In the Latvian Youth Basketball League season, one of the most anticipated events is always the Talent Game in the U19 age group. Shortly before the final tournaments, the players meet in one place to enjoy being together not only on the field, but also in the stands. This year, the Talent Game will take place on April 1 in Riga, in the Rimi Olympic Center.
Not only young players participate in the talent game, but also basketball personalities. This year, the former head coach of the men’s national team Kārlis Muižnieks and the head coach of the women’s national team Gundars Vētra will lead the teams in the fight.
LJBL coaches nominated 56 players from 26 teams for the boys’ draft of the talent game, while 43 players from 13 teams were nominated for the girls’ draft.
The draft takes place in two rounds. In the first round, four team captains chose 9 teammates.
The following have been nominated as captains of the Kārlis Muižnieks team this year:
Markuss Lastiņš – last season’s U19 group’s most valuable player, debuted in the Latvian-Estonian league;
Endija Sedliņa – Latvian youth national team member, RBJSS Rīdzene point machine, Latvian Women’s Basketball League player.
The following have been nominated as captains of the Gundar Storm team:
Rūdolfs Švītiņš – member of the “Five Talents” in the 2022 final tournament in the U17 age group, player of the Latvian-Estonian and Latvian National League;
Madara Liepniece – player of the Baltic Women’s Basketball League, Latvian youth national team.
In the second round, fans and everyone interested, voting on the social network Instagram, will decide which 8 of the 16 players nominated to vote will join the teams (two players per team).
Voting will take place on March 21 and 22 in the LJBL Instagram account @lbs_ljbl in the story section.
You can get acquainted with the team compositions in the draft videos, which will be published on social network accounts very soon!
The LJBL Talent Game will not only be an exciting basketball game, but also a day filled with emotions for everyone present: contests for coaches, fans, players’ shooting contest, a powerful show during breaks, special assistants for coaches and interesting guests,
The game starts at 14:00, but we invite you to come starting from 13:00.
See you on April 1 at the Olympic Sports Center!
