News

Basketball Power Newsletter II
03/07/2018

Here are some latest news from our Basketball Power team!
 
 
 
Celebrating Joseph Kazickas' 100th Birthday
 

Joseph Kazickas is the founder of the Kazickas Family Foundation, which provides support for Basketball Power and numerous other charity groups. To celebrate this milestone, Basketball Power held the Dr. Joseph Kazickas 100 Year Tournament in his honor on January 27th. Bouncing balls and children's laughter were heard at the Vilnius Gediminas Technical University where more than 300 children including athletes with the Special Olympics gathered to play basketball, football, take part in relay races, and spend time having fun. There were appearances by special guests including Dr. Juozas Kazickas children Jūratė Kazickas, Jonh Kazickas, and Michael Kazickas.
 
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Basketball Power Heads to Zimbabwe
 

In  November, BP coaches Lukas Danilevičius, Artūras Seržantas, and Arminas Vareika traveled to Zimbabwe to see and learn from Hoops4Hope, a basketball program created to serve local youth and the model for Basketball Power in Lithuania. Check out their interview with LRT News to hear more about their incredible trip!
 
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Ball Brothers Come to Lithuania

This January, young American basketball stars LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball, dubbed the "Ball Brothers", arrived in Lithuania to begin their pro careers with the Vytautas club in Prienai. Basketball Power athletes had the incredible opportunity to meet and cheer on the Ball Brothers at their debut match!
 
 
 
Meet Rūtenis Paulauskas

Rūtenis Paulauskas is the sports consultant for the Basketball Power program. In a recent interview, Paulauskas discussed the goals of the Basketball Power program, some specific BP teams, and his dreams for the future of the organization. In the interview, Paulauskas states "The goal of the program is to create friendships with youth who cope with  socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds daily and to reduce marginalization. A large part of this mission involves devoting time to young people who spend their lives in foster care homes and institutions". Click the button below to read the full interview!
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Tour of the Teams
 

Basketball Power's newest project is underway! Program coordinators will be traveling all over Lithuania visiting teams and creating videos of the highlights. See the first production about the Šalčininkeliai team!
 
 
 
 
Celebrities Visit Juvenile Detention Center
 

On January 12th, basketball team BC Kažkur Matyti visited the Veliucionys Social Center Basketball Power team, trained by Edvinas Adomaitis. Guests included Lithuanian singer Vaidas Baumila, fighter Sergej ''Kuvalda'' Maslobojev, football player and sports commentator Ervinas Kvitkauskas, TV show host Tomas Langvinis, basketball players Janas Jurgo and Dainius Novickas, video clips maker Haris Zenkovas, journalist Lina Motužytė, and team founder Julius Bliudzius. After playing some basketball, the guests sat down with the youngsters to talk about basketball and as well as give life advice.
 
 
 
 
Science Trip
 

One of our goals is to provide youth with opportunities to check out different careers. This weekend our student Povilas had a chance to participate in the science hack day organized by the Technar!
 
 
 
Athlete Spotlight
 
Ignas Drazulis

Meet Ignas! Ignas is a high school student with Basketball Power in Miroslavas. Ignas said about BP that "before Basketball Power, we didn’t have any possibilities to play basketball in our hometown...through Basketball Power I have visited cities like Vilnius (many times), Kaunas, and a summer camp held in Karklė, near Klaipėda". Ignas said one of his favorite things about BP is his coach. He credits his coach with giving life advice, not just basketball advice, and said that his coach "motivates us to reach our goals, to get good grades at school, help parents, be a good friend, and to not smoke or use alcohol".
Coach Spotlight
 
Arturas Seržantas

Meet Arturas! Arturas has been working with Basketball Power for three years and is currently the coach in Šalčininkai. He says his main motivation for working with BP is that was raised in similar conditions that many BP athletes face daily, growing up in a small village and being surrounded by unemployment, poverty, and alcoholism. Regarding his work with BP, Arturas said "I develop and grow not only as a coach, but as a person. BP has made it possible for me to realize myself in various activities. As a part of BP, you become a coach, teacher, dad, elder brother, psychologist". 
 
BP Athletes Commemorate Freedom Fighters Day
 

On January 13th, Basketball Power held special events and activities in remembrance of victims of the Soviet aggression in 1991. On 13 January 1991, the Soviet Union used force to overthrow Lithuania's legitimate government which declared the country's independence on 11 March 1990. Over 1,000 unarmed Lithuanian civilians were injured and 14 were killed during an attempt by the Soviet army and Special Forces to take over the Vilnius TV Tower. Across the nation, events were held to pay tribute to this day, and at BP locations across the country athletes learned about the event and participated in related activities.

 
 
 
 
Happy Holidays from Basketball Power!
 

Basketball Power teams across Lithuania celebrated Christmas and New Years in many different ways. See how they celebrated below!
 
 
 
 
 
 

Basketball Power is a dynamic nonprofit committed to providing support to at risk Lithuanian youth through mentoring programs and free basketball practices.

We are funded by the Kazickas Family Foundation and our aim is to help communities raise awareness around important issues such as bullying, alcoholism, suicide, human trafficking, etc. 
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