At the VMU President Valdas Adamkus Sports Center, the Kaunas-VDU volleyball club team, which is preparing for the most important matches of the year, received temporary reinforcement – Olympic athlete Indrė Sorokaitė, who will be playing in the United States next season.
The titled volleyball player, who finished the season last April, will start in the League One Volleyball (LOVB) league, which is entering its second year, in the winter. According to the athlete, she managed to fill the long off-season with beach volleyball activities, but now she needs to make a somewhat lengthy transition back to indoor volleyball.
“After beach volleyball, I need to get back into the feel of indoor volleyball, so I want to thank Vytautas Magnus University and TK Kaunas for the opportunity to prepare for the new season together. This year, I am leaving for the new professional volleyball league in the US, LOVB, which is on par with the best championships in the world, and this will be a completely new experience for me. The US is a strong country in volleyball in terms of the level of play and talent programs, so now they want to prove themselves once again by inviting the world’s strongest players to the newly created league. In my case, it will be a chance to share my experience and discover new practices that could later be applied in Lithuania, because that is where we are trying to develop a new and modern generation of volleyball players,” said Sorokaitė.
During her long sporting career, the volleyball player has worn the jerseys of famous clubs in Italy, Japan, Azerbaijan, and Indonesia. After moving to Italy at the age of 14, I. Sorokaitė obtained Italian citizenship in 2013 and made her debut in the national team that same year. At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Sorokaitė represented the Italian women’s volleyball team, which reached the quarterfinals and finished in 6th place overall.
The athlete’s considerable experience allows her to responsibly assess the progress of Lithuanian volleyball players and contribute to improving results in the future. In order to train young athletes and raise the level of volleyball in Lithuania, I. Sorokaitė founded a volleyball academy bearing her name in Kaunas in 2019.
“I have been trying to get involved in the process of developing Lithuanian youth for several years now,” emphasized the volleyball player. “I think we need to invest even more in this, because it is the greatest return we can get. We hope that the current youth will grow into the women’s national team, because it is the biggest showcase for the country’s volleyball players. We also have good results in beach volleyball—it is a great achievement for such a small country to be in the Olympic Games. It is especially important that these achievements are accompanied by an even more sustainable volleyball culture, complemented by appropriate values.
Of course, there is room for improvement, and everything comes down to finances. The good thing is that there are people in Lithuania who are working on this issue properly. Thanks to our improving results, we are increasingly being watched by specialists from other countries – Spain, Italy, the US – and we are receiving a lot of interest from US colleges. Therefore, we need to work purposefully and efficiently, striving to create opportunities for athletes to go and play abroad.
The gold medalist of the World Club Championship (2019, Imoco Volley Conegliano) and bronze medalist of the European Championship (2019, Italian national team) is impressed by the infrastructure of the VMU President Valdas Adamkus Sports Center.
According to I. Sorokaitė, the Academy’s student sports center, which is the most modern in the Baltic States, is an example for other higher education institutions not only in Lithuania but also in Europe.
“This is absolutely the best infrastructure that anyone can offer to Lithuanian volleyball. I have visited quite a few sports centers, and this is the best example for others. We have been cooperating for some time now, so I would like to emphasize not only the student sports system and infrastructure here, but also the sports studies program offered by VDU. Since this study program is designed to train coaches, it is a great opportunity to invite foreign specialists to Lithuania, who would not only bring their personal experience and knowledge, but also take away knowledge about the high level of Lithuanian student sports,” said I. Sorokaitė.
The Kaunas-VDU volleyball club, which plays in the VMU President Valdas Adamkus SC, will start the season on October 4, when they will compete against RAE Spordikool Viaston in an away match in the Baltic League.
A large audience is expected on October 30, when TK Kaunas-VDU will face the Norwegian team Myre from the city of Oksilo in a CEV Challenge Cup tournament match at the VMU President Valdas Adamkus Sports Center.
