Βy Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
It is a men’s world! When you are a professional with basketball being your subject, you know it. However, we are in the 21st century and things are changing and basketball is also a “unisex” affair, even if the sport is managed and depended in the vast majority of cases by men.
There are women, but mostly in positions where the knowledge about the sport, personality and influence are not must have qualities. There are mostly hired in positions which have to do mostly with organization and support.
We are not expecting to see a female commissioner in the NBA, or a female CEO in Euroleague. And still, every time you see a woman referee in a competition of men, it’s a subject of discussion for the male of the species.
So is there a women out there who lives and breaths about the game and understand basketball like few of us can? Is there a female pro scouter or agent, who is negotiating with top talent and top clubs?
The quick answer is no. But in every law there’s also an exception. We searched and we found it, because there’s also the exception law and in this case she has a name.
Meet Sigita Mostaviciute from Lithuania!
She is one of the kids born in the country where basketball is a religion. She is also the official scouter and also representative of Beobasket – the agency of Misko Raznatovic – in the Baltic region.
As you can understand, such position is not given by chance. So let’s see her background.
Cinderella story
She graduated from joint sports science with business degree in Kingston university London. A mix of her Lithuanian origin combined with exposure in basketball culture in the States and in Europe create a unique mix. She has a basketball coaching degree from UK, finished high school in Iowa, USA, and was the team attache of Serbia, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Latvia, France, Ukraine in numerous FIBA Europe junior and senior competitions.
And here our question start…
Why basketball;
How she decided to dedicate herself in basketball; “In Lithuania we are watching basketball since our early age. The passion for the sport grows as we grow older and everyone loves to be in a game, even as a spectator. I was playing voleyball and I was also a swimmer. During high school I continued doing sports. But when I traveled to the States I also played basketball. Unfortunately I had an injury and I had to think what to do with my life. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be a coach or try management. I decided to focus on the second and I started my studies in London”.
A way of life
It’s one thing to like to do something and an other to turn it into a profession and a way of life. How you did it?
“I made some contacts with Zalgiris Kaunas and I cooperated with the physical trainer of the team, as his assistant, an experience needed for my final thesis. My dream at the time was to work for a big club in my home country. That’s when I realized that I this will be my job. It was something that fulfilled me as a person, to work and be around basketball”.
“Lithuania was preparing for Eurobasket 2011 and also the U16 and U18 tournaments were held in my country. I contacted the federation and asked for a job. I know foreign languages, that helped me a lot and I became a volunteer. That was exciting. I met players like Saric and Karasev. For the first time I though about being a professional involved with basketball back in 2008. By 2011 I was certain. I wanted my life to revolve around basketball”.
So the pieces are coming together…
Still there’s some great distance from the desire to work in basketball to be a professional scouter and Sigita explains how this happened…
The big chance
“When I finished basketball, I had an offer involving basketball in a specific project. To scout and register everything about young players. To keep track of their talent, their character and their data. It wasn’t something that excited me at first. I was studying for many hours and I wasn’t sure about what I had to do.
Then I met Misko Raznatovic. We talked and I understood that he didn’t had many Lithuanian clients. I send him an e-mail, I told him who I am and described him my experience as an attache of Serbian national team on many levels. I told him that if we worked together, I could help him in the Baltic region. Even with the biggest projects of my country. His answer was: I was looking for someone like you for many years.
We arranged a meeting and I traveled to Belgrade. I said to him that I wanted to see live a game of Partizan. There was a game against Real Madrid for Euroleague. We went to the game together. That was my term in order to travel to Belgrade”.
So why he chose her and believed that she would be more than useful?
“You have to ask him! If you want my opinion, maybe the fact that I had maintain contacts with many Serbian players because of my role as an attache. Also I am a pretty communicative person and I have enough nerve. I know many foreign languages and I really know the Lithuanian market. I consider brave of him the fact he decided to give me that chance. He is a man who loves challenges”.
What she does in Beobasket
“My professional title is scout and Beobasket representative in the Baltic. My duties are close to those of an agent. We always try to think how to do even more. I consider really positive the fact that more and more players are trusting me. I see their talent, I scour them and if I believe they are worth it, I ask them to sign with Beobasket. From the moment we work together, I help them with everything they may need in basketball or in their life. I know that for many people seems strange for a woman to have this job. But I am from Lithuania! I have invested many hours of work in my job and I am happy with what I do. That’s my life. I am constantly improving and that doesn’t stop. Misko is happy and I have many motives”.
What are the main characteristics an agent should have?
“It’s a combination. You have to know the sport. That’s the main thing. You have to understand what you see and also have an instinct. You have to think everything in combination with every possible situation which may arise and you have to keep an open mind. Talent, character, potential, everything play their part”.
A basketball professional, the only women with such a specialized job on the sport and also more than easy in the eyes…
What are the pros and the cons of being beautiful and how she manages her good looks in his daily interaction with the hundreds of men who are part of the sport?
“There’s always a reaction in the first impression. You know… that may help in the first contact, but it doesn’t mean much. At first most of them think of me as a girl who likes to watch basketball. Then, they are surprised by my work. I don’t have any complains. I know how to handle things and get the respect I deserve
However decides to work with me, proves that he is not a person who believes in stereotypes and he can trust a women to help him in his basketball progress and evolution. It doesn’t matter what intentions he has. What matters if what I am willing to let him do, because I am there exclusively about basketball. Most of them at first ask me if I am a journalist and they have a hard time believing that I am a scout.
There have been also hard times and bad days. Misko in our first meeting told me that he believes very much in me and it’s just a matter of time to achieve big things. That’s what I think about when there’s tension, or I feel tired from this job”…
We had a long conversation with Sigita and believe us, she really knows and loves basketball. It’s easy to understand it almost for the first moment. So that’s what led us to the ultimate test…
If you had to chose between the U18 Eurobasket final and a dinner with a man that you really fancy, what would you chose?
“There would be only one way for us to be together. He should come with me at the game. At least, that’s what I would propose to him”!
