Valmiera Glass Via (basketball)

Latvian basketball club

Valmiera Glass ViA

Leagues| Latvian Basketball League
Latvian–Estonian Basketball League
ENBL
Founded| 2011
Arena| Vidzeme Olympic Center
Capacity| 1500
Location| Valmiera, Latvia
Team colors| Black, Green, White

Team manager| Roberts Zeile
Head coach| Nikolajs Mazurs
Website| www.vgvia.lv

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Valmiera Glass Vidzemes Augstskola (Valmiera Glass ViA, also stylized Valmiera Glass/ViA) is a basketball club based in Valmiera, Latvia, playing in the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League.[1] Originally a student club of  Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences (Vidzemes Augstskola), Valmiera started playing in the Latvian Basketball League's third division in 2011, and expanded its roster to include semi-professional and fully professional players. In 2018, the team was promoted to the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League, the newly formed combined top basketball division of Latvia and Estonia, after bankruptcy of the former Latvian champion club Valmiera/Ordo.[2] The head coach of Valmiera Glass ViA is Lithuanian Tomas Keršis.

## History

[edit]

The club was founded in 2009 as the student team of Vidzeme University. It debuted in 2011 in the Latvian Basketball League's Third Division (LBL3) as Vidzemes Augstskola.[3] With Roberts Zeile as player coach and Sandis Amoliņš in roster, the team won the division championship in spring of 2012[4][3] and was promoted to the Second Division (LBL2). In 2012, Oto Grīnbergs joined the team and became focal point in team's offence, managing to be leading scorer for next five seasons.

In 2014, the team began a partnership with Valmiera Fibreglass and played as "Vidzemes Augstskola/Valmiera Glass". It had also established a farm team "Vidzemes Augstskola/Valmiera Glass-2" which played in LBL's third division.[3] In 2016, the football club Valmieras FK and the basketball club were brought together under the organization name "SO Valmiera Glass / Vidzemes Augstskola" or "Valmiera Glass ViA".[3]

Gradually, the club rose in second division rankings, and made a finals appearance in 2017, where they lost to BK Jelgava. That sparked discussion of Valmiera Glass ViA joining the Latvian Basketball League's highest division.[5] In 2018 Valmiera Glass ViA lost the second division bronze medal series to BK Gulbenes Buki, finishing in fourth place, but due to the bankruptcy of Valmiera city rival club Valmiera/Ordo Valmiera Glass ViA was promoted to newly founded Latvian–Estonian Basketball League.

Before the 2018/2019 season, professional Valmiera basketball players Jānis Kaufmanis, Edmunds Elksnis and Māris Ziediņš joined Valmiera Glass ViA. In the regular season, the team's record was 8-20, finishing 12th place overall and 6th among Latvian teams. Although it missed the Latvian-Estonian playoffs, the team qualified for the Latvian LBL playoffs and played in the quarterfinal series against BK Ogre, where they lost the series 0-3.[6]

In the summer of 2022, club announced that prominent Latvian national team players and brothers Dairis Bertāns and Dāvis Bertāns have become members of the club board. The club has a strong bond with Bertāns' Basketball School in Valmiera.[7]

## Roster

[edit]

### Current roster

[edit]

Valmiera Glass ViA roster

Players | Coaches
| Pos. | No. | Nat. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Age |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

PG | 0 |  | Karlsons, Kristofers | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)  | 80 kg (176 lb)  |  20 – (2004-03-21)21 March 2004  |
PF | 2 |  | Spear, Kahliel | 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)  | 100 kg (220 lb)  |  24 – (2000-06-02)2 June 2000  |
PG | 3 |  | Elksnis, Edmunds | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)  | 85 kg (187 lb)  |  33 – (1990-11-19)19 November 1990  |
SG | 6 |  | Ozers, Dāvis | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)  | 88 kg (194 lb)  |  20 – (2004-03-28)28 March 2004  |
C | 15 |  | Novitskyi, Rostyslav | 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)  | 102 kg (225 lb)  |  23 – (2000-10-23)23 October 2000  |
C | 22 |  | Gailišs, Armands | 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)  | 100 kg (220 lb)  |  20 – (2004-03-10)10 March 2004  |
SG | 29 |  | Katlaps, Pauls | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)  | 85 kg (187 lb)  |  18 – (2006-03-12)12 March 2006  |
C | 31 |  | Zeliznak, Maros | 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in)  | 120 kg (265 lb)  |  25 – (1999-02-15)15 February 1999  |
SF |  |  | Ate, Artis | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)  | 88 kg (194 lb)  |  35 – (1989-07-29)29 July 1989  |
G |  |  | Smith, DaQuan | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)  | 88 kg (194 lb)  |  24 – (1999-12-23)23 December 1999  |
SF |  |  | Liberts, Ričards | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)  |  |  18 – (2005-09-30)30 September 2005  |
G |  |  | Bērziņš, Ojārs | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)  | 84 kg (185 lb)  |  23 – (2001-01-26)26 January 2001  |
PF |  |  | Kohs, Verners | 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)  | 93 kg (205 lb)  |  27 – (1997-05-21)21 May 1997  |

Head coach

*   * Nikolajs Mazurs

Assistant coach(es)

*   * Kaspars Vecvagars
*   * Jānis Butāns

* * *

Legend

* (C) Team captain
* Injured

* * *

* Roster

Updated: 8 September, 2024

### Depth chart

[edit]

Pos.  | Starting 5  | Bench 1  | Bench 2  |  |

|
|
|
|
|

C | Kahliel Spear | Maros Zeliznak | Armands Gailišs |  |
PF | Rostyslav Novitskyi | Verners Kohs |  |  |
SF | Artis Ate | Ričards Liberts | Pauls Katlaps |  |
SG | Daquan Smith | Dāvis Ozers | Ojārs Bērziņš |  |
PG | Edmunds Elksnis | Kristofers Karlsons |  |  |

### Retired numbers

[edit]

Retired numbers of Valmiera basketball

No.  | Player  | Position  | Tenure  | Ceremony date
8 |  Dainis Bertāns | C | 1992–2004 | 08/01/2014 [8]
11 |  Sandis Amoliņš | SG | 1997–2014 | 07/03/2020 [9]

## Season by season

[edit]

Season  | League  | Regular
season  | Playoffs  | Notes

|
|
|
|

2011–12  | LBL 3  | 2nd[10] | Champion[4][10] | promoted to LBL 2
2012–13  | LBL 2  | 8th[11] | QF[11] |
2013–14  | LBL 2  | 8th[12] | lost in play-in series for QF[12] |
2014–15  | LBL 2  | 5th[13] | QF[13] |
2015–16  | LBL 2  | 1st[14] | QF[14] |
2016–17  | LBL 2  | 4th[15] | Runner-up[15] |
2017–18  | LBL 2  | 5th[16] | 4th[5][16] | promoted to LatEstBL
2018–19 | LatEstBL | 12th overall[17]
(6th in Latvian)[6] | DNQ in League Playoff
QF in Latvian Playoff[6] |
2019–20 | LatEstBL | 11th overall
(5th in Latvian)  | Did not happen due to COVID-19 pandemic |
2020–21 | LatEstBL | 11th overall
(5th in Latvian)  | DNQ in League Playoff
QF in Latvian Playoff[citation needed] |
2021–22 | LatEstBL | 10th overall
(4th in Latvian)  | DNQ in League Playoff
QF in Latvian Playoffs[citation needed] | 0-5 in ENBL, 6th place
2022–23 | LatEstBL | 15th overall
(6th in Latvian)  | DNQ in League Playoff
QF in Latvian Playoffs[citation needed] | 0-7 in ENBL, 15th place
2023–24 | LatEstBL | 13th overall
(6th in Latvian)  | DNQ in League Playoff
QF in Latvian Playoffs | 0-7 in ENBL, 16th place

## Notable players

[edit]

* Sandis Amoliņš
* Jānis Kaufmanis
* Edmunds Elksnis
* Māris Ziediņš
* Viktors Iļjins

## See also

[edit]

* Valmieras FK, the related football club with the same logo
* BK Valmiera, previous Valmiera basketball team

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Latvijas un Igaunijas līgā iekļauj "Valmieru Glass/ ViA", Ķekavu noraida, Jēkabpili gaida". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 9 August 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
2. ^ ""Valmiera/Ordo" nepiedalīsies arī LBL3 un nākamo sezonu izlaidīs". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 9 August 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
3. ^ a b c d "Sport and activities at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences". Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
4. ^ a b "BK "Vidzemes Augstskola" izcīna LBL3 čempiona titulu". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 10 May 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
5. ^ a b ""Valmiera Glass/ViA" izskatīs iespēju spēlēt LBL 1. divīzijā". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 4 July 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
6. ^ a b c "LATVIAN-ESTONIAN_2018-2019 Basketball League LATVIA - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com. Retrieved 7 June 2019.[dead link]
7. ^ "Par komandas galveno treneri kļūst lietuvietis Keršis, valdei pievienojas brāļi Bertāni".
8. ^ https://www.valmiera.lv/lv/jaunumi/sporta_zinas/8963_bk_valmiera_a_kaufmana_un_d_bertana_godinasanas_spele_piekapjas_bk_ventspils/ [dead link]
9. ^ https://www.valmiera.lv/lv/jaunumi/sporta_zinas/22743_sestdien_pret_ventspili_laukuma_dosies_valmieras_basketbola_legenda_sandis_amolins [dead link]
10. ^ a b "LBL3_2011-2012 Basketball League LATVIA - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com. Retrieved 7 June 2019.[dead link]
11. ^ a b "LBL2_2012-2013 Basketball League LATVIA - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
12. ^ a b "LBL2_2013-2014 Basketball League LATVIA - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com. Retrieved 7 June 2019.[dead link]
13. ^ a b "LBL2_2014-2015 Basketball League LATVIA - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
14. ^ a b "LBL2_2015-2016 Basketball League LATVIA - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
15. ^ a b "LBL2_2016-2017 Basketball League LATVIA - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
16. ^ a b "LBL2_2017-2018 Basketball League LATVIA - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com. Retrieved 7 June 2019.[dead link]
17. ^ "Standings". www.estlatbl.com. Retrieved 7 June 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website (in Latvian)

*[SO]: Sports Organization
*[Pos.]: Position(s)
*[No.]: Jersey number
*[Nat.]: Nationality
*[Ht.]: Height
*[Wt.]: Weight
*[LBL]: Latvian Basketball League
*[QF]: Quarter-finals
*[LatEstBL]: Latvian–Estonian Basketball League
*[DNQ]: Did not qualify