“The A. Krauklis memorial tournament provides an opportunity to compete in basketball with peers from other countries. I remember fierce battles for medals with young basketball players from Lithuania and Russia. I had to experience painful losses in the finals a couple of times and settle for second place, which served as motivation to train even harder. Participating in the tournament several years in a row, it was interesting to observe who had managed to progress and how much,” Olympic champion N. Miezis shares his memories.
The organizers invite competition participants to follow the accounts of the A. Kraukļs memorial tournament on Facebook (@alfredakrauklacup) and Instagram (akcup_official), where there is and will be information about opportunities to participate in competitions and win prizes. Some of the most active teams have already won free participation in the tournament.
Thanks to our main partners Riga City Council, “Central Laboratory” and SIA “Sēme” for the financial support for organizing the tournament.
Alfrēds Krauklis – a legend of Latvian basketball, an outstanding player of the Latvian men’s national basketball team, coach, pedagogue and role model for young basketball players and coaches. 1939 European Basketball Championship silver medalist.
In 1958, in the VEF sports club, A. Krauklis was a co-author in the founding of the men’s basketball team “VEF”, being the 1st coach of this team. In 1961, the Children and Youth Sports School – BJBS “VEF” was founded under the leadership of Kraukl. Many new students of the basketball school also added to the men’s master team of VEF. When Alfred Krauklis passed away, the management and coaches of BJBS “VEF” announced to the entire Latvian basketball community that BJBS “VEF” will be named after him – the Alfred Kraukli VEF basketball school.
The first basketball tournament in memory of A. Krauklis was held in November 1992. A total of 46 teams in 6 boys’ age groups from 5 countries – Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine and Russia – participated in it. Since the 25th tournament, girls’ teams have also been participating in the competition. Over the years, the A. Kraukli memorial tournament has become one of the largest children’s basketball tournaments in the Baltics.
