An Incredible Journey

By Christy Cabrera Chirinos
HurricaneSports.com
 
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – As he raised his hand and spoke the oath that made him a United States citizen, Aljosa Piric felt a sense of gratitude wash over him.
 
He was thankful that, when he was a teenager, his parents had been willing to send him first to Croatia, then Italy and later, the United States, all in an effort to shield him from the horrors of the war ravaging their homeland in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
 
He was grateful there had been coaches and sponsors willing to take him in and give him training to continue excelling on the tennis court. He was appreciative the sport itself had given him the opportunity to start a new life in the United States, a life that now included his young family and a coaching career at the University of Miami.
 
And so, in that moment Saturday while most of his colleagues and players were cheering on the Hurricanes’ football team in its home opener in Miami Gardens, Piric was more than content to be where he was – at a naturalization ceremony in Kendall with hundreds of other newly-minted American citizens, each of whom had their own stories to tell.
 
“I was there kind of thinking about the journey that kind of led me to that spot and it was pretty incredible, honestly,” said Piric, who took over as the Hurricanes men’s tennis coach in 2016. “It’s been 26 years since I came to this country and I’ve changed so many different visas, so many different things and one thing led to another – jobs, this, that, family, wife, kids – and to just kind of underline it with that day was pretty special. I was extremely happy to be there.
 
“And I was grateful. That was the overwhelming feeling I think I had, just gratitude for the people that kind of opened up their hearts and doors and lives to me through this journey. That was what I felt in that moment. … When I was giving the oath, I thought about how there had been many, many times along the way where the road could have ended. I just felt gratitude for all the people in my life who were pushing me, guiding me, opening up doors for me and just contributing to the opportunity that I finally had to be there.”
 
Despite the fact it took time for him to get to that moment, for Piric, the decision to become a citizen was relatively straightforward.
 
His wife, Jessica, is an American. So are their two children, 7-year-old Luca and 4-year-old Mila.
 
Family was ultimately at the root of Saturday’s moment, so much so that Piric even skipped the traditional post-ceremony photo opportunity so he could rush to his son’s soccer game.
 
“This is my life. My life is here. It’s not anywhere else,” he said. “It just felt like the right time. I had to do it for myself, but for my family as well.”
 
His family back home is, of course, the major reason Piric came to the U.S. in the first place.
 
In 1993, fearing for their son’s safety, Piric’s parents put him on a bus with other promising young athletes fleeing Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under protection from United Nations forces, the convoy carrying Piric endured a treacherous 24-hour journey out of the country to Croatia.
 
After that there would be a stop in Italy before he landed at the Palmer Tennis Academy in Florida and eventually, the Richmond Tennis Association in Virginia.
 
At the time, Piric didn’t quite understand what was happening. As most teenagers might be, he was intrigued by the freedom he figured he’d have away from his parents’ watchful gazes.
 
But now, a father himself, Piric has a new appreciation for the decision his parents made, one that kept the family apart for more than four years until his parents flew to the United States to see him graduate from high school.
 
The reunion was organized by Peggy and Dave Thorne, whose family hosted Piric during his time in Virginia. They too, were on his mind during Saturday’s naturalization ceremony.
 
“It was life-changing,” Piric said. “Looking back, it was a thing where you’re a 15-year-old kid and you’re trusting your parents are doing the right thing. … I didn’t really understand the magnitude of the situation, but my parents did. Both of them were there to kind of put me on the bus and as a dad, I can’t even imagine what sort of sacrifice that is. I can’t even fathom it, honestly. But I think once I left and I got to where I was going, I very quickly realized it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.
 
“I was trying to figure out life on my own and we lost contact while the war was going on. … At the time, I just kind of embraced it and accepted it. This was my life. In retrospect, I’m sure it was difficult. But in that moment, I wasn’t thinking of it like that. I just kept thinking, ‘This is what I’ve got to do, this is what I’ve got to do’ and you block some things out and keep moving. That was my experience.”
 
Through all the moves and the changes in Piric’s life, tennis was the one constant.
 
He won state championships in high school before playing at the University of Richmond. In 1999, he was selected to the Bosnian Davis Cup National team that competed in Egypt.
 
When he became a coach, he worked with the Bosnian National boys 18-and-under team. Soon enough, he was offered a job at Georgia Tech working as an assistant coach under Kenny Thorne, Peggy and Dave’s son and someone Piric says has been “like a big brother” to him.
 
In 2011, the Yellow Jackets earned a Sweet 16 berth in the NCAA Tournament and finished the year ranked No. 13 in the nation. That paved the way for Piric to take the head coaching job at Old Dominion later that year.

After earning recognition as the 2016 Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year for the Atlantic Region and helping the Monarchs go from unranked to a No. 28 ITA ranking in 2016, Piric came to Miami, where last spring, the Hurricanes advanced to the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year, posted a 17-11 overall record and a 7-5 mark in ACC play, the program’s best conference showing since 2011.
 
Now, Piric’s goal is to help the Hurricanes build on that success and to continue enjoying the life he and his family have made for themselves here in Miami.
 
“I believe there’s a purpose in my life. I put a lot of value in my beliefs and my faith. I think God has a story for all of us. He has a plan for all of us and I’m here for a reason,” Piric said. “I’ve embraced Miami. My family has embraced Miami. We love it here. This is our home. … We’re going to give this the best we’ve got.”