Viktor Zlovic possesses an incredible talent, and a hungry drive to play soccer. The Sydney soccer champion, with a Croatian background, has just returned home after a whirlwind experience at WVU Tech.
Before arriving at WVU Tech, Viktor says he felt extremely supported.
“It was all planned out really well. NSR got me in touch with a coach, and the school gave me a step-by-step process of what to do when I got there. I was added to a Facebook group and there was messaging to make sure that someone was there to pick us up and get there,” he said.
Upon arriving at the University, Viktor was thrust into an intense pre-season period, where he immediately recognised the high-quality level of soccer he would be playing.
“When I was training with my new teammates, the quality…you can’t put a match on it. It’s definitely higher than any league we have here, apart from obviously the A-league. The quality was amazing. I was with a couple of players that almost played professionally in Spain. We had a really, really good team,” he said.
The varsity team, of about thirty players, had an intense multicultural mix, to Viktor’s surprise.
“Americans probably were the minority. They took up about 6 on the team. There were people from Spain, a lot of South Americans, Argentinians, Bolivians, Brazilians, my roommate was from Denmark. They came from all over the world,” he said.
Viktor established an intensely close relationship with his teammates from very early on.
He admits that this was one of his favourite things about his college experience.
“It’s amazing how close you get to people. Your roommate especially. We were both on the same team together, and you just get so close to those people. You spend so much of your day together, train in the morning and in the afternoon, you’re in classes with some of them, it’s just awesome. You eat dinner and breakfast with them…you basically share a life with them,” he said.
This closeness within the team proved to translate on-field, when the Golden Bears took the victory in the 2014 National Championships after a season of 19 wins and only one loss.
This experience, Viktor describes as “incredible”.
Although the soccer remains an incredible part of Viktor’s journey, he says the life-long friends he has made “was the best part”.
“My roommate and I got really close. We still talk every second day at least, and I’m planning to go see him in Europe next year!” he said.
“It’s definitely something that you can’t dream of. You can think about how good it will be, but until you actually do it, it’s mind-blowing. It’s not just the soccer part. You see new cultures, you meet new people. For Thanksgiving, we got a hotel in New York for 10 days,” he said.
“After the soccer it was still awesome, you’ve got these mates to hang out with, and you become really independent. You learn a lot about yourself. It was definitely one of the best things I’ve done in my life.”
WOW! What an amazing journey!