Ambitious initiatives to increase the health of the nation are planned as Lithuania was announced as the latest country to join the Leisure Leagues worldwide network.
The first Leisure Leagues are planned in the country soon, but excitement is already growing, as Aurimas Adomaitis, one of the main men behind the Lithuanian small sided football, explained: “We are very happy to be part of Leisure Leagues family,” he said. “We are still doing some preparation work, but our main goal is to use Leisure Leagues as a platform to increase physical activity in Lithuania.”
The Lithuanian Association, who have just reached the halfway stage in their countrywide championships (pictured above), have already received government backing for the project, with Aurimas adding: “This wouldn’t be possible without Lithuania’s “Sports support fund” (Sporto Rėmimo Fondas in Lithuanian) who’s financing after a successful project approval will help us to achieve what we want to do.”
There is much on the horizon in the next year or two, as Aurimas shared: “Our plan for the first year is to organize five small sided soccer festivals in five different cities in Lithuania and create Leisure Leagues there for local people”, he said.
After the initial start, the leagues swing into even greater action with Mr. Adomaitis commenting: “The same principle but with far more cities should follow in 2022, so we think that with backing from “Sports support fund” and the active work from our side we can successfully integrate Leisure Leagues in Lithuania and help all our countries people to use soccer infrastructure in their regions and increase their physical activity”.
Leisure Leagues International Development Director, Martin Cassidy, welcomed the sports mad country on board and added: “We cannot wait to support the team in Lithuania throughout their journey, we are very excited to hear of their plans and it is fantastic that yet another country recognises the power of our brand of community football. We look forward to developing the brand together.”
Lithuania will be competing again at the Leisure Leagues powered ISF World Cup, which takes place again in spring 2022 in the glorious city of Cozumel after a two year break due to the global pandemic.
The Leisure Leagues Franchise model has been proven to work throughout the world, with countries as diverse as Pakistan, America, Australia, Hungary and Mexico amongst the many that operate a network. To find out more click here.
There will be more news from Lithuania in the coming weeks.