GRAZ, March 20, 2017 – Lithuania is thesmall country of 3m on the Baltic coast but with a record 28 participants atthe Special Olympics Winter Games in Austria.
These 28 include, for the first time, afloor hockey team featuring Ernestas Sakalauskas and Linas Vasiliauskas who arebuilding their own path towards a brighter tomorrow - literally.
The leaders of Lithuania's floor hockeyteam are on their way to become builders. Both are studying at Kaunas BuildingSchool and playing as many sports as possible.
Captain Sakalauskas is a leader on and offthe court. He, rather than the coaches, is usually the one to check: “Doeseveryone have everything and we are good to leave?”
After Lithuania lost 6:2 to Sweden he wasvisibly upset and did not mince his words, saying: “Maybe some of the playersdon’t understand what we are doing. Maybe they are lazy. We can play betterthan that.”
The 20-year-old started playing floorhockey not long ago. His true passion is football in which he plays as astriker. He is happy that sports allow him to travel outside Lithuania and isquick to name all the countries he has visited.
Vasiliauskas, 23, is very different to hisbest friend
Asked how sports helped in daily life, hesaid: "I learned how to trust other people and believe in myself. I playfootball, basketball and floor hockey now."
He also loves football best. But hisfavourite is not Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo or even local hero DeividasŠemberas. Instead he said: "Ernestas is very good player,” revealing theloyalty of true friends.
Their coach, Vida Misevičienė, said that hetwo could spend the whole day playing and never grow tired.
As Misevičienė said: “They are verymotivated. They know that sports is their way of connecting to the world,having a chance to see more and control the emotions that sometimes can beoverwhelming."
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TheYoung Reporters Programme has been made possible thanks to the support of theEuropean Union's Erasmus + programme
