A dream broken
“I was just about to sign at the Victory on the Friday morning after negotiating the terms of my contract there with four rounds to go in the regular VPL season,” Sivic says. “We were playing Heidelberg that Friday night and was meant to sign on the Monday morning.”
The game was Sivic’s 50th league appearance in Richmond colours, but it quickly became every footballer’s worst nightmare. With the game deadlocked at 1-1 in the 75th minute, a crunching tackle from Bergers midfielder Joshua Groenewald had a lasting impact on the unfortunate Sivic. “I went to take a throw in and as the ball got passed back to me, he came in late and over the ball,” he says. “With the force of my kick coupled with him leaving in a high foot, it automatically broke my leg. I knew straight away it was broken and I just straight away thought my career was over. The tackle also managed to hyperextend my knee, leaving me with a cracked knee cap.”
The toll of the injury proved to be physically and emotionally difficult for then 20-year-old: “I was in rehab for two years, having to learn how to walk again which was a really tough time for me and in the end my leg could not recover. To this day I still have troubling walking and cannot really run properly with it all being downhill since that moment.”
One silver lining of that period proved to be the great deal of support Sivic received from Victory players and staff during his rehabilitation process.
“The rehab was good as Melbourne Victory still took me on through the process with club doctor Adam Basil, Ernie Merrick, goalkeeper coach Steve Mautone and players such as Kevin Muscat, Leigh Broxham and Adrian Leijer being really good to me,” he says. “So the support I had around me and the club, including some unbelievable physiotherapy, helped me a lot and in the end I cannot thank them enough.”
“They tried their best but after having 10 surgeries and operations on the leg, seeing four-five different surgeons, they came to the conclusion that I had the legs of a 35-year-old, forcing me to make the difficult decision to give the game away.”
The Victory family
During this difficult period for the youngster, Melbourne Victory proved to be very supportive, allowing him to continue his role as the club’s kit man. He celebrated with the team as they triumphed over Adelaide to record their second A-League title, and took the field for Kevin Muscat’s testimonial match just over 12 months later in the first ever game of football at the newly-built AAMI Park. In what is remembered as the feel-good moment of the match, Muscat stepped up to take a penalty and instead of shooting at goal, touched the ball forward for the on-rushing Sivic to slot the ball home, in a game where the then 22 year-old was given the captain’s armband by the ex-Victory skipper.
“It was unbelievable and emotional for me because all those boys were all my good friends who knew what I had gone through from day one, whether that was the training, rehab or operations,” he says. “For him to do that for me in his testimonial game meant a lot for me and a lot of people may question Muscy, but he’s got a heart of gold and is a really top guy with me having the utmost respect for him and everyone in that football club.”
Sivic continued as Victory’s kit man until the end of the 2011-12 A-League season, a position he relished. “Once I realised I couldn’t play anymore, I stayed at the club and continued on with that role as well as working with their football department under their coaches which was good for me,” he says.
Foray into coaching
It was then that Sivic proceeded to begin the next chapter of his football life, moving into coaching. His first steps into the role begun by helping his uncle Huss Skendervoic operate his junior academy, while his mentor moved from an assistant’s role with Chatzitrifonas at Richmond to a full-time senior coaching with the Western Suburbs and Oakleigh Cannons in the VPL.
Skenderovic has gone on to forge a career as Techinical Director at UAE Pro League club Ajman, and assistant to Brazilian legend Zico at FC Goa. Sivic, on the other hand, is in his third season at Port Melbourne Sharks in a coaching role. “The first year I was here in 2013 I was the Assistant Technical Director of the juniors, with last year being my first season in working with Eric (Vassiliadis) with the senior team,” Sivic says.
“This is my second year here and I am enjoying it with me learning of one of the best coaches in the league who gives me a lot of responsibility in terms of me taking a lot of training sessions with the boys. I am slowing progressing and learning a lot of him but still it can be a bit of challenge in the fact that I am not playing as I’ve grown up with playing with a lot of these guys who are playing now.”
The Sharks assistant coach believes one of the biggest challenges of the coaching side of things is managing the player-coach relationship, with many players still being good mates with the 27-year-old, but adding there comes a time where the relationship must be professional.
“The boys still respect me and my opinions and in general I think being here under Eric puts me in a better position than most young coaches out there.”
While Semi is now more focused on his coaching progression, the Sivic name is still present on the playing field across Victoria. “I come from a very large family as I have 4 brothers and 3 sisters with me being the oldest and we have all played football growing up,” he says. “Mum and Dad have been so supportive and me not playing anymore breaks my heart for them because I know how much time and effort they put into me and my brothers.”
His younger brother Enes, 23, was on the books of Richmond and Dandenong Thunder and featured in the Victorian Training Centre (VTC) squad in 2011 alongside the likes of current A-League trio Nick Ansell, James Jeggo and Paulo Retre, as well as a number of the NPL’s top performers. The imposing defender now finds himself at the club where it all started for his older brother in senior football, Frankston Pines in State League 2, where he has established himself as one of the best players in the division.
Out of his other brothers, Tarik, 16, is plying his trade for the Dandenong City Under 20s in NPL1, while little Yusef, 12, is kicking goals for his junior club Endeavour United. “We’ve all grown up in the football family and our uncle was a played a pretty big part in this as he was pretty decent when he was younger,” he says. “Mum and Dad have been unbelievable for us growing up and taking us to training especially from Knox to Bulleen, Doncaster and into the VIS four times a week”.
Over two decades on since the oldest of the Sivic brothers was so inspired by his uncle’s footballing exploits that he sought to emulate them, he once again finds himself in a similar position, albeit in a coaching sense. While the last six years have not gone as planned for the former Victory trainee, he is determined to make the most of the next stage of his career, motivated by the desire toreach the heights that he never got to fulfill during his short playing stint.