The change of TTT’s legal status – the transformation of the foundation into an association – was delayed for several months, causing inconvenience to all teams of the Baltic League. The Riga City Council began to address the situation only in the fall, but the capital club announced the first contracts on September 29. Formalities are still going on and the full calendar has not been drawn up yet, however, four teams will start the season this week.
The limited opportunities of local governments, the unfavorable support model for sponsors and other problems do not contribute to the development of club sports in the country. The result – LBL and LSBL squads are getting younger every year because local clubs cannot afford the best domestic players.
Latvian clubs will start the Baltic League with youth squads – the average age in many teams is around 18 years. TTT is no exception – the capital city club plans to strengthen at the beginning of 2023, but for now the majority of the team consists of students of Riga sports schools. The number of experienced players in Liepāja and Daugavpils has decreased, but only one player in juniors has reached the age of 20.
Other trends have been observed in neighboring countries. National team players Gintare Petronite and Laura Juškaite have returned to the Lithuanian champion “Kibirkštis”., the versatile American defender Rachel Theriault has also joined the “sparks”. All Lithuanian teams have foreign players, including Latvians Rūta Stiprā (Šiauliai-Vilmers) and Elizabete Bulāne (LCC International University).
Already in the first season of the Baltic League, Lithuania had its say in the creation of the calendar. Last year, the southern neighbors won silver and bronze medals, but this season they will aim for the first gold. It is clear that Latvian hegemony in the regular season is over and it will not be a surprise if the balance of power changes in the playoffs as well.
Audentes vs BS Rīga juniors/LU
At the opening of the tournament, the two youngest teams of the Baltic League will meet – the Tallinn sports school “Audentes” and the juniors of the basketball school “Rīga”. Riga is not in the ideal lineup due to injuries and transfers, but on Saturday they have a good chance to fight for victory.
Attacking defender Katrīna Raina Kalniņa came to the team from “Ogres Kolibri”, while Paula Mikalauska was Saldus’ top scorer last year. Katrīna Luīze Krieviņa will also be in the lineup – a defender who started her basketball career in Cēsis, continued in “Rīdzene” and now defends the colors of the University of Latvia.
The junior application includes Madara Liepniece, Līva Liniņa, Charlotte Pētersone, Kate Kondratjeva, Elīna Cīrule, Tīna Šileika, Elizabete Feierberga, Krista Lukaševics, Jennifer Rieksta and Auguste Romanovska. It is known that Paula Patricijas Putniece and Samanta Gabranova will not go to Tallinn. The junior first team will be coached by Aigars Nerips, he will be assisted by Ainars Čukste.
TalTech vs Daugavpils University
There have been several changes in the Daugavpils team and the process is still ongoing. The team has become younger – the core consists of Latvian youth national team members Valerija Baranovska, Snežana Gļeb and Lauma Poikāne. At the beginning of the preparation, the team had a training camp in the city of Zarasu in Lithuania, but in the second half of September, the American center player Erika Meijer joined the team.
Daugavpilietes will not be favorites on Saturday. If we can get one win from Tallinn, it will be a very good result. The capital of Estonia is the farthest destination – the team will leave at half past six in the morning.
