The first Lithuanian to make an Australian basketball team

 Vytautas Šutas was born on 5 April 1925 in Dusetos.  He grew to over six foot, giving him an advantage in basketball, a sport he excelled in.  He began his basketball career in Lithuania.  At the end of WWII, with his parents and brother the family left for Germany. While in Displaced Persons Camps, he began to study medicine.  His free time was spent in the English zone playing with the Lithuanian basketball team. 

The family all came to Australia, there  first stop was the Bathurst migrant camp.  Here Vytas organised a basketball team. He later moved to Lithgow to work as a railway worker.  Shortly after he came to Lithgow Vytas, a keen sportsman, was camped at Wallerawang, where he was interviewed by the "Mercury."  During the interview he expressed the desire to lead a Balt basketball team, in social and competition matches against Lithgow teams and a "Mercury" representative immediately arranged for his introduction.  He began to train seriously a Lithuanian team called Sakalas (Signals).  He became Captain of the Lithgow basketball team in 1949 which contained three Balt migrants, himself, A Ramansauskas and V Ozols.

Later after moving to Sydney, he joined the Moore Park Club.  Vytas was chosen for the NSW team where he played as a forward. He later made the Australian combined team, where he elected as Captain.   He was the first Lithuanian to make the Australian basketball team.  He was known as a clever forward that rarely missed a goal. 

He was one of the original members of the Sydney Lithuanian sports club, Kovas. He is remembered as a great organizer.  He was a Kovas Club committee member for many years, captain of the basketball team and ALFAS (Australian Lithuanian Sports Federation) committee member.

 He is buried with his brother who passed away four years before his passing after suffering a heart attack in 1977.  They are interned in the Rookwood cemetery, Sydney.

References

Mercury (NSW : 1898 - 1954) View title info Thu 28 Jul 1949  Page 3

Leonas Baltrūnas – the father of Australian Lithuanian sports

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 1944, he fled to Germany.  While residing in Displaced Persons camps, Leonas was still very much active in basketball, volleyball, athletics and swimming in the Čiurlionis Sports team.

He arrived in Australia on the General Stewart on 13 April 1949.

Leonas continued his sporting interest in Australia where he was a great volleyball player.  He is a life member of the Victorian Volleyball Association and was at one time coach of the Victorian Volleyball Squad and also president of the Victorian Volleyball Association. 

The Lithuanian Physical Education and Sports Governing body in Germany FASKAS appointed Leonas as its representative in Australia.  He contacted other Lithuanian sportsmen in Australia and united them into one national sporting body.  He organised the first Australian Lithuanian Sports festival held in Melbourne in 1950.  Leonas resigned as the representative of FASKAS in 1951 and three years later the Australian Lithuanian Physical development Association ALFAS was born. He instigated the first Lithuanian Sports Club in Australia, Melbourne Varpas. He was committed to the team and coached basketball and volleyball. In 1955 he was elected Chairman of the Australian Lithuanian Physical Education Association.

From 1949 to 1953 he was Victorian State team basketball coach and player in 1955 Australian National Basketball team coach.  Later he worked at a lecturer at Swinburne Technical School in Hawthorn, Physical Education and Department of Sports.

Was a member of the Čiurlionis Ensemble and in Australia, he and former members founded the Melbourne Lithuanian choir.

In retirement he edited a book on Lithuanian athletes in Australia 1949-1979.

He died on 20 April 1993 in Melbourne.