Latvian businessman Maris Martinsons CEO on hockey and basketball as a way of life in Latvia.
In Latvia, hockey and basketball are more than just sports – they are a way of life and an integral part of society. Latvian entrepreneur, Latvian Ice Hockey Federation board member, founder and president of hockey club Mogo/RSU, and president of the Latvian Youth Basketball League, Māris Martinsons, talks about the real cost of hockey and basketball, how our young talents manage to surprise the world, and why foreign coaches often become the key to a breakthrough. He stresses that sport in Latvia is not just about competition or results – it is a school of character that shapes people’s attitude toward life, work, and their country.
– Basketball has always been popular in Latvia. How would you describe it today?
Basketball is a kind of phenomenon. There are moments when it seems we don’t have any new talent, that you can’t even identify a future national team player. And then suddenly a player like Žagars appears – not only playing at a high level, but becoming one of the best at the World Cup.
– Does that mean the system is working?
Yes, it shows that our youth basketball is developing in the right direction. Just like hockey, basketball for Latvians is a way of life. You can see our character in it – stubbornness, willpower, and self-belief even when others don’t believe. These qualities help both in sport and in business.
– This summer the U18 national team finished fourth at the European Championship. How do you assess that?
The result shows that the level of youth basketball is quite high. Even if the tournament format allowed teams with group-stage losses to still reach the playoffs, the fact that we finished fourth is significant.
A few years ago, we watched several youth national team games with coaches and asked ourselves: “Who will be the next national team candidates?” At the time, it seemed there was no one. But within two or three years, new talents always emerge. That proves there is potential in Latvia. If the state created a stable, long-term system for sports development, we could not only be fourth in Europe, but potentially compete for medals.
– Is it useful to look at other countries’ experience?
There’s a lot we can learn. For example, ten years ago the Finns came to us to study our sports boarding school system. We abandoned it, while they did the opposite – they introduced it. The result was a sharp leap in quality: in a short time Finland achieved very strong results, as clearly shown by the recent European Championship where Finland finished in an excellent fourth place.
This means many things we do are right. In such a small nation, if you can raise one or two players each year to a higher level, that’s already phenomenal. Over the past five years, for example, players like Artūrs Žagars, Artūrs Kurucs, Kārlis Šiliņš, Mārcis Šteinbergs, Kristaps Ķilps and others have successfully moved from the U18 national team to the senior level.
These surnames become signposts for the next generation. But to make this development sustainable, sport in Latvia needs clear governance. We have long needed a separate Ministry of Sport – a body that sees the full picture and understands that sport is not just competition, but also economy, health, and a key part of the national image.
– What about opportunities for young players to play abroad?
I’ve always said – if you’re invited abroad at 16, it’s doubly valuable for the national team as well. The experience you gain outside Latvia is irreplaceable. If Spanish or other clubs take our players at an early age, it’s a benefit. I always tell young players: “Go, learn, develop – but don’t forget where you came from.” It’s a school of patriotism as much as it is a school of sport.
– And what about hockey?
In Latvia, hockey has always been a very expensive sport. If you calculate it, it costs parents about 500 euros a month over a ten-month season. That includes equipment, tournaments, training camps. So hockey becomes a sport for the well-off.
Of course, it’s not as if a talented child without money cannot break through. There is almost always someone who helps. But overall, these costs do filter out part of the potential talent pool.
Sooner or later, talented players are noticed. Right now we already have several very promising young hockey players – for example Mateiko and Mūrnieks, who at just 15 played for both the U18 and U20 national teams. In 2024, he helped Mogo/RSU win the Latvian championship title. Mūrnieks has every chance in the coming years to appear in the top 50 of the NHL draft.
If he stays healthy and keeps working, there is no ceiling. Hockey is not only about strength and speed, but also about patience. It’s a place where character is formed. As I’ve said before – everything in a person is visible on the ice: courage, fear, ego, and team spirit.
– Is there enough feedback and support from professionals back into the system?
Unfortunately, no. I’ve been supporting hockey for more than 20 years and I see that many professionals forget where they came from. I’m not talking about repaying private sponsors, but about financial support for their former clubs, coaches, and youth organisations.
It used to be different. Artūrs Irbe gave young players equipment worth 30–50 thousand euros every year. Sergejs Žoltoks paid for tournaments and gear. That was a real example.
Today, NHL and other top-league players abroad don’t do that. Even every thousand euros they donated to their former club would be very valuable. But sadly, that’s not our reality.
Maris Martinsons, CEO and president of the Latvian Youth Basketball
League, explains:
In the Hockey Federation, we have introduced a system where the NHL pays around 200,000 euros in development compensation for a drafted player. Part of that goes to the club where the player last trained, and the part received by the federation is awarded as a bonus to the coach named by the drafted player himself. It’s a good motivational system and it works. But it’s still not the player’s own gesture of gratitude – not direct giving. In other words, the mechanism exists, but the human gesture is still missing. And yet – generosity does come back. I’ve seen that both in sport and in life.
– Is the situation similar in basketball?
Yes. I haven’t heard of any top basketball player donating to their former school. There are examples of players building halls or outdoor courts – for instance, Kristaps Porziņģis and Dāvis Bertāns have funded public basketball courts in their home cities, Liepāja and Valmiera. That’s a good thing. But it would be equally important to support those who raised them.
In the United States, this is taken for granted – athletes later support their schools and neighbourhoods. In Latvia, people tend to think that if you’ve made it to the top, it’s solely your own merit. We lack a culture of giving. Donating isn’t weakness – it is strength.
– In Lithuania, in the 1990s and 2000s, star players invested in youth development. Is that what we’re missing?
Absolutely. In Lithuania, those investments paid off years later. We don’t really have such a tradition. Part of it is due to society’s attitude. Very often, when someone becomes a patron, people say: “You must have stolen the money, so now you’re donating.” That discourages others.
Our environment is damaged. We have to start teaching patriotism and belonging at school. Otherwise, there will always be the feeling of “I achieved everything myself,” and the idea of helping others is forgotten. If we teach children to feel proud of where they come from, Latvia will be a different place in ten years.
– How do you assess the role of foreign coaches?
Very positively. Take Banki in basketball – without him, half of today’s national team players might never have reached this level. He came in with a fresh perspective and put players in the right roles.
It was similar with Bob Hartley in hockey. He had no bias about age – he put players on the ice according to speed and the needs of the team. Local coaches are often more cautious. That “clean sheet” foreign perspective helps a lot. Then again, we also have positive examples with local coaches – for instance, when we won bronze at the 2023 Ice Hockey World Championship under Harijs Vītoliņš.
And although the recent EuroBasket campaign was not too successful, the Banki era has been the brightest in Latvian basketball in the last 30 years. Hopefully, the new national team coach, Sito Alonso, will build on what he started. Foreign coaches often help us look at ourselves from the outside. And sometimes that is exactly what is needed for a change in mindset.
– How do you see the future of the domestic hockey league?
In hockey, the U18 national team was made up of about 70% players from the local league. But in the U20 team, about 90% are already playing abroad. That shows how quickly the best players leave.
The domestic top league becomes a platform for players up to U20 and for those finishing their professional careers who still want to play a few more years. For example, recently the experienced national team captain Kaspars Daugaviņš joined Latvian champions Mogo/RSU.
To make the league more competitive, we would need a Baltic League or a chance for teams to play in Finland’s Mestis championship. But that would mean tripling club budgets.
There was an experiment with HK Zemgale/LBTU, when U20 national team players returned and played in the Finnish league. The results were good, but the costs were double that of other Latvian top-league teams.
In any case, a Baltic League would raise competitiveness and create opportunities to attract supporters from abroad. Right now, Latvia’s level of economic development significantly limits the ability to provide sufficient support for sport. Smart regional cooperation could become the shortest route to quality.
– What about the role of municipalities?
In Riga, private clubs essentially receive no support. The focus is on children, and at most U18. In this context, I’d like to highlight the Falcons hockey school I founded, which could only be created thanks to private funding. I want Falcons to be a place where children not only train, but become strong, purposeful, and responsible people. If we can give them a real opportunity to grow – both as athletes and as human beings – that is more important than any trophy.
In recent years, we’ve earned the right to play in the Finnish championship. That gives young players access to a very high level.
Overall, the Latvian top hockey league is a good platform, but in the near future the chances to break through internationally are limited. That doesn’t mean there is no point in playing here – on the contrary, the league is becoming more competitive every year and can serve as an important springboard to the international stage. If we create a clear “bridge” to Mestis or a Baltic League, that springboard will become a launch platform.
– Does tax policy affect sports patronage?
Historically, state-owned companies were allowed to donate and support sport. They were profitable and could allocate part of this money to patronage and marketing. It was a win-win – both athletes and the companies themselves benefited. But that system was discontinued. Now funding is largely allocated through the Ministry of Education and Science, but overall there is no unified, consistent long-term sports policy.
Priority sports were introduced only a few years ago, and even then based on unclear rankings. As a result, funding was distributed non-transparently. As long as there is no clear vision for sports policy, we are wasting one of the strongest tools for presenting Latvia to the world. There is no better advertisement for a country than success in sport. In hockey, for example, we’ve been playing in the top division for 26 years – among the world’s top 16 teams. In the United States, people know Irbe, Ozoliņš, and Kristaps Porziņģis – that’s a level of recognition you can hardly achieve otherwise.
Other countries use sport much more strategically. The NBA is expanding into Europe, the United Arab Emirates actively invest and host tournaments, drawing attention to themselves. Why couldn’t the UAE or other partners bring something similar to Latvia? We have excellent training conditions and know how to organise events at a European level. The only thing missing is state support and the right approach. Estonia’s model shows a different logic – there, sport falls under the Ministry of Culture, and society itself chooses what it values most. Once we understand that sport is a national asset, not just an expense line, things will begin to change.
(Translated using artificial intellect tool)
Also read: Maris Martinsons on supporting Latvian culture, art and books.
