Page 3 - Fall 2015 | Rochester Athletics Newsletter
P. 3
Alumni Spotlight—Bojan Zoric ’98
On the Sidelines of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup
Bojan Zoric ’98 had the perfect view of the United States Women’s In Sweden, one could not do both, but, in the United States one
National Team (USWNT) at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final could, such as at the University of Rochester. At decision-time, the
in Canada a few months ago as the team doctor for the Americans. elder Zoric happened to be at his alma mater for a conference, where
When the final whistle blew in Vancouver, the United States had a 5-2 he struck up a conversation with the head soccer coach, who soon
victory over Japan and its first World Cup title in 16 years. contacted and then began recruiting Zoric.
His memories of the tournament are still vivid. “It was electric to be on Zoric chose Rochester because of its academics and athletics, both
that stage and around players at that level,” Zoric said. “Every game up being areas in which he excelled. As a freshman, he was part of the
to that point had been tight. As the clock ticked down in the closing team that won the Eastern College Athletic Conference Northeast
minutes, I kept saying the same phrase: Stay calm, stay calm. It’s not Regional title. When he was a sophomore, the team earned an NCAA
over—yet.” playoff bid. As a senior, they won the UAA title, and Zoric earned
First Team All-UAA accolades. He was also named an Academic
Zoric has been part of the medical staff of the USWNT since 2008. His All-American and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the internationally
first experience with a major soccer event was in 2012 at the Olympic renowned honor society.
Summer Games in London. He has continued to travel with the team
to international training camps and tournaments. In the lead-up to Having majored in molecular genetics and minored in chemistry,
the World Cup finals, he was with the team for some qualifiers and Zoric graduated magna cum laude. Medical school then beckoned
exhibition games. him. He went on to earn his MD from UCLA and conducted his
orthopaedic residency at Harvard University. After that, he became a
Although born at Strong Memorial Hospital, Zoric spent his first six sports medicine fellow in Vail, Colorado. Today, Zoric lives in a Boston
years in his parents’ native Croatia and then moved to Sweden, where suburb, where he is an orthopaedic surgeon at Sports Medicine
his father, Igor, ’75 (MA), ’77 (PhD), was a college professor. At an early North. Soccer, he says, gave him structure and taught him that careful
age, Zoric took to the game and went on to play youth soccer with planning and execution are skills for both on and off the field.
one of Croatia’s professional teams. When it came time for college, he
had a choice: pursue professional soccer or academics. Read the full article at uofr.us/bojan-zoric.
