Vukčević's star shines high at the 2024 IHF Women's Junior World Championship

Despite conceding a 31:34 loss in the last match of the preliminary round at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, therefore starting the main round on zero points, Montenegro look confident and poised.

Usually a team that bring a defence-first mindset, the European side have now scored the second largest number of goals in the competition, 122, only three shy of Hungary, who are the top scoring side so far, and have dazzled with the fast-paced style of handball delivered by coach Igor Markovic.

It is a change of pace, a change of style, but fully embraced by the players, with team captain Jelena Vukčević, a right back that was rightly touted as the next best thing coming out of the Montenegro system, leading the top goal scorer standings, with 30 goals, five more than any other player at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship.

“We are always giving it our all, I think that is our advantage. We put all our heart into what we are doing and it has always been like this, I think you have all seen that in the past,” says the 19-year-old right back.​​​​​​

Montenegro have a chequered past in delivering fantastic back players, their current national team coach, Bojana Popović, or former right back Katarina Bulatović, who was one of the idols of Vukčević, included. But now, a younger generation takes over, as Montenegro are rehashing their team.

Enter Vukčević, who has shown brilliant flashes of potential over the last years, including making her debut at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, where Montenegro finished seventh. The current junior team captain was only 18 years old, but she played without any big stage fright.

“It was something special for me, that is for sure. It is something amazing to represent your national team and it was a big objective for me, which I have checked off my list. But that does not mean anything, I am going to do everything I can to become even better,” adds Vukčević.

Indeed, she has morphed into a player with a ton of potential, as she has already completed two seasons in the EHF Champions League Women for Montenegrin giants Budućnost BEMAX, scoring 32 goals in the previous season. That experience helped her even more, as she became a focal point in this junior team.

Now, at North Macedonia 2024, Montenegro dream big, winning their first two matches against Guinea and Uzbekistan, however conceding their first loss at the end of the preliminary round, 31:34, against Portugal. That means they will be starting with zero points in the main round, but with matches against Iceland and hosts North Macedonia following, it means that the European side can still make it to the quarter-finals.

“I won’t tell you necessarily what are our dreams here, but I think you can figure it out. We are aiming as high as possible and for the future, for sure, I want to be at the Olympic Games once again with Montenegro,” adds Vukčević.

Unfortunately for Montenegro, they missed out on a place at Paris 2024, due to losses against Germany and Slovenia in the Olympic Qualification Tournament this spring, but the European side are likely to try and get back into the Olympic tournament at Los Angeles 2028, when the current generation representing them at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship is going to look even better.

It will not be plain sailing, as opponents will not sit with their arms crossed, yet Vukčević knows a thing or two about adversity. Four years ago, she suffered a devastating knee injury, which could have signalled the end of her career. Instead, she chose to fight and was back on the court in less than a year, even better and more determined.

“For a 15-year-old to suffer such an injury, it is quite a difficult moment. You are thinking why you or why had this happened. But I had the support of my teammates, of my family, and I could get over it quite fast, and what is the most important is that I am back,” concludes the captain of Montenegro junior women’s team.

That resilience and attitude had seriously served Montenegro well, and if it were to continue, it will surely bring them closer to their dreams. But right now, the task at hand is to secure a quarter-finals berth and secure the best result for the junior side at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship since 2010, when they finished eighth.