One of the best college soccer coaches in the U.S. happens to be Sasho Cirovski, a man who was born in the Macedonian village of Vratnica.
Sasho Cirovski (R on bottom row) with his mother and siblings in Vratnica; photo: baltimoresun.com
The 51-year-old Cirovski has been the coach of the University of Maryland soccer team since 1993. After a tough first year that saw his team win just 3 games, Cirovski has build Maryland into a college soccer (not college football since that is a different entity in the U.S. sports landscape) powerhouse, winning 2 titles in the process. Maryland also made the finals this year as well, but they lost that game 1:2 against Notre Dame.
Regardless, the story of Cirovski reaching Maryland is so improbable that even a fiction movie would not do it justice. Cirovski was born in the village of Vratnica before his family immigrated to Canada when he was 8 years old. His family didn’t have much, but Cirovski’s love of soccer and his parent’s selflessness drove him to becoming the man that he is today. In a 2009 newspaper article, Cirovski stated the following about his appreciation for his father during the difficult times, “We were poorer than dirt and always in debt. But if I needed to make a soccer trip, he would find a way to borrow $20. People trusted him to pay it back.”
Cirovski continued to play soccer in the years ahead, while also attending school. He eventually graduated from college in 1985. After a brief playing career spanning a couple of years, Cirovski decided to enter the coaching ranks in 1990 as an assistant at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The next year, he was named head coach at Hartford where he spent 2 years before he took over at Maryland in 1993. The rest, as they say, is history with Cirovski becoming one of the most successful coaches in college soccer.
The above photo of Sasho and his family in Vratnica, took sometime in 1969, has guided him to never take things for granted. The photo hangs in his office and serves as motivation to maintain a strong work ethic and a sense of humility.