The composition of the team has changed considerably, with only three professional basketball players remaining in the club.
“Our task is to stay in the conquered places – this season with small discounts. In the European Cup, our goal is play-off games, WBBL – medals and, without a doubt, gold in Latvia,” Švanders said on Thursday.
He announced that this season, in cooperation with the Latvian Basketball Association (LBS) and Riga sports schools, the “TTT Riga” junior and cadet teams have been renewed in order to create a system for the development of basketball players.
Schwander emphasized that “the maximum sporting goals” will be achieved with the resources available to the club in the previous four seasons.
“Looking further, we understand that there are not enough resources to achieve more in the long term,” said Schwanders, emphasizing that resources mean both financial resources and player resources.
“The path to the top is quite simple – sports schools, the “TTT Riga” system (cadets, juniors, the big team), youth national teams,” explained the chairman of the board of “TTT Riga”. “After that, grown girls can decide which professional team they will play for and earn money.”
The club believes that it is necessary to create a history of physical fitness and health of players starting from the age of 10. Full-fledged physical training allows you to prevent injuries, while cooperation with LBS and sports schools will prevent the risks of overload.
“It is a well-thought-out long-term program – we would like more girls to play basketball,” emphasizes Schwander.
Before the last season, the chairman of the board of the club set higher goals: “The goal of TTT Riga this season is to return and strengthen in the Euroleague. The three-year plan envisages a return to the playoffs, and then also a fight for medals.”
On Thursday, Švanders emphasized that TTT Rīga must be at the top of the pyramid and achieve the best possible results, but young women must play a major role in the club.
Schvanders explained that the club has not given up on high results in the long term, maybe just mentioning the medals was redundant.
“There won’t be a medal in three years. We focused on the systemic side, and the medals will take more than three years,” explained the chairman of the board of “TTT Rīga”.
“TTT Rīga” reminds that a year ago Riga city council planned funding for the club for two seasons – 1.1 million euros, or an average of 550 thousand euros per season. This funding was intended to qualify for and play in the Euroleague.
The Euroleague failed to qualify, but managed to reach the quarter-finals of the European Cup for the first time.
Last season, the planned budget of the club was 850 thousand euros. This year it is about two times less, reports the club, objecting that “TTT Rīga” junior and cadet teams receive funding from other sources.
“I won’t hide that last season’s overspending was covered from the funds of this year’s season,” admits Schwander. “However, this year’s budget covers our needs and we continue to play in the European Cup.”
The head coach of “TTT Riga” Mārtiņš Zībarts is pleased with the club’s new concept.
“The main thing that appealed to us is the possibility of creating a system with junior teams, so that it is possible to develop female players and create an environment where they can grow and achieve their sporting goals,” explains Siebarts.
He says that he spent the summer looking for the most talented young players.
“I think that at the moment we have managed to attract all the most talented players from Riga and the nearby region, starting from the age of 14. By putting in the work, they can become players of the Latvian national team and professionals, who can open a path abroad,” says Zībarts, adding that the goal is to create a system where young players can grow.
At the moment, it has been possible to create a team model, which consists of five more experienced players and young players.
Siebart does not deny that the goals for the season are ambitious enough, but he expects the team to grow by focusing on each next game and fighting for victory in each match.
From last year’s team, only Tina Graus has remained in the team, which Siebarts calls a difficult situation.
“At the moment, we need to create a stable core of the team from players who are ready to combine training with work or studies,” says the coach, recalling that there are currently nine players in the team who are younger than 20 years old.
The team consists of seven 14-17-year-old players – Anna Liepiņa, Zane Straudovska, Marta Ploriņa, Mila Luzgina, Sindija Mishchenko, Charlotte Skrebele and Cindija Sondor.
“I think that in the spring of 2025, after six months of training and games, they will be players of a different level,” emphasizes Siebarts. “If they manage to stay in the team for another two to three years, it will be a good basis for TTT Rīga to gradually move towards higher goals.”
The club reports that there are only three professional players in the team – Maja Loida, Ketija Wihmane and Ilze Jākobsone, who has an open contract that provides for going to a foreign club in case of a favorable offer.
Anna Dreimane has a remote job in the evenings, but the medical students playing in the team are busy with their studies. In addition, Louise Shepte is undergoing rehabilitation after an injury.
TTT will go with ten players on European Cup trips.
“The idea of young players from Latvia, who will have the opportunity to develop, appealed to me a lot,” emphasized the captain of “TTT Riga” Karlīne Pilābere at the press conference. “I am honored that coach Siebarts invited me to take responsibility for their education.”
The captain combines playing with work and raising two sons.
“The training is adapted for schoolgirls and students, because the training takes place in the evenings. This is advantageous for me – I can devote time to my other work and take my children to training,” says Pilābere.
The head coach of “TTT juniors” Aigars Nerips is also pleased with the creation of the club’s pyramid.
“It is one of the rare opportunities for all young Riga basketball players to compete, train with the best and experience growth,” emphasizes Nerips. “Our task is to prepare girls for the transition from youth to adult basketball.”
In the 2024/2025 season, TTT Rīga basketball players will play in the “BioSil” Baltic Women’s Basketball League (WBBL) and the FIBA European Cup, as well as fight for the gold medals of the Latvian Championship.
In the previous season, “TTT Riga” won the WBBL and the Latvian championship, but in the European Cup, they won all six games in the group, overcame two rounds of the “play-off” tournament and lost in the quarter-finals in the sum of two games with 148:171 to the Venetian “Umana Reyer” represented by Laura Melderes.
2024-10-04 22:07:47