Lithuania looking ahead

Senior players invest in sport's future

27.07.2015
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National team defenceman Mindaugas Kieras is now teaching a new generation in Lithuania. Photo: Thijs de Witte

VIERUMAKI – Fresh off a bronze medal at the Division I Group B World Championship and with a hungry generation of young players, Lithuania is building for the future with youth development as the top priority.

A decade of playing professional hockey abroad came to an end when Mindaugas Kieras returned home to his native Lithuania in the summer of 2014. With his own playing career entering the twilight stages, he has found a way to stay involved in the game. Appointed as head of a newly-started hockey academy in the country's capital Vilnius, Kieras' future is now to nurture an increasing crop of up-and-coming players.

Checking in at his coaching role at the Hockey Punks Academy came at an exciting time for both Kieras and Lithuanian hockey. Vilnius had just a few months earlier successfully hosted the 2014 World Championships Division IB, where the homecoming of their talisman from the NHL, Dainius Zubrus had seen supporters flock to Lithuania's matches as the buzz around the sport was re-kindled.

"In 2009 we hosted our first World Championships at home and then five years later came our second one and they have both helped us," said Kieras who points at these two events as the catalyst for the increasing participating numbers. "You can see it by looking at the numbers. In the last five years we have gone from 500 kids to up to 900 in the whole of Lithuania so it is really not too bad."

With the Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation eager to capitalise on a growing interest for the sport, the up-and-coming academy coach Kieras was hand-picked to attend the 2015 IIHF Development Camp in Vierumaki. With one full season of coaching kids at home under his belt, he jumped at the opportunity to attend the coaching programme at the Sport Institute of Finland, where five continents and 52 different countries came together.

"To be able see the fundamentals of a great hockey country like Finland has been a good step for me in my new coaching career. Working from early in the morning to nine-ten-eleven at night has been quite hard work but also a great experience and I've gathered a lot of new information during the week," said Kieras.

"Back home our coaches tend to be too serious with the kids. What I saw here in Finland was a lot of fun, but also a fine balance between fun and skills," he said.

"There were also lot of available ice time here, but still the kids would have to skate all the time and not just wait for half a minute in the the stations they were doing. The coaches were very well organised and I feel that I've improved on how to run a practise and also what I should focus on and keep on teaching the kids," he said.

Recent figures from the Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation show that kids picking up the game in the aftermath of the 2014 World Championships Division I Group B in Vilnius has grown by 33%. Currently with eight private schools and three public hockey schools across Lithuania, the steady growth has also exposed a shortage of well-qualified coaches, which the Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation is keen to address.

Kieras is now back in Vilnius working on new ideas to implement at the Hockey Punks Academy. With its eye-catching name and red and white logotype, Hockey Punks is a well-established name in Lithuanian hockey circles where the senior team also competes in the national championship. 

With 17 and 18 World Championships respectively under their belt, Kieras together with his close friend Sarunas Kuliesius are sharing various coaching duties at Hockey Punks while still suiting up for the senior team. Two other former national team players, Arturas Katulis and Andrius Jadkauskas, are head of their own respective private hockey schools in Vilnius, which gives the youth development in the capital an extra competitive edge.

But also beyond the bright lights of the capital work is well underway to boost the popularity of the game and spread its frontiers. Siauliai, 212 kilometer northwest of Vilnius is one such example. Following sports studies and the inauguration of a full-sized rink in the town of 133,900 people, Aurimas Jokimcius opened a hockey school in his hometown five years ago. Now managing the academy with 30 kids from the ages up until 12, the condition are somewhat different to that of the capital.

"I don't know if there is any big difference between our schools as such, but Vilnius is big city and they have many Russian people living there so it's easier to find kids. We don't have any tradition of hockey in my town so it's hard to get kids involved," said Jokimcius who also attended the IIHF Development camp in Vierumaki taking part in the Learn to Play Instructor program.

"The camp in Vierumaki has given me a lot. Out on the ice we have to start working in stations during our training, and I will also try to use most of things I've picked up in Vierumaki about recruitment, and also make more use of parents because I haven't use them enough yet," said Jokimcius, who also hopes that the appointment of a coach from Latvia, Vladimirs Parhomenko, can further improve the coaching of the youngsters and also with time also see teams from Siauliai play in the Latvian championship.

With the first anniversary soon looming for the newly started Hockey Punks Academy, Kieras can feel pleased with his contribution so far.

"I think we are doing good. We have got 54 kids, and we practise four times a week. What is unusual for Lithuania is that we got 40 kids who are the same age, so hopefully we can build a team and keep them until the age of 12-15," said Kieras who also sees a number of positive changes in the Lithuanian hockey landscape compared to when he first left the country in 2002 for Nemad Grodno in neighbouring Belarus.

"We got some structure in place in Lithuania now. We know how to run programs such as U10 up until U16 and we got people who every two weeks sit together to talk and find solutions to various problems in Lithuanian hockey. I think when you got that, then everyone is clear of what is going in the country," he said.

"Even with our national team I see a change. The young players who step up now make a difference right away. Before you had to play them for five years before they really become second or third line players. During our last World Championships in the Netherlands also our fourth line players scored goals and played a big part in our bronze medal, so you can see the difference."

"Another good thing is that ex-players are getting back into hockey now. People now know there is hockey in Lithuania and they know that joining the hockey community in Lithuania can make you become a good sportsman," said Kieras.


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