Lithuanian basketball star Tomas Delininkaitis will study at University of Worcester

 

Tomas Delininkaitis, the guard of Lithuanian national team and of Lithuanian champions Zalgiris Kaunas, is the latest star player to enrol into the Masters in European Basketball Coaching Science programme. This summer in Kaunas (Lithuania) the 29-year-old will start the post-graduate degree awarded by the University of Worcester, in partnership with the Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education and endorsed by the FIBA Europe.


Tomas Delininkaitis graduated from Klaipeda University with a degree in Physical Education and Sports Pedagogy six years ago and he was considering studying at Masters level for some time: “I have my bachelor degree, but it only allows me to be a Physical Education teacher in high schools. I want to do more and I was thinking about post-graduate studies for a while. Completion of this degree will enable me to become a better prepared coach – a potential career for my future” – Delininkaitis revealed his thoughts about the future.

 

Zalgiris Kaunas player is one of few athletes who managed to combine a professional player’s career with university studies. He does not think there would be any problems in doing his Masters. “I initially started as a full-time student at Klaipeda University. Later I signed with Lietuvos Rytas and then I transferred to part-time studies. I can tell that if you are playing at home, to combine studying and playing basketball is not that hard. I think this programme (MSc in Basketball) offers great advantages with the possibility to get all study materials online. We did not have that in Klaipeda University. I’m happy that such a great opportunity for basketball players exists” – says the guard.

 

Tomas Delininkaitis hopes that the knowledge acquired from this degree will help even during his playing career. He has two years remaining on his deal with Zalgiris and will also fight for a spot in the National team that will play during this year’s EuroBasket in Lithuania.

 

“My friends Robertas Javtokas, Marijonas Petravicius, Linas Kleiza started these studies last year. I know they are happy with it. So I hope it will be useful for me as well” – concluded Tomas Delininkaitis.