Robertas Šuškevič: Kids should start doing sports not for results | Blind Spot #13

SUMMARY

One of the founders of the Vilnius Football Academy, Robertas Šuškevič, speaks openly about what truly grows football in Lithuania — and what holds it back.

According to statistics, in 2023 more than 18,000 children and young people in Lithuania played football, compared to around 17,000 playing basketball. But that doesn’t mean Lithuania has already become a football country. To get there, both the state and business must get involved — for now, most of the investment comes from parents.

Robertas emphasizes that parents’ goal should be children doing sports, not the results — and it shouldn’t matter which sport they begin with. Only 0.012% of English football academy players ever reach the Premier League. In other words, a child is 400 times more likely to get into Harvard than to become a professional footballer. That’s why the academy focuses on developing a person first, an athlete second. As Robertas puts it: we are athletes for two hours a day, and for the remaining 22 we are just people.

A lively conversation about the future of Lithuanian football, the academy’s philosophy, and many other insights — including Ousmane Dembélé’s investment in Kretinga’s “Minija.”