Jelena Zbiljic ‘20 has made history with the Minnesota Aurora. The team is Minnesota’s new pre-professional women’s soccer team and has already garnered overwhelming praise and attention in its first few active months. Up until the final championship game, the Aurora progressed throughout their inaugural season undefeated, consistently breaking stadium records with turnouts over six thousand. While just starting out in the pre-professional field, Zbiljic has known and loved soccer for nearly her whole life. 

“Honestly, my journey with soccer started when I was, like, three years old,” she said. “Soccer has been in my family for a really, really long time. Almost everyone in my family has played it. My grandpa started a club in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, when he first came to the US from Serbia, so I just grew up loving it.”

Zbiljic played on Minnetonka’s varsity soccer team for all four years of high school while also participating in a number of other soccer programs. She played for the local Tonka United club until her sophomore year and later made the Minnesota Thunder Academy’s highly selective Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) team. The latter offered a more competitive environment and a higher degree of exposure, helping to advance her ambitions of playing professionally. 

“What inspired me to pursue soccer in a more professional sense has definitely been my family—my grandpa starting the club, everyone in my family playing, and just having such a big support system,” she said. 

Playing with the Aurora has certainly acted as a major step forward in Zbiljic’s professional journey. However, despite an overall impressive season, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the team. 

“I’d say that one of our first obstacles was in our first game. We tied our home opener against Green Bay. No one really knew what to expect because we were all brand-new to the team and didn’t really know each other,” said Zbiljic. “However, something rewarding was going to Green Bay on our last away trip and winning both games. It was just really cool to see how we started the season compared to how we ended against the same team.” 

She considered the best part of the season to be advancing to championships and playing undefeated until the final game. The Aurora players, who were at first complete strangers to one another, developed a powerful bond over the course of the season. Their connection is something that Zbiljic values immensely, alongside the enduring support of the community. 

The relationships she formed with her coaches and teammates in high school were special in a similar way. From the players she grew up alongside to Coach Jeff Hopkins—who still attends her collegiate and pre-professional games—Zbiljic deeply cherishes the people she got to know at MHS.

“I think my time on the high school team just really helped me grow—not only as a player but also as a person. I started when I was 13 years old, playing from my freshman year all the way until my senior year. We won a state championship my junior year, and just experiencing that was surreal and something I will never forget,” she said. 

Zbiljic’s favorite memories from her time at the high school extended beyond soccer. “I was involved in basketball growing up and played my freshman year on the 9th grade team.” Zbiljic enjoyed playing basketball and wishes she could have continued in that sport, as well. 

She added that two of her favorite classes were science and English. “I loved my teachers Mrs. Sommers and Mrs. Lewis. They both just made the courses so much fun and enjoyable. I especially liked science so much—and that actually helped me realize that I wanted to major in kinesiology in college,” she said.

Now a junior attending the University of Illinois Chicago, Zbiljic hopes to continue playing pre-professionally and pursuing her studies in kinesiology. Once out of college, she also aims to advance into the field of professional soccer. She offered a few pieces of advice for current MHS students who may be aspiring professional athletes with similar goals and ambitions. 

“One piece of advice that I would really just tell every student to follow is to never stop chasing your dreams,” she said, “even if people tell you things like, ‘You’re not good enough’ or ‘That’s not realistic.’ As an athlete, it’s easy to give up and stop trying when you’re faced with obstacles or adversity. But I would just say to never stop believing in yourself, because the possibilities are endless.”