Don't Forget Your First Coach, Your First Sports School

04.01.1962 (Sports)

. . . Hundreds of young people in a festive mood, with flowers in their hands, are heading to the VEF Culture Palace to say goodbye with gratitude to their first coaches, their first school, where they achieved their first successes in sports.

This year's graduates of the "Daugava" sports schools gathered here. This is the thirteenth and largest graduation in terms of number. This year, 114 students are graduating from 10 sports schools, among whom are many All-Union and republic champions and record holders. The family of Soviet Latvian athletes has been replenished not only with good athletes, but also with good workers and excellent students. Among the graduates there is one master of sports, 41 first-class, 27 second-class, 45 third-class athletes.

The Sports Complex BSS is being graduated by the Master of Sports and the All-Union youth record holder in long jump, Renāte Lāce. Renāte successfully combines her sports interests with studies at the Polytechnic Institute and work at the Academy of Sciences. The republic's youth record holders Arturs Sliede, Māra Saulīte, the republic's Youth National Team track and field athletes Ināra Struņķe, Ināra Eihmane and many others receive graduation certificates .

Among the graduates is also the All-Union School Youth Champion and national team tennis player Jānis Juška. He is the republican champion in the adult group. Jānis Juška can be mentioned as a role model for many young athletes. He has good reviews at his workplace at the TTT and the Polytechnic Institute, where Jānis continues to study. High self-discipline has helped him achieve excellent results in sports.

The BSS Weightlifting Club is graduating from the gold medalist of the All-Union Youth Competition in boxing, Gundars Lācis. Gundars has added the gold medal he won to his two-time winner of the republican and Riga Youth Competition. Anatoly Lebedevs, a student of the classical wrestling department, is graduating from the sports school as the winner of the republican Youth Competition and the second place winner of the All-Union Youth Competition. Many more young people receive flowers, gifts and beautiful wishes. For their success, the students are grateful to the Soviet state and the large family of coaches who have tried to raise them to be true builders of communism, who are not afraid of difficulties and do not stop halfway.

And here are the best coaches: Ira Ozola, Pavel Makarov, Edvins Lemanls, Emilija Krumina, Stefan Lavrinovičs, Eriks Matvejs, Janis Jansons, etc.

The new graduates receive a task for the future: to pass on their knowledge and skills as a relay to the new family of athletes who are taking their first steps in sports today, to follow in the footsteps of previous graduates who have held the honor of a Soviet athlete in high regard, and to never forget their first coach, their first sports school.

Z. OZOLA