Team #ZmajevoSrce

Cedevita Olimpija will be stronger not only on, but also off the court in the new season. Rok Terkaj – Trkaj, Jure Košir and Rene Mlekuž have become the first members of the Team Dragons’s Heart, which will be composed by the friends of Cedevita Olimpija.

Members of Team Dragon’s Heart are the friends of Ljubljana club, ambassadors of Cedevita Olimpija, that will be taking care, together with players and coaching staff members, that the happening at the courtside of the games will always be interesting. All of them are basketball lovers and have spent at least a part of their lives at basketball courts, or are still doing so.

With their values and characteristics, the Team Dragon’s Heart members are showing the heart of the Dragon at every step and are true sports and healthy lifestyle ambassadors. Team Dragon’s Heart will be getting stronger in the next seasons and the first members are rapper and all-around artist Rok Terkaj – Trkaj and former top-level alpine skiers and now successful businessmen – Juer Košir and Rene Mlekuž.

All of the members of Team Dragons’s Heart are eagerly waiting for the beginning of the new season. Team Dragon’s Heart will grow throughout the season with the new members, that are the lovers of Slovenian basketball and great fans of Cedevita Olimpija.

Rok Terkaj – Trkaj

“I am playing basketball only for love, passion and joy and I am proud of it. My connection with basketball goes back to the elementary school, when I have in the first grade of OŠ Boris Kidrič, gone to the stands and cheered for our school team. Back then I have sensed that love for the first time. In the school I started practicing, the school clubs have later transformed into KK Evropa, where I have proudly played. After the end of the elementary school I fell in love with music, while in basketball several kids were better than me, so I confessed to myself that basketball will not be my professional career,” popular Trkaj has remembered his love at first sight when he joined the Team Dragon’s Heart. “I am really proud that the sponsors, managements of both clubs and actually two countries have found a joint interest and recognized the gap, that there is a great and strong club missing at this geographic area. This is good both for basketball itself, since it will progrwess and young talented players, which will have a well-functioning system, where they will be able to develop themselves into the club that will give them stability and huge stair towards European and World basketball. I believe in Cedevita Olimpija and believe that good results will come, I am literally convinced. I remember the golden times, when father used to take me to Tivoli Hall where there were many fans, that were breathing for basketball and were cheering loudly. It’s a feeling that I really wish for the youngsters to sense themselves.”

Jure Košir

“I remember the golden times of the Dragons really well, since not so long ago I was a regular fan at all home games. My great desire is that the great atmosphere, that used to be in Tivoli Hall and later in that excellent EuroLeague season in Stožice Arena, comes back to Ljubljana. I have a feeling that this might happen with the merger of Petrol Olimpija and Cedevita into Cedeivta Olimpija, since this is a great opportunity for top-level basketball to come back to Ljubljana,” Jure Košir told about his fan moments and added: “I wish that the basketball fever would come back and that we would support the Dragons together. I invite and call the fans to support the players at the very beginning of the season, so that the players could gain the necessary support.”

Rene Mlekuž

Rene Mlekuž has told when the Team Dragon’s Heart emerged the following: “Even though I am not tall enough to show it, I am in love with basketball for a long time. It has also been a constant thing in my skiing career, since we have always loved to play it with the team and to build the fighting spirit that way. I am convinced, that the project of Cedevita Olimpija is the right step for the quality basketball to return to Ljubljana and Slovenia and that the basketball fans would return back to Stožice in big numbers. By now the team has lacked Slovenia National Team members, that would bring the fans to the arena and thus the right energy, that brings out the best of every player, was missing. Now there is a chance to turn the path into the right direction! I eagerly wait for the season to begin and call everyone that love basketball, to see each other in Stožice in as big numbers as possible and to give wings to our Dragons!”

ATMOSFERCI (Saša Kapetanovič, Jure Gregorčič, Ciril Komotar)

Trio navdušencev nad avtomobilizmom in košarko, ki sami sebe imenujejo bratje po bencinu. Če jih ne najdete za volanom jeklenega konjička, potem jih zagotovo najdete na ali pa ob košarkarskem igrišču – v novi tekmovalni sezoni pa tudi v Stožicah, kot člane Ekipe #ZmajevoSrce. Zagotovo bodo Saša Kapetanovič, Jure Gregorčič in Ciril Komotar oziroma Komotar Minuta, kot je morda najbolje poznan širši javnosti, ki sestavljajo Atmosferce, najhitrejši ambasadorji Cedevite Olimpije, s katero prav vse povezuje zaljubljenost v košarko.

»Od trenutka zavedanja, da je košarka del mene, pa do tega, da sem pred Halo Tivoli ure in ure čakal na vstopnice, ter vse do danes, ko smo priča nekemu novemu košarkarskemu vetru v Ljubljani, je moje srce vedno bilo za Olimpijo. Tudi brez povabila s strani Cedevite Olimpije, da kot Atmosferci poskušamo košarko približati nekomu, ki se bolj zadržuje v naših, avtomobilskih krogih, bi bil tako ali drugače prisoten na tekmah,« pove Kapetanovič, obenem pa izda, kdo ga je pravzaprav ‘prepričal’ k pridružitvi Ekipi #ZmajevoSrce: »Ko me je poklical športni direktor ljubljanskega kluba Sani Bečirović ter povabil k sodelovanju, je bil moj “Hmm…bom razmislil” zgolj trenutek slabe igre. Seveda sem bil v trenutku odločen, da sem zraven.«

»Košarkarski bogovi, grešil sem. Moram reči, da sem v zadnjem času košarko v osrednjeslovenski regiji spremljal veliko manj, kot prej. Kot otrok sem bil zasvojen s košarko zaradi bratov, ki sta košarko tudi trenirala in sta imela pri moji ljubezni do tega športa velik vpliv name. Zaradi moje postave lahko mirno rečem, da bi se lahko veliko bolje znašel v nogometu, a ko si enkrat zasvojen z enim športom oziroma bolje rečeno zaljubljen v košarko, preprosto nimaš izbire. Ko sem bil še zelo mlad in preden sem dobro razumel, kako se razlikujemo in ločujemo glede na državljanstvo v nekdanji skupni državi, sta mi moja brata dala vedeti, da je najboljši igralec na svetu Dražen Petrović. Potem pa je takratna Smelt Olimpija osvojila naslov evropskih pokalnih prvakov, sledili so še številni drugi uspehi, in od takrat naprej sem dihal ljubljansko košarko. Nenazadnje sem bil v dvorani tudi, ko je Marko Milić na Dnevu slovenske košarke preskočil avtomobil,« se svojih prvih trenutkov zaljubljenosti v Zmaje spominja Komotar. Doda: »Veliko zadev se je s slovensko in morda predvsem ljubljansko košarko v zadnjem času zgodilo, ki se morda ne bi smele. Sem in tja je bila narejena tudi kakšna napačna poteza, a pomembno je gledati naprej. Vesel sem, da se v Ljubljano in Slovenijo vrača košarka na tako visoki ravni, in komaj čakam, da bom imel priložnost obiskati eno izmed tekem Cedevite Olimpije ter navijat za Zmaje. Pogrešal sem to, in veselim se nove sezone. Najbolj vesel pa bom, če bom v dvorani Stožice lahko videl polne tribune, in da bomo po dolgem času znova stopili skupaj in navijali tako, kot se zagre.«