SMC — He grew up in a troubled eastern European city during a time of war, and he chose to focus on athletics and family over drugs and crime.
His determination paid off. Dragan Ivanovic, 20, was recently named one of Santa Monica College’s athletes of the year for his performance on the men’s volleyball team. Ivanovic led the league this year in kills and service aces.
But getting to that point wasn’t easy. At 14, Ivanovic watched his father suffer through a battle with cancer that ultimately ended with his death. As a teenager in Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia, Ivanovic also lived through weeks of bombing.
The fall of Slobodan Milosevic and the end of Yugoslavia was not enough to keep the talented player in place. He ventured to California in the summer of 2003 to join the SMC Corsairs. He hopes to play one day soon for a Division One team.
Here, the Daily Press caught up with Ivanovic and asked about his play ethic.
Your father died when you were very young. How did you handle that?
“I saw him last — last person who saw him was me, you know. I go home, and he had stroke. He was like sad, looking at me. I
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 31, 2004. Read the original PDF.