News

Aušra at the ACC 2016

Jonas Valančiūnas graciously donated tickets to Aušra Sports Club for the Raptors vs Nets game on January 18th, 2016.   Coaches selected deserving players based on their dedication and enthusiasm at practices this season - in addition to not attending previous games that Jonas also donated.   Labai ačiū Jonai!

2015 Uniform Design Contest

First place - Terrence Ross autographed basketball - Erika Ryan Second/Third place - Valančiūnas autographed photo - Tristan Jurevičius and Terry Scott Honourable mentions - Andrius Kišonas, Amodeo and Annika Laurin, The Kalendra Family

UNIFORM DESIGN CONTEST WINNERS! Thank you to all of the talented entries we received, and the Toronto Raptors for the generous prizes, congratulations to our winners! Here's the winning design!

Lithuanian Heritage Day at the ACC!

Jonas Valančiūnas and the Raptors welcomed our club to the ACC on January 18th, 2015 when they faced the Pelicans for the fifth annual Lithuanian Heritage Day!

Jonas donated a private box to our younger players.  The Raptors supplied some "Mes-Šiaurė" t-shirts (Lithuanian for "We the North") where a few of our players sang the national anthem and gave the players a high-five before the game.

 

 

2013 Aušra Junior Hockey

Most Improved Player - Cecilia Ginčauskas

Most Sportsmanlike Player - Lukas Rudaitis

Most Dedicated Player - Joris Meiklejohn

AUŠRA hosted the Annual SALFASS Seniors/Veterans (+35yrs old) Tournament on March 23-24, 2013

AUŠRA 2012-13 Season Notes

EBA and Aušra House League

2013 marks the first year Aušra and the Etobicoke Basketball Association (EBA) will participate in interclub house league exhibition games.   This season will feature games for our Mixed D, Girls A/B, Boys C and Boys A/B divisions.    Emphasis is on fair play and we are using EBA house league rules which are very similar to Šalfass federation rules.

2012-13 Ausra D team

This series has been very successful and will be expanded next season to give both clubs additional games and will expand to more age groups.   Here are some photos and scores from the action.   Our games were also featured in the EBA Newsletter: http://etobicokebasketball.com/content/file/2012-2013/FebruaryNewsletter2013.pdf

• Boys Atom (D division)  Jan 21 (Ausra 35- EBA 16), Jan 28 (29-28), Feb 4 (46-26), 11th (33-13) at Michael Power.

  

• Boys Midget/Major Midget (B/A division)  Feb 5 (Ausra 85 - EBA 55) and Feb 19th (52-51) at the Res. 
• Girls Midget/Major Midget/ Juvenile (B/A division) Jan 23 (Ausra 24- EBA 28), Feb 6th (46-48), Feb 13th (38-33) and Feb 20th (29-35) at the Res.

  

• Boys Bantam (C division) Feb 6th (Ausra 50 - EBA 40), Feb 13th (71-53) and Feb 20th (65-48) at the Res. 

  

The Jonas Valančiūnas Story - 8 part NBA TV series

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eTrg48BuEk&list=PLA14F77D97B35FB65&index=6&feature=plcp

________

Lithuanian Heritiage Night at the Air Canada Centre - March 4, 2012 - 6PM

Here's a video of our Ausra Es playing Anapilis at Halftime!

http://youtu.be/ZPRUTblrEE0

Aušra Update - December 2010

Aušra at the Raptors - Knicks "Lithuania Day" game at the ACC

Aušra players - sporting our new Black uniforms - were selected to high five the Raptors as they entered the court during December 5th's Knicks game.  Toronto Lithuanians purchased over 750 tickets, by far the largest number for any ethnic group this season.  Thanks go out to many Aušra volunteers including John Strumila, Linas Zubrickas, Stasys Kuliavas and Edita Putrimas for making the event a success.

Linas Kleiza high fiving Aušra players on Lithuanian Day at the Raptors

Enjoy these photos from game day.  Click the thumbnail for a larger image.

Kleiza                Bayless                Wright                Bargnani

Aušra Update - September 2010

Raptors Sneek Peek Event

Aušra coaches and executive were invited by the Toronto Raptors to this year's Sneek Peek event and discussed the arrival of Linas Kleiza and 50+ years worth of Toronto Lithuanian basketball with Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo!

Aušra Sports Director - John Strumila, President - Linas Zubrickas, Coach John Putrimas, Coach Alvin Kišonas, Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo and Coach Joseph Norkus

Aušra Update - September 2010 - Newsletter

September 2010 Newsletter

2009 Junior ŠALFASS Tournament Medals - Hamilton - May 16-17, 2009 - Click here for ŠALFASS Results (updated May 21)

Aušra Update - September 2009 - Nikolas Stauskas

Aušra Update - July 2009 - Lietuva Trip

Our players represented Canada in Lithuania for the 2009 World Lithuanian Games in Vilnius.  The women's team placed second while the men's team placed fourth of sixteen teams from around the globe.  Our boys team also won second place.

Aušra Update - October 29, 2008 - Daina Šimkus

Aušra Update - September 10, 2008 - Lietuva 2009 Fundraising Carwash

Thanks to all (particularly Irene & Larry!) who had a chance to come out and show your support September 6th! - Vic Šimkus

Aušra Update - September 9, 2008

ANNOUNCEMENT

Lietuva 2009 - Preliminary Try-Outs

With respect to the World Games being held in Lietuva in 2009, the four registered Lithuanian sports clubs in Southern Ontario have held meetings and have decided to send All Star teams to represent Canada in the basketball games.  Other sports will be handled on an individual basis.

The basketball tournament will be held from June 24th to June 29th and each team will also organize other events in Lietuva.  Each player will be responsible for their own costs which include air fare and living expenses before and after the tournament.

Try-outs for these all-star teams will be held as follows on Sunday September 21st:

2:00pm – 3:00pm         Girls C and D

3:00pm – 4:00pm         Girls B and A

4:00pm – 5:00pm         Boys D and C

5:00pm – 6:00pm         Boys B and A

These initial try-outs will be held in the gym at the Resurrection Parish and follow-up tryouts will be held in other locations. You will be given additional information at the try-outs.

All basketball players of Lithuanian descent are invited to these try-outs.

For further information please contact:

Rimas Kuliavas - Canadian Apygarda

Pranas Vilkelis - Anapilis

Larry Hurst – Aušra (info@ausra.net)

Stas Baksys or Rimas Miečius - Kovas

Ed Stravinskas – Vytis

Aušra Update - April 23, 2007

Aušra Junior Hockey

Thank you to all who participated, we look forward to starting up again next season!

If you haven't joined yet and would like to be added to our roster, please send an email to alvin.kisonas@rogers.com and you'll be informed of next season's start date!

Back row: Toronto Klevo Lapai coaches Wally Dauginis, Juozas Zenkevičius, Ed Ginčauskas, Alvin Kišonas and Larry Richardson

Practices were held at Erin Mills Twin Arena, Monday April 2nd, 16th and 23rd and were open to all skill levels.

Thanks to everyone for making this new junior programme a success!

 Aušra Update - February 20, 2007 -  Aušra Sports Expansion

In Memoriam - October 10, 2006

Mr. Eliziejius Šlekys  - Past Ausra President

We are very sad to learn today that Mr. Eliziejius Šlekys has passed away at the age of 93.  Mr. Šlekys was one of Ausra’s greatest supporters as well as being our president for 7 years.  When additional funds were needed to send a team on a trip, he was always one of the first to step forward and make a financial donation.  Mr. Šlekys was one of the Special Honoured guests at our 50th Anniversary party last November.

Aušra Update - February 12, 2006

The National Coaching Certification Program training session - Level 1 Technical - was held at the parish hall and was a huge success!  Many thanks to Al Quance for running a great all-day clinic and to Larry Hurst for setting it up and the coffee!   Thanks to all attending Aušra coaches for their time, effort and successful completion of the programme!

Ausra's 50th Anniversary / 50-metu jubiliejaus POKYLIS

The banquet was held November 5th, 2005 at the Resurrection Parish main hall. Former and current Ausra members, supporters participants were in attendance.  There was dinner and dancing, prizes and a gallery of old and new Ausra photos.

Tickets for the banquet were $40 and thanks to Rita Grybas for organizing them.

Leo Rautins presented this open letter in which was read in his absence describing his Ausra experience. 

Leo Rautins letter.pdf

Aušra Update - June 6, 2005

 Aušra Update - June 6, 2005 

Congratulations to the Junior "A" Aušra Boys for winning the Silver Medal at SALFASS in Detroit.

Stasys Pacevicius, Aras Petrauskas, Aras Ruslys, Darius Saplys, Lukas Simukenas, Ian Stanaitis, Matas Tirilis, Gintas Valiulis, Tomas Ycas, Evaldas Žabas

The boys played an extremely difficult Gold Medal Game. The score went back and forth between the 2 teams throughout the game. Ausra leading by 9 points at half time. In the end Lituanica won with a score of 76 to 74.

 Aušra Update - May 25, 2005

Congratulations to the Aušra Juvenile Rep Team for a successful year. The team faced many challenges this season, with players responsibly focusing on getting into their universities of choice, as well as seeking employment to offset those university costs.  It was apparent that all players worked hard to meet these commitments while still building a team that performed well during the OBAs.  

Members of the Ausra Juvenile Rep Team:

Brandon Baronaitis
Karolis Danielius
Alex Lukosius
Valen Steer
Matas Tirilis
Gintas Valiulis
Bronson Vinerskis
David Willenbrecht
Tomas Ycas
Evaldas Zabas


Coach: Ramunas Underys
Ass't Coach/Mgr: Martin Ycas


Congratulations to the eight players who were able to attend the Ontario Basketball Championships in Windsor and do our organization proud: Brandon, Karolis, Alex, Matas, Gintas, Bronson, David and Tomas We went in ranked 26th of 76 teams in Ontario.  Our pool put us up against the 18th, 22nd and 30th teams in Ontario.  In our first game we played against the 22nd team and eventually lost to them by a single point.  Our second game was against the 18th ranked team.  Our opponents tied the game with a shot that found its mark from four feet behind the 3-point line. There was not enough time left on the clock for us to retaliate. In overtime we played a tough game with the lead exchanging hands a few times.  We were beat by a 12 foot hook shot at the buzzer, by a player with his back to the basket.   This Durham team went on to win the Division 2 Gold Medal. They also beat several Division 1 teams at a tournament last week, where they also walked away with the Gold Medal. Ausra can be proud that they are competitive with teams of this calibre.

The Ausra Juvenile Rep Team has been an exception within the Ausra organization during the last two years, but it has been a pleasure to make it happen for these boys. Strong bonds have developed from their work together and many of these boys will be going to Lithuania to play in the VII World Games this July.  Let's all wish them the best of luck, and may these same players continue to show their dedication and bring back a medal.

Their coaches are proud of what these players have accomplished and wish them all the best in their educational and basketball pursuits.

 Aušra Update - March 20, 2005

The Aušra Boys Juvenile rep team made a very strong showing going all the way to the semi-finals in their first tournament of the year.

The scores were: 1st Game: Aušra 84 vs Whitby Saints #1 - 24, 2nd Game: Aušra 91 vs Blitz 79,

3rd Game: Aušra 84 vs Malton Mavericks 87, 4th Game: Aušra 60 vs North Toronto Huskies 71

The team is coached by Ron Underys and Martin Yčas.

 Aušra Update - March 9, 2005

Two of our Aušra E players recently played their way to the City of Toronto - Western Conference Final game versus Parkdale.   4th graders, Erika Kišonas and Justina Melkis, played as guards on this talented 6th grade team from Humbercrest that finished in the city's Top 8 .   They are seen in the front row holding the basketballs.   The team was coached by Alvin Kišonas, who is currently our E division coach.

 Aušra Update - May 31, 2004

 Aušra Update - April 19, 2004

 Aušra Update - March 1, 2004

The Aušra Jr D Boys will be hosting Toronto Five-O at the Parish on Tuesday, March 2, 2004 in a friendly scrimmage. Tip-off 7:45pm.

Congratulations are in order to Aušra Sports Club Club members Tomas Pylypiv, Vytas Simkus and Daina Simkute.  Tomas and Vytas also play with Toronto Five-O and recently competed and won gold at The Mississauga Tournament.

Daina also plays with Toronto Five-O as well as her school team Humbercrest P.S.. Daina led all scorers and the Humbercrest team to overall first place while at the City of York Finals.

Aušra Sports Club recognizes that several of its players participate on other competitive basketball organizations and encourages those members to keep Aušra updated.

 Aušra Update - February 4, 2004

Junior ' A' played a highly ranked Rep team where the boys were all 17 years of age and clearly taller than our team.  The team played a very aggressive defense and was able to keep close throughout the game.  The players appreciated the fan support.

 Final Score:   Aušra 32  Etobicoke Thunder 40

 Aušra Update - January 21, 2003 

January 2004 Newsletter (requires Adobe Reader)

 Aušra Update - December 21, 2003 

 Aušra Update - November 5, 2003 

ŠALFASS 2003

The 2003 ŠALFASS Tournament was held in Chicago on Nov. 1 and 2 and was a great success. Congratulations to all of the teams who participated. The results of our Aušra teams are as follows:

 Aušra Update - August 5, 2003 

Congratulations to Adomas Kuliešius, Daniel Kuliešius, Vytas Šimkus and Nikolas Stauskas!  The foursome have continued to practice weekly on their own and recently competed at the annual NBA/Hoopitup 3 on 3 Tournament held at York University July19th and 20th in the 10 and under age category. The boys played and won all of their six very competitive and intense 30 min games of outdoor half court basketball. As such they were declared undefeated Champions! Although trophies, prizes, a chance to meet Toronto Raptor Alvin Williams were all part of the tournament's agenda, the opportunity to play was the highlight of this team's weekend.

2003 Coaches Dinner

Many thanks to our Social Committee for putting together the Coaches Dinner at the Parish Hall, May 29th!

 Aušra Update - May 25, 2003

On May 7th, the Aušra Es travelled to meet their crosstown rivals Anapilis for a friendly rematch. Based on a previous meeting earlier this year, both clubs were anticipating an evenly matched contest. 8 players (3 girls and 5 boys) arrived well before the scheduled tip off and much to the surprise of the coaching staff began an organized and sincere warm up on their own.

These kids were ready to play and it showed!

Aušra jumped out to a commanding 22-0 lead midway through the game and then coasted to a 32-19 finish. Veteran 'E' team member Adomas Kuliešius and first year players Vytas Šimkus, Darius Šablinskas and Auste Vaskevičiute were relentless at both ends of the court. Boxing out, rebounding and their ability to move without the ball were all advanced fundamentals too difficult for Anapilis to handle.

Scoring tallies for Aušra were balanced and very encouraging.  Anike Rudnitsky, Adomas Kuliešius and Vytas Šimkus all finished with 6,
Danielius Kuliešius with 2 and Larissa Saplyte with 8.  Brandon Butrimas added 5 including a nothing but nylon from downtown Bloor West
Village! and rounded out the scoring.

Once again the coaching staff was very pleased with the team's overall determination, their exemplary sportsmanship, and their positive
attitude during the game.  The team anxiously awaits their next game.

Sincere thanks to Jurgis Kuliešius, Ramunas Saplys and Alvin Kišonas for scoring and officiating in a very professional manner.
 

 Aušra Update - May 5, 2003

On Monday May 5th the Aušra Boys A  team handily defeated the Hamilton Kovas Mens B team in the championship game of the Salfass Men's B League. In getting to the championship game they defeated a previously undefeated Vytis team.

Congratulations to Coaches Ed Punkris and Ed Gataveckas and the young men.  The next challenge for this team will be the Salfass tournament in Cleveland this weekend.

In Molecules action Friday May 2nd at Our Lady of Sorrows, the Aušra Molecules Developmental Squad played an entertaining game with the Aušra Pre-Molecules Emerging Squad.  Both teams won with the game ending in a hard fought draw after 7 periods of play.  Outstanding ball handing skills and enthusiasm were on display to a full house on hand. 

Congratulations to Pre-Molecules and Molecules coaches and players for a terrific season. 

 Aušra Update - April 7, 2003

Aušra Girl's 'D' team member Daina Šimkute was recently awarded "Best Team Hustler" while playing for the Toronto Five-0 "AAA" Girl's Atom (under 12yrs) division team.  Daina's team earned an overall provincial ranking of #5 in Division 1.  Way To Go, Daina!

This past weekend at the Ontario Provincial Championships in London, ON, our under 10 year old Aušra members competed as part of Toronto Five-0 and reached the Division 1 “AAA” Finals!  As a result, these Aušra boys are now ranked #2 overall in Ontario.    The 8 Aušra 'E' Team members were Vytautas Stasiulevičius, Vytas Šimkus, Danielius Kuliešius, Adomas Kuliešius, Petras Pečiulis, Nikolas Stauskas and coach Viktoras Šimkus.  Our eighth Aušra “E” member, Larissa Saplyte, also earned a Division 3 Silver Medal playing on Oakville Vytis.

Congratulations to all Aušra ‘E’s!

Aušra Sports Club recognizes that several of its players participate on other competitive basketball organizations and encourages those members to keep Aušra updated.

By the way, go ORANGE!!

 Aušra Update - March 23, 2003

Two E game results: Game 1

On February 25th, 14 of our most willing and eager "E's" hosted the AA rep team, Etobicoke Thunder.  The game began with both teams appearing tentative but soon developed into a lopsided advantage for the visitors. Although we were unsuccessful on the scoreboard, we were able to score a major victory within ourselves. 

Coaches on the E team recognize that it's important to encourage participants to try their best, respect competitors and themselves, win with dignity, and lose with respect.  With this in mind, the game with Etobicoke provided an excellent opportunity for Aušra kids, coaches and parents to win, lose, grow and develop. A very worthwhile experience.

Game 2

On March 4th, 12 (3 girls and 9 boys) E’s arrived to Michael Power with much enthusiasm and energy to host our cross-town rivals from Anapilis.  Aušra trailed on the scoreboard throughout 3 quarters of the game, but the player’s “never say die” attitude eventually paid off and they were able to take the lead during the final minute and hang on to the final buzzer.

The coaches were very pleased with the team’s overall determination, their exemplary sportsmanship, and their positive attitude during the game.  Several players, namely Matas Zenkevičius, Justin Turūta, Anike Rudnitsky and Tomas Pylypiv, demonstrated very encouraging play both on the offensive and defensive ends of the court.

The E Team is anxiously awaiting a friendly rematch with Anapilis in preparation for the upcoming ŠALFASS tournament.

 Aušra Update - March 7, 2003

The Molecules were downed by a strong Anapilis team, March 6 at the Parish.   After a tenuous start in the first half, our Molecules "Emerging" squad overcame some obstacles and had what would become a very positive game.

Victoria Tatarsky, Romas Šimkus, Alicia Dauginis, Erika Kišonas and Adomas Grybas all combined as major force on defense holding Anapilis to 0 points in the final two quarters of play.  A strong effort all around was also brought forth by Aras Puodžiunas, who was effective at both ends of the court - keep it up! 

Our up and coming players,  Tristan Evans and Viktoras Maksimavičius also showed great enthusiasm and progress in learning how to play the game against a formidable opponent.  Big thanks go out to V. Šimkus, T. Plucas and M. Evans for help in scoring and officiating the game!  A very bold and encouraging move in the right direction, Molecules!

 Aušra Update - February 26, 2003

The Aušra Boys A team has entered the Canadian ŠALFASS Men's B league.  They also played some terrific games recently:

Feb 16 - Aušra Boys A defeated Anapilis 48-33.  Andrius Punkris and Aras Petrauskas led Aušra with 10 points each.

Feb 21 - Aušra Boys A punished Hamilton Kovas by the score of 64-42.  Paul Sergautis led Aušra scorers with 32 points.
 

 Aušra Update - February 24, 2003

The Aušra Boys C team travelled to Mississauga for a game against Anapilis.  It was the Aušra team’s first game of the year.  A slow start caused the team to be quickly down by 14 points.  As their game legs developed, the boys put the pressure on Anapilis and earned a 76–67 win. 

Aušra was led by Daniel Levišauskas, Jens Baziliauskas and John Zeber; each with 18 points and  Tomas Šiaučiulis with 16.  Strong performances were also received from Andrew Semeniuk, Ryan Baronaitis, Algis Puteris, Mantas Stasiulevičius, Vynkintas Vaskevičius and Anton Wasowicz.

 Aušra Update - February 12, 2003

Our Molecules team had their first taste of game play February 11th, playing hard yet falling to an lean and experienced Anapilis team, 30-0, with 26 of their points coming from only two players. 

More important than the score was the hard work, experience and fun had by all players and the realization what it will take in future practices to succeed against other teams.  

Many thanks to M. Evans and T. Plucas who helped out with the scoresheet and game clock, you're hired!   Thanks also go to A. Valadka who kindly helped out with officiating. 

Check our Molecules team page for photos.  Great work Molecules!

 Aušra Update - February 2, 2003

The Novice - E Division - team played a great game December 22, 2002 against Etobicoke Storm. Although Aušra was under-staffed (9 Players), we still managed to give the physically conditioned squad of 12 determined boys from Etobicoke an honest run for their money.  Aušra shot a dismal 1 for 8 from the charity stripe and ultimately that made the difference in the game with the final score 38-37 for Etobicoke. 

Nikolas Stauskas and Vytas Šimkus combined for 26 pts with Daniel Kuliešius, Adomas Kuliešius, Larissa Saplyte, and Peter Pečiulis rounding out the scoring for the home team.

Tomas Pylypiv, Katrina Skara, and Darius Sablinskas played with heart and performed admirably.  The crowd was very appreciative of the sincere efforts of both teams.  Thanks to Ramunas Saplys, Daina Šimkus, and Nikolas Stauskas for officiating and keeping score.

We look forward to playing against Etobicoke again.

Congratulations Ausra E's!
 

 2002 Christmas Party

Our club would like to express our many thanks to the volunteers, contributors and participants for making this year's Christmas Party another HUGE success!    Please have a safe and Merry Christmas and see you all in 2003!    Practices start the week of January 6.

 Aušra Update - December 8, 2002 

In the final Sunday league game before the Christmas break Lietuvos Rytas beat Žalgiris 19-10.  Lietuvos Rytas attack was led by Vytas Stasiulevičius and a total of 5 players scored for Lietuvos Rytas.  Larissa Saplys and Vytas Šimkus were the leading scorers for Žalgiris.
 

The Boys B team played their first competitive game Dec. 1 and defeated Umoja Kuumba, a rep-level team, by the score of 81-70.

Final practice dates for 2002:

Boys B - Dec 9th and Dec 16th.
Molecules - Dec 10th
Boys D - Dec 10th
 

 Aušra Update - November 11, 2002

Action continued in the Sunday league with week 1 winners Neptūnas taking on Žalgiris.  Žalgiris, led by Nikolas Stauskas, defeated Neptūnas by the score of 24-6.  Adomas Kuliešius led the Neptūnas’ effort.

On other fronts the Boys’ D team lost a controlled scrimmage against the Etobicoke Thunder rep team, 60-42.  A good showing considering they played a strong rep team after a two week break. 

The Aušra Women’s and Men’s B teams played in a KLB sponsored event over the weekend.  Both Aušra teams finished in second place.

Awards Banquet 2002

Last season's banquet was a tremendous success with over 200 players and family members in attendance.  The following players were presented with awards for individual achievement for Best Team Contributor and Most Improved Player: