The club based in Western Lithuania, Samogitia, began its existence in 2015 thanks to a “group of enthusiasts,” says Aivaras Skarbalius.
For the first eleven years, “Tauragė” competed in the RKL, and on September 19, in the brand-new Tauragė arena, which holds 2,000 spectators, they will play their first-ever LKL game against “Jonava”.
In Tauragė, which has just over 20,000 inhabitants, there is a huge buzz.
The club sold 500 season tickets within the first day and announced the end of sales the next day.
“This is encouraging and pushes us forward. I’ll say it straight – we work incredibly hard and a lot, so if the city wasn’t interested, there would be no point in doing this,” 15min said “Tauragė” manager Aivaras Skarbalius. “Moments like when the released season tickets immediately blow the roof off, so much that even ticket sellers can’t believe it, really warm the heart. It’s great, great. We didn’t want to sell more season tickets, we closed sales at 700 (sold season tickets) so that there would be normal tickets left for the second sale. We are selling tickets for the first games, I saw on the ‘kakava’ page that for two days we were first in all of Lithuania, and now we have dropped to second. These are the numbers that say it all. We are finishing selling everything and will have a packed arena. We still have the option to allow standing tickets in the balcony if we see the need, so maybe we will do that.”
The “Tauragė” club, intending to raise a budget of over one million euros, started part of the sports project by searching for the main general.
The team’s helm was entrusted to 48-year-old Tomas Rinkevičius, who last season achieved miraculous results with another LKL debutant, the “Gargždai” team.
The strategist from Rietavas, who surpassed all opponents except Kaunas “Žalgiris,” led the “Gargždai” team to 6th place in the championship.
“Even when we worked at a lower level, our coaches were always strong. My thought is that a team should always start assembling from the main head, the coach. And that coach has to be serious,” 15min said A. Skarbalius. “I consider Tomas one of the best coaches in Lithuania. We established contact, talked a lot, I presented him with a vision that he believed in. I am very happy about that. We found a common language. I think the decision to invite Tomas was very good. When assembling the team, I saw that it was a very correct decision. A serious coach helps attract players. For us, as debutants, coming and saving in this area would have been disastrous. I am very happy not only with Tomas but with the entire coaching staff we have – from assistants to the physical training coach. In this area, we are strong.”
In the upcoming season, Tauragė will be represented by Vaidas Kariniauskas (32 years old, 199 cm), Donovan Jackson (30 years old, 189 cm), James Blackmon (31 years old, 193 cm), Darylas Doualla (22 years old, 195 cm), Nojus Kiselevičius (20 years old, 194 cm), Nojus Mineikis (25 years old, 201 cm), Vitalijus Kozys (27 years old, 201 cm), Andrejus Voinalovyčius (26 years old, 205 cm), Kornelijus Zikas (24 years old, 202 cm), Benas Griciūnas (32 years old, 210 cm), and Haris Bratanovičius (25 years old, 209 cm).
The roster was supposed to be completed by the arrival of European champion Slovenian point guard Matic Rebec, but the club decided to release him just 4 hours after the player’s official presentation.
The reason was public outrage over M. Rebec’s career record, playing in Russia as recently as last year.
A. Skarbalius does not hide that “Tauragė” is looking for reinforcements.
“The decision to part ways with Matic was definitely not easy, but in such a situation, there are no easy ways out. I assessed what is the smartest thing in this situation, so we made the decision we made. As a manager, I take responsibility. I admit it was a mistake. Let’s just forget about this matter and move forward,” 15min said the head of “Tauragė.” “We exactly lacked the kind of player we had signed. Now we need to cool down a bit. We talked with the coaches that we will not rush and grab just anyone who comes along. We can start with the roster we have. Of course, we still want a point guard. We’ll see how it all ends.”
