.:zagreb snowflakes:.

O nama

We celebrated our 12th anniversary on December 10, 2009.

With 111 skaters who make three competitive teams: seniors (16 to 30 years of age), juniors (12 to 19 years), novices (10 to 15 years) and juveniles and synchro-school (4 to 14 years) Zagreb Snowflakes is the biggest and most popular skating club in Croatia, although in the youngest, but nevertheless the most attractive skating discipline - according to the International Skating Union - with some 500 teams in 30 countries throughout the world.

This is the 9th season of our senior team, and, after the spectacular World Synchronized Skating Championships held in Zagreb in April 2009, nine skaters ended their skating careers. Among those nine, there were six skaters who were almost irreplaceable in the “starting 16” for many years and two of them were in the club from the very beginning and have the most performances: Zrinka Kovačević (159 performances) and Azra Delić (153). From the original team, after 12 years and 150 performances, remains Lana Orban, who is truly in love with Synchronized skating. 8 junior skaters replaced them: Astrid Čada, Suzana Dragović, Marta Justinić, Anamarija Kasić, Matea Krsnik, Anja Novaković, Tena Šimunjak and Lea Žerjav…as well as 30 year old Sandra Pavičić who is making a comeback this season.

14 skaters skated for the team a 100 times and five of them still skate this season: along Lana Orban (105) there are the new team captain Kristina Radaš (105) and co-captain Nikolina Milić (105), Sara Kolar (104) and Buga Orban (101). Other former skaters with more than a 100 performances are Mateja Mahnić (132), Dina Vlahov (114), Ivana Mahnić (106), Sarah Ivanković and Edita Lukić. They have all graduated or are finishing studies of Economics, Medicine, Law, Pharmaceutics, Biochemistry…

Our Senior team has successfully competed at eight World Championships : Rouen (France) 2002., Ottawa (Canada) 2003., Zagreb (Croatia) 2004. and 2009., Gothenburg (Sweden) 2005., Prague (Czech Republic) 2006, London (Canada) 2007 and Budapest (Hungary) 2008.

Our senior team is the national team and the members have a high status of third category according to the Croatian Olympic Committee. For two previous years they had status of the second category which they earned with their excellent result at the World Synchronized Skating Championships in London (Canada) 2007 where they finished 16, and 11th country out of all entered and 8th out of all European countries (5 best placed countries from the previous Championships may enter two teams). We were better them the best teams from more developed countries: France, Austria, Hungary, Great Britain, Australia…and only a place behind Italy, two places behind the Czech Republic and three places behind Japan. Three years earlier the Snowflakes had their best result at the World Synchronized Skating Championships in Zagreb 2004 when they were 17th.

The senior team earned more than 100 points at all of their international competitions in 2007., the Club's most successful season: 100,02 in Neuchatel, 108,26 at the Zagreb Snowflakes Trophy and 103,80 at the World Synchronized Skating Championships. At the Zagteb Snowflakes Trophy they were 5th out of ten teams – better than teams from Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy and Poland. We earned 71 points for our free program alone at the World Synchronized Skating Championships in London, more than we got for both of them a year ago in Prague. We beat France for the first time, we were 12 points better than Austria, 15 points ahead of Australia and we had 20 points more than our previous teachers from Hungary and as much as 21 points more than Great Britain.

In 2001 our Junior team competed at the first Junior World Challenge Cup and won 10th place. The competition in Neuchatel was the unofficial junior world championships and our young team became senior the following year.

Averaging 19.5 years of age, this year we have one of the youngest senior teams in the World. As many as 15 of 23 skaters of the senior team could still compete as juniors. All of them are long-time members of the club, dedicated and hard-working athletes, exemplary students and pupils. Among the members of the senior team 9 are students attending seven different Faculties (Kinesiology, Medicine, Philosophy, Economy, Food technology, Science, Teaching) 12 high-school students and a doctor of veterinary medicine…

We attract considerable media attention. In the past 12 years there were some 600 newspaper articles about us as well as 130 radio and 90 TV shows and features. Our club, and its work were a topic of the June issue of 2004 (a four page spread) of the only specialized synchronized skating magazine – the US “Synchronized Skating Magazine”.

Our work, progress and performances are often shown on television. The 2009 World Championships was televised in prime time for both competition days when TV viewers could enjoy the beauty of this sport for 5 hours.

We are the most successful, the best organized and probably the fastest growing synchronised skating club in this part of Europe. When it comes to organizing competitions in this sport, we are among the best (if not the best) in the world.

Zagreb Snowflakes „stuff“, left to right:
ARNOLD ČADA , club secretary,
MARIJA RADAŠ, senior team chief equipment manager and stylist,
ĐURĐICA GALEKOVIĆ, club treasure,
ZORAN KOVAČEVIĆ, club president,
VALERIJA DUJMOVIĆ, junior team-manager & equipment manager & stylist
DAVORIN ORBAN, president of the Technical Commission & seniors team-manager,
VESNA STRAGA, juveniles & synchro-school manager, equipment manager and stylist,
KSENIJA KRSNIK, senior team equipment manager and stylist,
MIŠEL ŠNUDERL, novice team-manager & team treasurer, equipment manager and stylist,
DRAŽEN KARŠIĆ, member of the club Executive Committee,
DIJANA ALISPAHIĆ, junior team treasurer & equipment manager and stylist,
Missing: KREŠIMIR IVANKOVIĆ, club's vice president, MELITA DELIĆ, member of the club Executive Committee, MIRLEM DELIĆ, club representative in the Zagreb Skating Federation.

We had great performances in 12 countries: USA, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, The Czech Republic, Hungary, France, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Great Britain and Austria.

We are proud of our accomplishments; especially of the 17th place at the World Championships in Zagreb 2004 16th place at World Synchronized Skating Championships in London and 10th place at the World Cup for Juniors in Switzerland 2001. We are also proud winning of first places as Juniors at Frost-Work Cup in Miskolc, the Hungarian Nationals and our own Zagreb Snowflakes Trophy in 2001; second place at Zagreb Snowflakes Trophy in 2002, 5th place in 2007, and when our juvenile team won gold at the Frost-Work Cup in 2003 – they continued their success as novices with the bronze medal at the 2006 Zagreb Snowflakes Trophy and silver in 2007; and the latest novice medal – silver at 2008. Jegvirag Cup in Miskolc.

We are proud of our skaters, all excellent high school and university students, who train 5 hours a day every August while others are enjoying their summer holidays on beaches, and who work with a top foreign coach on their new programs for the upcoming season.

Our senior team makes the Golden Spin even more spectacular. The team has, for many years, been regularly performing at the Opening Ceremony and the Gala of one of the longest-running and most famous figure skating competitions in Zagreb. At the beginning of 2008. they performed at the Opening Ceremony of the European Figure Skating Competition. In December 2008 three of the club’s teams opened the skating season in Sisak with a 50 minute show and in March 2009 the senior team performed at the opening of the brand new ice rink in Delnice.

Our novice and juvenile teams are the stars of mini ice rinks all over Croatia. The “Snowflakes” are among the main attractions of the rich program in the days leading up to Christmas organized by the City Assembly and the Tourist Office of the City of Zagreb. They also performed at the mini-rinks in Rijeka, Šibenik, Krk, Slavonski Brod, Virovitica and Požega.

We are the only club in the history of this sport to have organized two World Synchronized Skating Championships: 2004 and 2009. In both Championshipsakaters from 23 teams from 18 countries from all continents competed and had a great time. Before Zagreb only the cities in the most powerful countries of the sport organized this championships: Minneapolis (USA), Helsinki (Finland), Rouen (France), Ottawa and London (Canada), Gothenburg (Sweden), Prague (the Czech Republic) and Budapest (Hungary).

Both the 2004 and 2009 World Championships was one of the biggest and most attractive sport events ever to have been held in our country. The number of competitors, 1500
guests from all over the world, 10000 delighted spectators in the stands of the
Dom Sportova arena, fantastic media coverage… It was a complete success
thanks to the enthusiasm of the organizing team with only one professional and
over 200 volunteers gathered in our club. The honorary patron was the President
of Republic of Croatia, Stjepan Mesić, and the patron was Vlasta Pavić, the
Mayor of the City of Zagreb (2004) and Milan Bandić the Mayor of the City of Zagreb (2009)…

The President of the Republic of Croatia is also a big fan of the “Zagreb Snowflakes” and also of this sport. He regularly sees the organizers of the “Zagreb Snowflakes Trophy” and in 2004 the “Zagreb Snowflakes” became the first and, so far, the only team he met twice in a month and a half. After opening the World Synchronized Skating Championships he greeted the team personally in the VIP lounge, received gifts from them, took pictures and invited them to his office for juice after the Championships. He gladly kept his promise…

We did a great job organizing seven Zagreb Snowflakes Trophies. A record-breaking 23 teams (novices, juniors and seniors) with 550 skaters from 10 different countries competed at the Zagreb Snowflakes Trophy held in March 2003. On seven Zagreb Snowflakes Trophies a total of 59 different teams from 15 countries from Europe, America and Australia competed. We successfully organized an ISU judging and coaches seminar in 1999 and in 2004 and 2007 we organized, and moderated, a regional coaches and organizational seminar.

There were 9 major Synchronized Skating Competitions held in Zagreb from 2001. – 2009. 94 different teams from all continents performed and over 55 000 spectators watched.

Zagreb was an excellen host of the 10th World Synchronized Skating Championships in 2009. Five years after we made history after being the first city ever to host the World Synchronized Skating Championships (2004) and the World Challenge cup for juniors (2002) and as a city where synchronized skating celebrated its 50th anniversary – Zagreb became the first city to host the World Championships twice. It is the greatest tribute to the highly organized team with over 150 volunteers gathered in the club which has been organizing events since 2001 and enjoys hosting big competitions to the delight of skaters ane ISU officials from around the world.

Long-term strategic planning, expert policy and leadership continuity are key for achieving success and satisfaction: The president of the club is Zoran Kovačević, a renowned sports journalist and sports official. Arnold Čada, a huge sports fan and a judge (of the judicial kind, not the skating variety), is the club’s secretary, and Davorin Orban is the team manager - a former skater and coach, a successful president of the “Golden Spin” Organizing Committee and a renowned ISU judge. The club has had the same president since it was founded (1997) and we have changed the Secretary only once, in 2006 Mr. Čada took over from the unforgettable Darko Mahnić.

We invest a great deal into the work and advancement of our Croatian coaches. We enable them to attend seminars abroad, and during summer camps in Zagreb they and the skaters work with top foreign coaches. For the first 7 seasons the head coach was Kristina Blat. Danka Đurašević (37 perfromances, 3 World Championships) took over from Kristina in 2004 and has been coaching the teams up until she had to go on an early maternity leave in 2008, Danka has returned in the 2009/2010 season. The past season both the senior and the junior teams were coached by Sara Perl, a long-time skater (98 perfromances, 6 World Championships) and Danka’s assistant. Sandra Pavicic (75 performances, 5 World Championships) who coaches the junior team and Sara Perl is the assistant coach of the senior team and head coach of the novice team. The youngest skaters are coached by former national team members Ozana Miljković (67 performances, 5 World Championships) and Azra Delić (153 performances, 8 World Championships). Former skater Ivana Gagro is the assistant coach for choreography (since 1998). Vanja Maoduš (3 World Championships) went on maternity leave and welcomed baby Patrik, is a kindergarten teacher, an excellent coach who always delighted us with her choreographies and we hope that she will again.

Our coaches, left to right: Azra Delić, Ivana Gagro, Sara Perl,
Danka Đurašević, Sandra Pavičić, Ozana Miljković

Danka Đurašević, our head coach, is one of the only two Croatian coaches with a coaching degree from the Faculty of Kinesiology – with a major in skating and she is also an ISU Technical Specialist. The other coach coaches with a coaching degree from the Faculty of Kinesiology is the former Zagreb Snowflakes Coach Kristina Blat.

We had a chance to work with the world’s best coach. Finnish Anu Oksanen, coach of the 2002, 2004 & 2006 world senior champions, and the 2003, 2004 &2006 world junior champions, declined some inviting offers from Canada and the US to come to Zagreb to work with us in summer 2002&2003. In the summer of 2004 our guest was Anu’s first assistant - Janna Hautamaki… Our coaches and skaters learned a lot and improved significantly working with the best. Anu is always with us though – as a supervisor, advisor and friend…

Organizationally we are a role model for many clubs, even outside of skating. We wouldn't e so successful without the best doctor in the world Josip Feldbauer, great psychologist Amir Zulić and amazing conditioning trainer Ognjen Bagatin. They have greatly gontributed to our results and atmosphere. We are proud of them as they are of us for our effort, enthusiasm and togetherness of skaters, parents and club management.

Our serious work, progress and results helped «create» the first Croatian ISU Championships Judge. Josip «Joško» Cerovac judged the World Synchronized Skating Championships in London and made history as the first Croatian judge to judge a World Synchronized Skating Championships. He was on the judges panel on the 2009 World Synchronized Skating Championships in Zagreb.

We have our club badge, calendar and booklet. We can be recognized by all the
important “little things” that make our members happy and delight their skating
friends all over the world. Our badge and annual booklets reached
many skaters and officials on all continents.

We are known for our enthusiasm and serious work. Our goal is to make sport a way of life for our skaters and their parents, and to help them realize both on and off the ice that sport builds personality, leads onto the right path and helps create working habits and healthy people.

Many have acknowledged the fruits of our labour, many offer their help, many are with us, sponsors and even the most prominent city and government institutions: Zagreb sport federation, City office for Education, Culture and Sports, Croatian Olympic Committee and Ministry of Science, Education and Sports. We haven’t let anyone down. We are convinced that those, and many others, will support us in the second decade of our club. We appreciate it all and continuously strive to show the beauty of synchronized skating.