FC “Dinara”, a club of Serbian immigrants from the American state of Indiana, won the Supercup of the prestigious European Soccer League two days ago, which is played in Chicago and gathers all the best teams from three neighboring states, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana, by defeating the Polish team “Wisloka” with a score of 9:3!
This is the first trophy for “Dinara” since the start of this season, and they firmly believe they will defend the European League title they won last season. This was a good occasion to talk with the club president Vasil Kolar, who begins the conversation with the words:
THE FIRST TROPHY THIS SEASON: FC “Dinara”, winner of the European League Supercup in Chicago. Standing: Rueda Aguilar, Bret Petricek, Vanja Jovović (captain), Saša Labović, Vasil Kolar. Crouching: Taras Dydich, Jasminko Dizdarević, Stefan Zelenović
-For us, “Dinara” is much more than a club and a sport! “Dinara” is our connection with our ancestors, with our homeland, tradition, history… says Vasil, whose family originates from Dalmatia, from the area where Mount Dinara is more than a mountain.
People recognize each other by it, orient themselves, measure time…
-When I fled from Split, where I lived with my family, to Knin during the war, I went to an FC Dinara match there for the first time and fell in love with the club, the largest Serbian one in all of Croatia. And when we finally came to America, to Indiana, it turned out that we were welcomed there mostly by Dalmatians and our people from the borderlands (Krajina) in Bosnia and Croatia. So Dinara is in some way my destiny, adds Kolar, who recalls the history of the club they found in the USA:
ALWAYS BY THE FIELD AND PLAYERS: Club president Vasil Kolar and “Dinara” center forward Taras
–Dinara, this immigrant one of ours, was created in 1970-something, when the club “Avala” at the time split into Yugoslavs and Serbs, who decided to found a new club – Dinara! Named after the mountain that was the symbol of their homeland and their genetic code. They played in the league of the American state of Indiana until the beginning of the 1990s, when the league shut down. “Dinara” started operating again with a new generation of immigrants, this time those who fled from Dalmatia, Krajina, and Bosnia after Operation Storm and Dayton.
THE BEAUTY OF THE GAME: “Dinara” plays fluidly, for true connoisseurs and football experts
As he points out, the club functioned at that time according to an old-fashioned model, with a cumbersome administration; decisions were hard to make, everyone wanted to be consulted but no one wanted to invest their time and money, so after years of stagnating, the club was frozen in 2010.
ONE, TWO, THREE…DINARA! Supercup trophy celebration after a convincing 9:3 victory
-Back then I vowed that one day, when I had my own company, I would restart the club, but according to professional standards, where we would celebrate successes together, but also where everyone would bear their own responsibility. This finally happened 4 years ago when the club was reactivated; we also made contact with the original “Dinara” from Knin, as well as with the veterans who have their own club in Belgrade, took over the crest, and added the founding year – 1913 – to the club’s name! Thus we became part of history and tradition, which was the goal.
Vasil Kolar says that the next step is forming a basketball section of the club due to many talented children involved in this sport. But the priority of all priorities is the formation of a football academy.
-We received permission to found the “Dinara” Football Academy, where we would gather our kids and make champions out of them. Here in Indiana, on the border with Illinois and not far from Chicago, there is a numerous Serbian community, but there is no club around which our youth could gather. We want “Dinara” to become exactly that, a base and a gathering place.
FROM ALL CONTINENTS: Luka Pećer, originally from Knin, lives in Australia and plays for Dinara
-For this purpose, we are gathering quality people from the football world, and one of them is Lazo Alavanja, who was an MLS star, played for Miami—the same one Messi plays for today—then for DC United, and is a member of the Indiana Soccer Hall of Fame. My family and the company FML stood behind the club, and I must certainly mention Ilija Savić, who supported the club and the academy with a large donation at the most important moment.
ACTORS IN THE LINEUP TOO: A member of FC “Dinara” is also the famous Serbian actor Stefan Jevtović
Although the club carries a Serbian prefix, Kolar emphasizes that they are open to all others as well; so today in “Dinara” play Bosniaks, Ukrainians, Poles, and even one Colombian.
-We are not exclusive; we want to create an inclusive story where everyone is welcome. We want to show our Serbian culture and hospitality to other peoples, to American children who live in these areas. And you cannot do that if you close yourself in a can!
However, everything did not go smoothly from the start…
-When I took over the club, the young people supported me to the maximum, coming in large numbers to cheer for us at the Srbijada in Akron (Ohio), but it went a bit harder with the older generation. For two years they stood on the sidelines and watched; I heard plenty of comments like: “He surely gets something out of this, otherwise he wouldn’t invest” and similar. Now many have realized that this is not just my personal story, but the club of all of us; they are slowly joining, helping, donating. Since we won the European League last year, the situation has changed. We no longer chase anyone for sponsorships; instead, people approach us themselves and offer help and support.
YOUTH SUPPORTED THE CLUB: The youngest fans of FC “Dinara” from Indiana
-And when they ask me what I get from this, I tell them: Satisfaction! And it is a great satisfaction when I see that people who doubted until yesterday have now started to identify with the club, so they say: “our Dinara!”. It is a shame that our community in Indiana, with so many children, has – nothing! And Dinara is proof that everything is possible, with a little effort.
OPEN TO ALL FAITHS AND NATIONS: Dinara is a club of Serbian hospitality and good energy
The president of “Dinara” believes that sport is only a base and the first step for something much more to which he wants his club to contribute…
-Our children grow up here as little Americans, and our goal is for Dinara to remind them where they come from, to establish a connection in their consciousness between that mountain, that stone and karst, this club, and the Serbian people. The next phase is for those children to want to go and visit the homes of their grandfathers, those estates across Dalmatia and the hinterland, Knin, and other borderlands.
TRIUMPHS SHOULD BE CELEBRATED: Dinara’s top scorer with a beer and a winning trophy
-Few Serbs live there today, but it is encouraging that none of our people are selling their estates, so those young generations have a place to return to, to renovate houses, so that one day they can spend at least breaks and vacations there, summer with their families, says Vasil Kolar in one breath, while showing us photos of his children, with whom he visited the old region this summer.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO PRESERVE THE MEMORY: The Kolar family at the Krka Monastery
He notes, however, that this return and connection will not happen just like that.
-Children will return to the source if we teach them to love and appreciate where they come from. My family originates from the area between Split and Drniš. This year I took my children there and was surprised how many young people, between 20 and 30 years old, have renovated their houses. I was proud when I told my children on our estate: “This is yours!”.
CHILDREN SHOULD BE REMINDED WHO THEY ARE AND WHERE FROM: The Kolar family visiting the homeland at the foot of Dinara
For the end of this conversation, he also has one appeal.
-It is very easy to lose that connection… It is enough for one generation to live in ignorance, for parents not to teach them, and the chain is broken. Language is hard to preserve here in America, assimilation is great, but memory can be preserved, one just needs to be persistent. Therefore, I ask all our people, parents in the diaspora who realize how important this is, not to allow that to happen in their family, so that their children do not grow up like gourds without roots, finishes his story Vasil Kolar, president of “Dinara”, a football club that is more than a game and chasing a ball.
Build schools; we have enough halls and churches!
Kolar emphasizes that our diaspora in America needs a change in tactics to preserve the community and the connection with generations to come.
– Changes in thinking and the awareness that we cannot survive without education are necessary for us. Schools should be built, because thank God we have enough churches and banquet halls. But they will soon empty if today’s children stop going to them. That is why we need schools where new generations would gather, where they would preserve the language and learn history and tradition.
Author: Antonije Kovačević Photo: Antonije Kovačević / Handout
MORE TOPICS:
“WE SLEPT LIKE SARDINES”: Confession of a Serbian truck driver who spent six weeks in ICE detention!