Anđelija Arbutina

Name    Andelija Arbutina Height    1.78 m		Role    Basketball Player
Olympic medals    Basketball at the 1988 Summer Olympics - Women\'s tournament Similar    Stojna Vangelovska, Slađana Golić, Danira Bilić

Career

Anđelija Arbutina started her professional basketball career at a young age. She was only 16 years old when she first joined Košarkaški klub ženski Crvena zvezda, commonly known as Crvena zvezda, the most decorated female basketball club in Serbia.

She played as a shooting guard throughout her career. Arbutina’s career spanned a total of 21 years, from 1982 to 2003.

International Achievements

1980s

During Arbutina’s stay at Crvena zvezda, she was able to play basketball at an elite level internationally. She achieved her first international success when her university team won the 1987 Summer Universiade women’s basketball competition, held in Zagreb, Yugoslavia in July of 1987.

Unfortunately, Anđelija Arbutina would not win international gold again in her career. Arbutina and the Yugoslavian women’s basketball team was able to score second place in the 1987 EuroBasket competition held in Cadiz, Spain, losing only to the team from the Soviet Union, with a final score of 83-73.

Her greatest achievement would come only the next year, when she would represent Yugoslavia in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, when Arbutina was only 21 years old. Arbutina and the Yugoslavian team finished in second place, earning them a silver medal. They lost to the United States’ women’s basketball team with a final score of 77-70.

1990s

She would go on to qualify for the FIBA World Championship in 1990 and represented Yugoslavia in the 1990 FIBA World Championship for Women held in Malaysia. Arbutina and the Yugoslavian women’s team would once again come in second place, again losing to the United States’ women’s team — a repeat of their Olympic bout in 1988.

Anđelija Arbutina’s final international competition would be the EuroBasket competition in 1991, which was held in Tel Aviv, Israel. Arbutina and her Yugoslavian teammates faced the Soviet Union team in the finals, repeating their matchup from the 1987 EuroBasket finals. The Yugoslavian women’s basketball team fell to the Soviet Union’s team, with a final score of 97-84.

Local League Career And Achievements

Career In Yugoslavia

In her time as the shooting guard for Crvena zvezda, Arbutina was able to reach the very top of the Yugoslavian women’s basketball scene. In the 1988-89 season of the Yugoslav Women's Basketball League, she joined her team in dominating the competition. They emerged as the winners, beating their rival team, Elemes Šibenik.

Arbutina would go on to find more success in the early 90s with Crvena zvezda. In the 1991-92 season, Arbutina and Crvena zvezda would win both the Yugoslav Women's Basketball League and the Yugoslav Women's Basketball Cup, cementing their place as the most dominant women’s basketball team in Yugoslavia.

Arbutina transferred out from Crvena zvezda for the 1992-93 season, playing for GEAS Milano. After her stint at GEAS Milano, she rejoined Crvena zvezda for the 1993-94 season and once again won the Serbia and Montenegro Women's Basketball Cup, formerly known as the Yugoslav Women's Basketball Cup.

The 1993-94 season would be her last season with Crvena zvezda. For the 1994-95 season, she joined team Bečej but failed to achieve anything notable in that season.

After leaving Bečej, she joined ŽKK Hemofarm, and won the Serbia and Montenegro Women's Basketball Cup in the 1995-96 season. This win would bring Arbutina’s national competition wins to a total of five, and resulted in her being honored by her former team, Crvena zvezda, as one of the best women basketball players in Serbia.

Career As An Import

For the next two seasons, Arbutina tried her luck as an import player for other countries. She played for the Hungarian team, DVTK Miskolc, for the 1996-97 season. In the 1997-98 season, she played for the Italian team Lavezzini Parma and did a short stint in 1988 for team Fenerbahçe from Turkey.

In the 1998-99 season, Arbutina was picked up by Israeli team A.S. Ramat HaSharon. She tasted success once again while playing in the Israeli leagues, winning both the Israeli State Cup and the Israeli Female Basketball Premier League in the same season.

Arbutina then transferred to the Bosnian team, Razvojna Banka Banja Luka, for the 1999-2000 season. She returned to A.S. Ramat HaSharon for the 2000-2001 season and tucked another achievement under her belt after winning the Israeli Female Basketball Premier League for a second time. This would be Arbutina’s last notable competition win in her career.

She was picked up by another Israeli team, Maccabi Tel Aviv, for the 2001-2002 season but failed to secure another win. She spent the last year of her career in ŽKK Hemofarm, playing for her home country in the 2002-2003 season.

Anđelija Arbutina retired in 2003 and has not returned to women’s basketball since.

References