Camille Pangonis (Toronto), Greta Rimkevičiūtė, Ula Kaunas, Gabija Radcliffe, Julia Matulevičius (all from Chicago) were happy with the opportunity to come to Lithuania and demonstrate their skills on the basketball court. The Lithuanian basketball coaches were also satisfied with the abilities of the young basketball players.
“It’s a little too early to say, because we haven’t been together for too long, but otherwise it’s a good impression, motivated girls who want to play sports, who want to improve. That is the most important thing, said the manager of Druskininkai BC “Deivės” and the Lithuanian U16 girls’ national team. coach Aurimas Andrušaitis. – One girl from Canada stands out, who has the opportunity to add to the national team even this summer.”
Saulius Kuzminskas, the head of the LKF girls’ basketball selection program, who conducted trainings both in Panevėžys and Druskininkai, was satisfied with the progress of the project and the opportunities to supplement Lithuanian youth national teams with expatriate talents.
“There was a mutual benefit: the coaches saw what kind of expatriate Lithuanians we have, how much talent they have. Our players saw what they were missing, how they could improve. Of course, they also proved that they are really not inferior to our Lithuanian diaspora, – said Saulius Kuzminskas. – We were surprised that there is such talent and there is a lot of it. Several female candidates, I think, will apply for the youth national team in the summer. This is a non-daily project and it will definitely be possible to find and interest more of those girls.”
Aurimas Matulevičius, who organizes the basketball community of North American Lithuanian emigrants, was happy about the stay of the young basketball players in Lithuania. “Our foreign girls come to Lithuania with great desire. We are trying to be as strong as possible to strengthen Lithuanian girls’ basketball. There is already interest from several Lithuanian coaches to include the girls in the top sixteen or twenty for review this summer. We still have time to improve, we will try not to disappoint the coaches”, said LKF USA representative Aurim Matulevičius.
We remind you that last week a group of eighteen-year-old girls from the United States and the United Kingdom trained with their peers in Panevėžys.
