been successfully competing for two years and with which she won the French Super Cup, and from the autumn she will start her third season.
This year, she returned to the Croatian national team very successfully with the selector Daniele Santarelli, she has already won silver in the Golden European League, but only now the real challenges follow, the European Championship.
“Which I am immensely looking forward to, because our group is playing in Zadar. I couldn’t have wished for a better return to the national team jersey, in Zadar, Croatia, in front of the home crowd. I’m already very excited about it, this is my first such big competition, and even at home. Great,“ says the nice Laura who admits that upon arrival on the first day she prepares and did not know all her teammates in the national team.
“I knew some from my generation, I also knew Samantha Fabris because she is from Istria and Rene Sain because we played together in Poreč, but we admit that I did not know these younger girls until now. But, we clicked everything very quickly, the atmosphere in the team is great, and I really believe that we can make a good result at the European Championships because with that good chemistry we are all very good players.“
You very quickly imposed yourself on the Santarelli menu as a standard member of the first team.
“It surprised me too, as I believe many, I did not expect it, especially because I am new in some way. I try hard in training, I do my best, and the coach obviously sees it. With him, obviously, only work and current form are valorized, there are no other protections. I hope that it will be the same while the matches at the European Championship start and that I will give my all there as well.“
Laura studied psychology in the USA, so it is interesting to hear her opinion in the team and the menu from her professional aspect.
“I have already said, the atmosphere around us players is great, but the driver of everything is the coach Santarelli, who with his professional, and yet somehow relaxed style, leads it all great. I know what I’m talking about, I’ve had good coaches in my career so far, but Santarelli is somehow special, he is motivating us to work for him and all the girls feel that. Man personally is very suited to this way of working, both physically and mentally. I would even say that in these few months I have progressed in terms of volleyball, he pointed out to me some things that no coach has done so far. I am very motivated to work and I can’t wait for the European Championship to start.“
Until then, there are two more weeks and preparatory matches designed by our professional staff. On Wednesday, Croatian national team members traveled to Cluj, where they will play friendly training matches against the hosts Romania.
“In five days we will play four games, simulating the schedule that awaits us at the European Championships, so in two days two games, then a day off, then again two matches in two days. So far we don’t know much about the rivals, we will get to know them better only after the first meeting, but that will not be crucial, I think we will deal more with our game and refining the elements we have worked on so far,“ she said in the end extremely calm and stable, player in a very responsible position of receiver Laura Miloš, a real refreshment in the ranks of Croatian national team.
