Australian Lithuanian History

Leopoldas Alfonsas Kepalas, son of Jonas and Elena Von Kulberg, born 6 Sept 1912 in Petrograd.  He returned to Lithuania with his parents in 1924 and lived near Kamajai near Rokiškis.  In 1926 he attended the Šiauliai school and was active in scouts.  He then entered the technical school in Kaunas and upon graduation moved to Vilnius where he was the Director of a soap factory.  1927 – 1930 Šiauliu sports club member 1928 – 1931 Šiauliai and Kaunas  Aušros men’s team 1932 – 1935 Kaunas sports club Grandis 1932 – 1939 Lithuanian Basketball league 1936 – 1937 Lithuanian national Basketball team 1945 Hanau Lithuanian basketball team 1947 Bayreuth Basketball team He was selected for the 1937 Lithuanian basketball team to play in Riga.  He continued playing sports wile in Germany.  A keen scout from a young age he continued this also as part of the Hanau camp scouts and later in Australia part of Melbourne Džiugo tuntas. He arrived in Aust...

Born 20 October 1914 in Riga to Lithuanian parents.  He graduated Riga High School in 1934 and then attended the Kaunas War School graduating in 1937 in Physical Education. He became interested in basketball in 1935 when he met with Lithuanian basketball coach from America, Konstantinas Savickas.  At 6 foot 4 his height was an advantage and by 1936 he became a member of the Lithuanian National basketball team.  During his four years on the team he played 17 games and scored 31 points.  He played on the Central Junior Sports Organization (CJSO) team. From 1937 to 1944 he was the Head of the Lithuanian Ball Games Basketball and Volleyball Teams.   He prepared the Kaunas national Basketball teams for competition with the USSR in an eight city competition in 1941.   Leonas became a member of the gold winning Lithuanian National Basketball team, European championships held in Riga 1937 and in Kaunas two years later in 1939. Towards the end of 194...