Zalgiris continues One Team project with new partner and ambassadors 0

Zalgiris Kaunas continues the implementation of the social project One Team and announces the cooperation with a new partner – the Association of Lithuanian Children’s Day Care Centers, which brings together young people from socially vulnerable families.

As in previous years, the participants of the project gather for live meetings in Zalgirio Arena’s practice area. The sessions focus on developing different life skills – leadership, teamwork, responsibility, stress management, etc.

One of the key factors for the success of a One Team project is its continuity. One Team works for 8-12 weeks with each group, with each meeting developing different skills in the young people. This helps them to integrate more easily into society and allows them to apply different skills to their daily lives.

“We can already see changes in the young people’s behavior after the first session. When we first meet, many of them are withdrawn, shy because they don’t know each other. But each time the participants reveal themselves more and more, they show their strengths and are no longer afraid to make mistakes”, says project coordinator Andra Kniukstaite.

This season’s group is not only eager to take part in the activities, but they are also particularly fond of playing basketball, so the opportunity to train in the same space as the Zalgiris players gives them even more motivation and inspiration.

At each meeting, the participants are treated to a special programme prepared by Zalgiris staff and reinforced with advice from the Euroleague Basketball. Discussions, engaging games, new challenges, peer support – these are just some of the things that are given time and attention during the sessions.

One of the things the young people look forward to most is a visit from the Zalgiris players. Arnas Butkevicius and Tyler Cavanaugh are the ambassadors of this season’s project, visiting one of the meetings, interacting with the participants, answering questions and competing on the basketball court together.

The ambassadors were not the only guests who came to the sessions. In order to give the young people the opportunity to gain as many different experiences as possible, they were visited by Zalgiris Kaunas football players, Zalgiris youth team coach Tautvydas Slezas and Zalgiris-2 players, and sports psychologist Aiste Zemaityte.

An important part of the project is its partner Ramirent Lietuva, which has been sponsoring it for the fifth year. The company’s employees are involved in the sessions themselves and also spread the word about the project by wearing hundreds of One Team T-shirts every day.

Other partners are also joining the project. This season, Samsonas is contributing to the events organized by the Lithuanian Association of Children’s Day Care Centers with its products.

These and other partners will have the opportunity to join the activities during one of the last meetings.

Zalgiris has been running the One Team project in Lithuania since 2013 and has received multiple awards for it.