Lithuanian team from Alytus – VARSA STRONGLASAS
September 21, 2021
As next teams we are introducing team from Alytus, Lithuania – Varsa Stronglasas. Team which proudly tells about their last season achievements, but also marks out few older ones. Last season Varsa Stronglasas won the silver medal in Lithuanian championship, and finished 4th at BHL. Since 2011 they have always been in Top 3 in Lithuanian championship, but in 2016 they won the Lithuanian champions title. They are also named as The best Alytus city sports team of the year for four years in a row (2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.) About the goals in this season speaks Varsa Stronglasas captain Gintautas Adamkevičius: „Our goals for the new season are the highest, as always – in Lithuanian handball as traditionally (Top 3). And why not do the same on the Baltics ‘parquet’, where Alytus last season came back after 30 years of pause.” About their pre-season they are telling: “We started 1st of August and in the end of summer played four games in “Alytus cup” with Lithuanian and Latvian teams (1 victory, 1 draw and 2 defeats). “Alytus cup” is a tradition – we are organizing pre-season international tournament, tribute to “Varsa” handball club pioneer Jonas Jonuška.
Last season at BHL – 4thd place
Key players – Verified „keys” are captain of the team Gintautas Adamkevičius (39 years), main goalkeeper Rytis Cipkus (37) and Remigijus Čepulis (39), Aurelijus Sabonis (40), who played before in Lithuanian national team and in professional clubs in Belarus, Germany, Iceland, Spain and etc.
The main faces of “Varsa-Stronglasas” are – Rokas Lastauskas, Žygimantas Micevičius. And we believe in young players, who have a chances to play own breakthrough in season 2021-2022 – Simonas Babarskas, Edvinas Grėbliūnas, Tautvydas Petrušauskas, Eimantas Tumasonis, goalkeeper (of Lithuanian national youth team) Mantas Mizaras and others.
And very important to us are players coming back to Alytus. New-old forces from abroad leagues are Deivas Eidukonis (from Germany), Tadas Stankevičius (after seasons in Finland and France), and also local “come backs” – Nedas Buronko (after injury) and Dovydas Čepulis.
How would you describe your team in few words – Simple, slow, but smart and strong.
How do you motivate or cheer up your team – Best way would be to return fans to the hall. Before COVID-19 our team’s home playfield – Alytus sports and recreation center – was most or one of the most visited handball halls in Lithuania.
Prediction game: who will win this season – Looks like it would be the best or one of the strongest team from Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania…
Team roster
| Nr. 0 | Redas Skidzevičius | GK |
| Nr. 1 | Tomas Zabita | GK |
| Nr. 2 | Rokas Lastauskas | LW |
| Nr. 3 | Gintautas Adamkevičius | RW |
| Nr. 4 | Aurelijus Sabonis | LB |
| Nr. 5 | Gabrielius Civinskas | LB |
| Nr. 6 | Gustas Muzikevičius | PV |
| Nr. 7 | Remigijus Čepulis | CB |
| Nr. 8 | Eimantas Tumasonis | LB |
| Nr. 9 | Tautvydas Petrušauskas | LW |
| Nr. 10 | Simonas Babarskas | RW |
| Nr. 11 | Ridas Čeginskas | CB |
| Nr. 12 | Mantas Mizaras | GK |
| Nr. 13 | Erikas Pūkas | LW |
| Nr. 14 | Žygimantas Micevičius | CB |
| Nr. 15 | Orestas Tamulionis | LW |
| Nr. 16 | Rytis Cipkus | GK |
| Nr. 19 | Tautvydas Ražinskas | LB |
| Dovydas Čepulis | RB | |
| Nr. 20 | Edvinas Grebliūnas | PV |
| Nr. 29 | Nedas Buronko | |
| Nr. 42 | Ugnius Urbonas | RW |
| Nr. 55 | Tadas Stankevicius | PV |
| Nr. 77 | Deivas Eidukonis | LB |
Coach: Egidijus Petkevičius
Coach: Robertas Paužuolis
Coach: Euginijus Gimbutas
Homepage – http://rkvarsa.lt
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/rkvarsa/
Instagram – @rkvarsa
Foto: Dalija Lipska