Insights from the Serbian National Team Experience – Part 1: Overview

You get athletes for ten days. Two matches. International travel.

Some players come in after heavy match loads. Others haven’t played in weeks. You don’t have their max heart rate. You don’t have time to test. The gym is whatever the hotel gives you. Sometimes that means hallways.

In that window, you’re not developing anyone. You’re trying not to screw things up. Most coaches still try to run it like a club setting.

I joined the Serbian women’s national team in February 2024 as a strength and conditioning coach and sports scientist. Zero budget. We had to rethink everything. Some things held up. Some didn’t.

The video below shows what actually happened when time, data, and control were limited.

Watch it if you’re not sure your current system would survive this.