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"Youth Can" program, that started it's work in 2015 under the name "Basketball Power", has been partnering with various initiatives that share similar vision. Lithuanian National Olympic Committee, Vilnius Marathon, Lithuanian Basketball Federation, as well as Basketball League have invited program's students and coaches to participate in their trainings, events, showing students different opportunities while considering career paths and making life choices.

Last year LNOC (Lithuanian National Olympic Committee) invited 12 "Youth Can" students to participate in "Olympic Generation“ project providing children and youth with Olympic education that is built around the notion of using sports as an educational tool. Based on the Olympic Games philosophy, in order to ensure a successful educational process you need to balance your body and mind. This program helps children to discover such Olympic values as friendship, respect and personal growth through sport.

For the second year in a row, Vilnius Marathon invited "Youth Can" students to participate in 2K Students' Run during the Vilnius Marathon for free. Close to 200 program's children challenged themselves to cross the finish line. While many have been training for a while already, others went home planning to make it a daily habit to stay active.

During the September meeting, LNOC Olympic Education program director Vita Balsyte presented program’s mission and goals during the meeting. Comparisons to "Youth Can" program and the possibilities of getting program's community more involved in the events of the LNOC (e.g., two major sporting events in summer and winter) were discussed.

During the separate meetings with Lithuanian Basketball League and Vilnius Marathon, the Kazickas family members thanked the representatives for their work with "Youth Can" program and discussed the ways to make this partnership even more productive.

Photos: KFF archives