Meet the CroatianSports.com TEAM

Dedicated to ‘Uniting Croatian Fans Around the  World’, we strive to enlighten and entertain our readers by bringing you all the latest in the world of Croatian sports, one news topic at a time.

Ante Kvartuč, born July of 1986, is a first-generation Croatian-American from San Pedro, California, born to parents from Zadar. His love of soccer and sports began at age four when he first kicked a ball at AYSO camp in Los Angeles and has not stopped playing since. He was a member of the Mladi Hrvati Nogometni Klub in 1996 and played four years of varsity soccer at Mary Star High School.

As a 14 year-old freshman, Ante earned a writing position at the 100,000 circulation Daily Breeze newspaper in Torrance, CA as a video game critic. The job got Kvartuč his first glimpse of writing as a journalist in a weekly column, which included the perk of attending and reporting from the world’s largest video game expo, E3, every year. Kvartuč attended both San Diego State University and Cal State Long Beach after high school.

Kvartuč founded CroatianSports.com in 2008 and has interviewed Croatian royalty over the past decade, including: Luka Modrić, Ivan Rakitić, Davor Šuker, Joe Šimunić, Stipe Miocic, Marin Čilić, Bojan Bogdanović, Ivica Zubac, and Andrew Bogut, to name a few.

Branimir Kvartuč is the brains behind CroatianSports.com and the creative genius that has brought much success to the website over the past decade.

Born in Zadar, Croatia, Branimir was six years old when the family emigrated to Los Angeles.

Branimir studied journalism at Syracuse University before becoming an award-winning photojournalist and the author of the famous OJ Simpson chase photo.

For nearly a decade he photographed all of the professional sports teams in Los Angeles, including all of the Lakers three-peat seasons.

Between 2008-2011, Branimir moved back to Croatia where he worked as a photojournalist for CroPix, Croatia’s largest photo agency.

Branimir is credited for introducing the sport of Stand Up Paddle Boarding to Croatia in 2010 when he opened up Croatia’s first Stand Up Paddle business, generating new interest in the sport. Today SUP is ubiquitous in Croatia.

Branimir spent the last decade as a Communications Director and Senior Advisor in Los Angeles City Hall.

Matt Lebo has been with the CroatianSports.com family since the beginning. If you follow our Twitter on a daily basis, it’s all him. He doesn’t believe writing in the ‘third person’ matters and has the perfect arsenal of GIFs for all those keyboard warriors out there in the Twitter-verse trying to shame Croatian sports and our athletes.

CroatiaU14 is the CroatianSports.com Instagram Manager and contributing writer for the website. U14 spends much of his time tracking youth soccer in Croatia, and enjoys projecting how Croatian youngsters will turn out. Alongside Markus and Nikola Vukmanić (Vuki), U14 has formed many youth statistic sheets, and has interviewed future Croatian superstars, most notably Ivan Šaranić. CroatiaU14 is a supporter of Dinamo Zagreb and is an avid fan of the club’s 2nd team and youth squads.

Markus is a proud Croatian supporter from Montreal, Canada. He has been following Croatian footy since the 2012 Euros. He enjoys nothing more than discussing Croatian football with other Croatians around the globe. Joining the CroatianSports team was the perfect opportunity for him to do so. Markus has a keen eye for the new generation of Croatian players coming up the ranks. Alongside CroatiaU14, Markus has had his eye on the likes of Joško Gvardiol, Luka Sučić, and Stipe Biuk before it was cool. Markus is a tremendous asset to the CroatianSports.com team.

Rob Uvanović is a first-generation Croatian-American from Boston, who has been fortunate enough to see Croatia play in two World Cups (’14, ’18) and two Euros (’12, ’16). A lifelong soccer player and writer himself, one of Rob’s best childhood memories is watching and celebrating the ’98 World Cup wins with his dad, who is from Slavonski Brod. Rob enjoys contributing to the CroatianSports community as a way to both support the Vatreni from afar, but also to connect with fellow dijaspora supporters.