Meet Agne Ziukaite—The Creative Growing Soccer In Basketball-Mad Lithuania

Soccer is generally considered the most popular sport in the world and the go-to game in most of Europe. But not in Lithuania, a small country perched on the right shoulder of the continent.

There, it’s all about basketball—a second religion to some. Lithuania, with a population of under three million, is eighth in the FIBA men’s rankings, just behind another small but basketball-loving nation in Slovenia. Also marking its status are players starring at the NBA level: Jonas Valančiūnas and Domantas Sabonis.

Given its successful historic teams, Lithuania has an affinity with this sport in particular, with it becoming a symbol of civic pride in the post-Soviet state. In contrast, soccer is not as massive, reflected by a men’s senior team positioned 144th globally, having never appeared at a major tournament.

However, for Agne Ziukaite—a freelance creative from the country—the beautiful game is everything. And by making illustrations and driving social causes, she wants to raise its profile to unprecedented heights.

“I just got a miracle boom in my heart while playing soccer for the first time in my life on a small school concrete basketball court with two little goals,” she says, recalling how it all started. “I was 12 years old. From that day, I never stopped loving it. That’s how sports started to come into my life.”

Barcelona fan Ziukaite has merged art, her other long-standing passion, with soccer to forge a career. Her classic creations take on a marketable graphic design quality, and subjects range from stars Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah to neutral characters to whom anyone can relate.

So far, she’s produced content for editorials, magazine covers, and the #WePlayStrong women’s soccer campaigns for the Women’s World Cup and European Championships. Closer to home, she’s made content to promote Lithuania’s elite competition—the A Lyga—and edits a soccer culture magazine called Sveiks Valio!

“I started freelancing as a graphic designer—I have a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design—but later, little by little, starting with my projects, I began to get illustrations requests and switched to being an illustrator,” she says.

“Creativity is the most important thing to me, and I enjoy working with different concepts. I have to mention that being an illustrator is not the easiest. But if you have a passion for it, do it, and results and clients will come sooner or later. I have to remind myself every day, but follow your heart!”

It’s not just about making a living for Ziukaite, however. Tepid interest means the soccer economy is pretty slow-moving in her homeland, and it’s a situation she wants to change by unlocking some of the benefits the activity can bring across the board.

“I’ve worked on social projects based in Vilnius, Lithuania. One of them is ‘Let’s Score a Goal’—a non-commercial project to show and solve the problem of empty soccer stadiums in Vilnius,” she tells me.

“Here, in the capital of Lithuania, all public full-size soccer stadiums became abandoned. For this reason, kids have never heard that beautiful sound when the ball hits the net.

“The aim of hanging nets on goalposts was to make the game accessible to everyone. Hanging nets in two Vilnius stadiums made an immediate impact, as more and more kids started to come with their parents, shoot the ball and enjoy soccer.”

Lithuania’s snowy winter season is not best suited to outdoor soccer, which lacks the outside investment and funding to compete with the rest of Europe. Therefore, there are certain stumbling blocks to developing the game nationally.

High flyers Žalgiris and Sūduva tend to dominate the top domestic division, but neither has featured in the Champions League group stages. Beyond its borders, it’s not known for having professionals contracted to renowned clubs, either.

So, is a shortage in participation and competitiveness here to stay?

“Many aspects are playing a part in its growing process in Lithuania,” Ziukaite adds. “First of all, like everywhere, Lithuania’s soccer organization has to have competent, transparent management focused on people’s needs and goals.

“My part of growing soccer in Lithuania is to use creativity and find a way to do things with local merchandise, culture stories written for Sveiks Valio! or organized tournaments for Art Academy students, which could make an impact and give a little joy for people here.”

Despite her love, Zuikaite can see the broad problems soccer faces. These might include excessive ticket prices, financial misconduct, or inequality in some quarters. In its midst, she wants to bring something pure, which can exist alongside the sensationalized spectacle today.

“I understand why fans are against modern soccer because the beautiful game was born in the working class and always was about fans and communities. It’s a specific social phenomenon and has to provide access to everyone who wants to be a part of the community.

“I want to emphasize that modernity, by itself, is not a bad thing. But here, modernity is used as a business, which pushes out its soul. So, I hope the state of soccer in the future will look back to fans and local communities.

“Maybe I’m naive, but I started to see more and more clubs and brands campaigns based on accessible soccer activity, and I hope it will continue. Soccer and art together through new forms could reach a wider audience, and I think it could be a goal for the future.”