Women's Soccer 10/25/2022 3:01:00 PM Ben Malakoff

SERBIAN SISTERHOOD: TWO FRIENDS REUNITED AS RAMS

Milica Bulatovic was fresh off the plane from Tonkawa, Oklahoma and was spending time ringing in the new year with her family in her native country of Serbia when she received a call from an American number.

Bulatovic, who had recently finished her sophomore season playing soccer for two-year Northern Oklahoma College, was not expecting the call to be from VCU Women's Soccer Head Coach Lindsey Martin.

When the call ended, she frantically dialed another number on Facetime. This time an in-country call to a close friend, VCU sophomore midfielder Isidora Gajdobranski.

When Gajdobranski picked up the phone, she heard the unexpected happy screams of Bulatovic.

"Dora, I got an offer from VCU," Bulatovic said. "I'm going to sign, I'm coming!"

For Bulatovic, who had been playing in Oklahoma at two-year college with the hopes of accepting a Division I offer, her dream had come true. To make the dream better, the two friends would be reunited again on the soccer field, this time in the United States.

The pair first crossed paths when they played for the Serbian U-16 National team, but they did not become friends immediately. They both were going through the extensive development camp process before beginning tournament play, where there is not much time to develop relationships off the field.

As the camp process went on and more time was spent away from their families, the two finally had the chance to get to know each other thanks to a proper introduction by a mutual friend on the team.

"It was like a love at first sight kind of friendship," Bulatovic said.

The two began to connect on a deeper level as they played on Serbia's youth national teams together for the next two years but due to the international schedule, the team would only be together for no more than two weeks at a time. When they weren't playing together, finding time to hang out was difficult due to distance.

Gajdobranski is from northern Serbia in a town called Novi Sad, a colorful city nestled on the banks of the Danube river. Roughly five hours south lies Bulatoivc's hometown of Prokuplje, a picturesque city located at the foothills of the Hisar mountain peak.

Bulatovic, who is a year older than Gajdobranski, moved to Oklahoma and enrolled at Northern Oklahoma in the summer of 2020. Despite putting even more physical distance between the pair, Gajdobranski wasn't going to let it stand in the way of their bond.

"I was kind of surprised that Dora had put so much effort into maintaining our friendship and to ask how my training was going," Bulatovic said. "That first semester, Dora really put effort into maintaining contact and a relationship with me."

The two made a pact to see each other at least twice a year, such as on summer and winter breaks and on holidays such as New Year's, Gajdobranski said.

After she graduated high school and finished playing her last year for the U19 national team, Gajdorbanski had been in contact with the staff at VCU after reaching out and receiving an offer to come to play.

"I didn't know a lot about America or even VCU," Gajdobranski said. "I had to discover it on my own. As a coach, you can't reach out to every international player, so I feel like it's on us international students to reach out and be like, 'hey, I want to come.'"

When Gajdobranski arrived at VCU, she began to tell Bulatovic about how much she enjoyed the city, school and playing for her new team, trying to convince her former teammate to come to join her in her new home.

While in Oklahoma, Bulatovic had a standout campaign. She scored 41 goals and recorded 13 assists over two seasons with her play leading to multiple offers from Division I schools but she kept VCU in the back of her mind. Eventually, Bulatovic followed Gajdobranski's advice and reached out to Martin.

"I also did research on [VCU] and had heard of them through Dora," Bulatovic said. "Coach Martin responded and said to me, 'Any friend of Dora is our friend too.'"

When Bulatovic got the call from Martin that evening following New Year's, the decision was made. She would move to Richmond and play with her former teammate and best friend.

During the time away from each other, they both developed their skills and had individually become better soccer players.

"I haven't played with Bulat for maybe like three years," Gajdobranski said. "It's way different. We haven't played with each other in such a long time. It's now really fun discovering how good we are and how good of players we developed into over that period of time."

In games, the two will sometimes speak in their native language of Serbian to elude defenders and help each other on the field. It can also draw confusing glances from their teammates sometimes too.

"It's never about talking behind peoples' backs," Bulatovic said. "It's just encouraging each other. Even during big moments, she is encouraging me in Serbian, and it really helped me. It's just nice to show emotions in your own language."

Living in the same city and practicing almost every day together has allowed them to become closer than they have ever been before. The two share some classes and go on frequent walks together, and they have the same goal once they graduate.

Bulatovic wants to play professional soccer in Europe once she finishes her time at VCU and believes that will open the door for her to come back home to Serbia and play for her senior national team. Gajdobranski shares the same vision.

"I would be super happy to get the invite," Gajdobranski said. "I'm waiting for my moment. If it happens, obviously, I would gladly accept it."

Until then, VCU continues to reap the benefits of that New Year's holiday phone call and the talented Serbians whose friendship has survived thousands of miles across the world.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#4 Isidora Gajdobranski: Midfield; 5' 5"; Sophomore

#11 Milica Bulatovic: Forward; 5' 7"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#4 Isidora Gajdobranski

#11 Milica Bulatovic