The Slovenian town of Tolmin sits on the eastern rim of the European Alps, not too far from the Italian border, and roughly 16,000 kilometres from Melbourne. That’s how far the Kolman brothers – South Melbourne Under-20s manager Saša, and Heidelberg United midfielder Nejc – are from home.
31-year-old Sasa is in the early stages of a blossoming coaching career, while 26-year-old Nejc has come to Australia to provide his brother company and continue his playing career at Heidelberg United. Their two respective football journeys have taken them from home comforts in Slovenia, to the pitches of Spain, and now to the other side of the world in Australia.
Saša
Born in the border of town of Nova Gorica on the Italian-Slovenian border, Saša began his junior football career just as Slovenia became an independent country in 1991, after a relatively peaceful separation from Yugoslavia. An avid Juventus fan, he spent the majority of his youth football plying his trade for home-town club Tolmin, before signing his first professional deal with Gorica in 2001.
A promising central defender, he represented his country at youth level and featured in the same Slovenian Under-18 squad as current Inter Milan goalkeeper Samir Handanovic. A move back to Tolmin followed, where he spent six years and accumulated 147 appearances, becoming a firm fan favourite in the process.
Saša then moved to first division club Nafta Lendeva, a club based on the opposite side of the country on the border with Hungary. With Slovenia struggling financially to adjust to its member status of the European Union in 2004, and the economic outlook in the country bleak, footballers were hit hard. Many clubs struggled to balance their accounts, including Nafta Lendeva, who went bankrupt soon after Saša’s stint there.
Saša turned his attention to his studies, completing a university degree in physical education teaching, which subsequently led him into coaching.
“I got involved in coaching when I was at university, completing my degree, and with the economic outlook around Europe looking bleak I decided to begin completing my coaching badges,” Saša says.
A move to Spain in 2010 followed, where he spent time with fourth tier side Rayo Cantabria of Santander, which he describes as a “fantastic football experience”.
“In Spain I had to learn to play football all the time, and me being a defender found this odd at times, as naturally you wanted to kick the ball up the field instead of playing out from the back when in pressure situations,” he says.
“But all in all, that was a great period of my life, playing the game in a country with such a rich football culture at a time when they were world champions.”
Saša’s next move came out of left-field, moving away from home comforts in Slovenia to the Faroe Islands in 2012, taking up a player-coach position with FC Suduroy. “That was more of a life experience than anything else, as it got dark early in the day over there in a country which is a real minnow in terms of football pedigree,” he says.
During that period Saša made news across Europe, recognised by UEFA as the youngest top-flight coach in Europe, managing Suduroy at the tender age of just 28. A return to Tolmin saw Saša narrowly miss out on promotion to the Slovenian First Division, before deciding to call time on a modest professional career and turn his attention to coaching.
After furthering his coaching education in Estonia, Malta and Lebanon, Saša had the privilege of spending time at Celtic Football Academy, where he familiarised himself with the set-up of the organisation and its youth development. In 2013, Saša sent out resumes around the world looking for coaching jobs to further develop his expertise. It was during this time that he received a phone call from South Melbourne.
“South somehow stumbled upon my resume and gave me a call asking if I’d like to work with them and the opportunity to join such a distinguished club was an offer I could not refuse,” he says.
Saša packed his bags and flew to Australia, appointed coach of the South Melbourne Under 20s side ahead of the inaugural NPL season in 2014.
Given his experiences in Europe, the 31 year-old is in a good position to comment on the quality of football in Australia compared to European standards.
“The game is very physical and of a high quality, but what’s lacking in order for it to make the next step up is the football infrastructure. Here, you have many other sports to compete with, and that environment sees the game lacking the adequate facilities to keep on improving.”
Of the youth players he’s worked with, Saša reserves praise for Andy Kecojevic and Stefan Zinni, whilst also lauding his relationship with South senior coach Chris Taylor.
“Last year I had the opportunity to coach Andy Kecojevic who came to us from the senior squad and he was a class act who has plenty of potential. The other player who I had under my guidance last year that I think is a very gifted player is Stefan Zinni, who has now gone into the Melbourne City youth set-up.
“Chris [Taylor] is a great coach and he and I have the same view of how football should be played 99% of the time. We share the same football philosophy”.
On the back of a successful first year at Lakeside, Saša has continued coaching the South 20s in 2015, obtaining his UEFA Pro License – the highest coaching qualification available and one which is rarely held by someone at such a young age in their coaching career – in the process. Given his rapid rise through the coaching ranks, it would not come as a surprise if football audiences, whether in Australia or around the world, become more familiar with the Kolman name in the future.
