Kirsty Wark, on the telly, has been journeying around Eastern, post-Soviet Europe. And I caught the last bit of a report she did about a very interesting school, different from the usual sort:

As expected, Lithuania's largest cities have the most affluent club settings. The Sarunas Marciulionis Basketball School in Vilnius is perhaps the most well known of the developmental clubs. …

The Marciulionis school is located on an unassuming site which also houses the magnificent Sarunas Hotel. The Sarunas is known as one of the finest overnight accommodations available in Vilnius. Inside the training facility, three full-sized NBA courts lie side by side under one roof. Each of these courts see plenty of training action during the week with some 750 boys enrolled in the various age group training programs. The Marciulionis Basketball School believes in a holistic approach to player development. Every boy enrolled in the Marciulionis school takes classes in the English language and computer science. Formal classes on character development and social etiquette are also a part of the supplemental curriculum. International travel is also one of the basic tenets of the Marcilionis approach. Teams from the school have traveled to 25 countries since it's formation in 1992. The lobby of the Marciulionis school houses one of the most interesting collection of basketball shoes ever assembled. Many great NBA stars (Jordan, Barkley, Drexler, etc.) have donated pairs of the signed shoes for this one-of-a-kind exhibit.

This place was founded by and is named after the great Lithuanian basketball player Sarunas Marciulionis, pictured above right.

I wish there were more schools like this in England, catering for the sporty types, bringing the best out of them instead of the worst, turning them into noble and honourable young men instead of embittered, knife wielding bullies.

When I was a schoolboy, my school, Marlborough, used to play sports against a rival fee-paying school called Millfield, who built their entire system around sport, which meant they were very, very good at it. I can still recall the Millfield rugby team demolishing the Marlborough 1st XV, with a dazzling exhibition of pace and passing from their backs such as I have seldom witnessed since, despite a lifetime of TV rugby watching. Millfield is still going strong, it would seem. But, unless things have changed completely, it costs. A lot. The Marciulionis school presumably demands far less from its parents.