A young basketball player Bernarad Morina has been a member of the selection of young pioneers of Bujanovac’s Basketball Club (BC) Play 017 and its captain for four years. He attends the sixth grade of the "Branko Radicevic" primary school and is an excellent pupil. He can speak very good English and understands Italian. He is one of the best players of his age at the play position in Serbia.

“Following a friendly match between Play 017 and Pink Panther’s team from Kumanovo, we were asked to go to Spain, specifically to Madrid’s club "Estudiantes". During the match, he was noticed by Bojan Zlatkovski, a scout for young players of the Spanish clubs, "said Nenad Stajic, the head of the BC Play 017.   

"Mr. Zlatkovski was delighted by Bernard's basketball skills, and asked me, after the match, to send him a recording of the game in which Bernard plays.  Shortly thereafter,  a formal invitation of the  Director of the "Estudiantes" club to come to Madrid followed, "proudly explains Mr. Stajic and adds  that the Spanish club paid the accommodation for them, but that they had to find the funds for the trip themselves.  

“Play 017 isn’t funded from the budget of the municipality of Bujanovac and we didn’t have the money for the trip.  In the end, we were helped by a businessman from Bujanovac, Nebojsa Aleksandrov, the owner of pharmacies, "said Mr. Stajic.

“We were met at Madrid airport by the director of" Estudiantes ", after which we were accommodated at the building for the players who play for the youth categories of the club, but who aren’t from Spain or Madrid.  After the first training, which was individual and during which Bernard’s techniques were tested, it was concluded that he was a very talented boy.   Over the next three days, Bernard trained with different teams and with players of various ages. In those days, a number of directors and coaches of the club watched him training, after which they praised his technique, vision and feeling for assistance.  Bernard is the youngest player in the history of the club who was on tested from this part of Europe  ", said Mr. Stajic, adding that it was agreed that Bernard would soon travel to Spain again to sign a long-term contract on his involvement in the "Estudiantes" club.

"All in all, being tested at the" Estudiantes ", which is one of the oldest clubs in Europe, is a great success for Bernard, as well as for our club and the community in which we live, because it gives hope to the children that the people living far away could hear about them and that they have prospects here. There is no need for them and their families to "seek better days" somewhere else in Serbia or abroad, because work and dedication, sooner or later, result in success, "said Mr. Stajic. 

Bernard comes from a modest Roma family and he lives with his father, mother, grandmother, grandfather and brother. Very often, before school, he helps his parents by selling goods on the stall.

Source: Coordination Body