May 2–3 In Vilnius, more than 20 athletics coaches and physical education teachers from all over Lithuania participated World Athletics project “Kids’ Athletics“ training. They were full of both theoretical scientific insights and practical activities. Coaches will soon be able to apply the acquired knowledge to teach young athletes, and children’s games await them in June in the capital.

Late specialization and everyday joy

The first training for the participants of the program was conducted by Kids‘ Athletics Lithuania 2026 instructor, athletics coach Tadas Petravičius. He introduced coaches and physical education teachers to the vision, goals, basic principles and values of the initiative. The essential message is that “Sport is for children’s enjoyment and joy“. It is emphasized that first of all it is necessary to ensure good foundations of movement and love for sports in children, and only then take care of mastery in one sports competition. According to sports scientists, premature specialization can increase the risk of injuries and reduce the likelihood of a long-term career. The creators of the program also emphasize that improvement is more important than the final result.

In order to follow such a vision of training, it is also important to have practical knowledge – this is what the main focus of the second part of the training was. The coaches themselves tried various play activities and exercises, discussed how to apply all of them to ensure children’s involvement, individual needs, notice young talents, and later link athletic movement skills to athletics competitions.

Knowledge Application

The participants of the training, including a group of Lithuanian track and field athletes who are still actively involved in sports, emphasize that they have acquired a lot of valuable knowledge and are eager to apply it in practice. One of them is marathon runner, multiple national champion Vaida Žūsinaitė-Nekriošienė. “Since I have never worked with children, I received a lot of useful information and practical activities during this training. I really want to inspire children to move and introduce them to athletics, so I have no doubt that the knowledge gained will be very useful!” – the runner shares her impressions.

Participants of the program will gather for another weekend training on September 26-27, and before that – on June 7 – Kids‘ Athletics will take place in Vilnius” children’s games. It is expected that they will bring together several hundred young athletes from all over the country, and this event will become an invaluable experience and a boost for them to stay in the sport.