Audrius Zinkebicius is not a familiar name to high school soccer fans or the keys on a computer keyboard.
He did not hone his soccer game on bucolic suburban lawns, join a local club or become a fixture in the U.S. Olympic development program.
Zinkebicius simply landed in Skip Begley’s lap.
The Hinsdale Central coach knew he would have a pretty good team this fall. Leading scorer Daniel Grasso and co-captains Chris Bock and Joe Capadona were returning, and freshman goalkeeper Patrick Sperry was expected to contribute too.
It was at a preseason practice that the 50-year-old Begley, in his sixth season as Central’s boys soccer coach, found out that he had another player. Zinkebicius “was just standing on the side beneath the trees,” Begley recalled. “He said he played soccer.”
“Played soccer” might have been a bit of an understatement for the 17-year-old from Taurage, Lithuania. He had been a member of the Lithuanian junior national team before coming to the U.S. on June 9.
So 2001 A.Z. has begun at Hinsdale Central.
“I came to register to that school,” Zinkebicius said, “and I asked about the soccer team. A secretary gave me coach Begley’s phone number, but I decided to go out to practice instead–to see what was going on.”
“After the first practice, where he exhibited his skills, we knew he’d be a real plus for us,” Begley said. “As the track coach said, somebody just dropped him down here. And we’re glad he did.”
It’s not exactly unusual for an immigrant to come into the Chicago area and make an impact in high school sports, particularly soccer. Public League teams have traditionally benefited. But these players are making a mark in the suburbs too. Niles West coach Scott Ackman, whose Wolves are off to their best start in his five years, is led by Bosnian senior Damir Dulas’ 14 goals.
The IHSA can be strict about eligibility matters, so Begley waited three games for Zinkebicius’ paperwork to clear. He then played sparingly for the next three.
But by now, Zinkebicius has found a home in Central’s lineup at forward. The 6-foot, 155-pound senior has scored seven goals to go along with four assists–the most recent leading to Bock’s winning overtime goal against Glenbard West–in lifting the Red Devils to an 11-1-4 record.
“It’s pretty good,” he said of the experience so far. “The level of soccer here isn’t that much different than from Lithuania.”
The mating of this Lithuanian teen and a school that has one of the most storied athletic programs in Illinois–its 63 state titles are second only to New Trier’s 78–may seem to be unlikely. And the upscale village of Hinsdale is tradition-laden. But it has become melting-pot material lately, especially for the Lithuanian community. There’s even a direct link between that nation and the suburb.
The current president of Lithuania, Valdas Adamkus, lived in Hinsdale for 33 years and still has a home in neighboring Burr Ridge, according to Sigitha Mitchell, who speaks Lithuanian and works as a tutor in Central’s English as a Second Language program. Sixteen of the 70 students in ESL are from Lithuania, program head Jim Meyer said, making it the largest group from one country.
And A.Z., as his teammates call him, isn’t the only athlete making a mark at Hinsdale Central. Virginija Palshmitaite is a fixture on the girls tennis team.
“There are a lot of friends from my town in the area,” Zinkebicius said. “One of them graduated from the high school just a couple of years ago.”
If his English sounds polished for a teenager who has been in the U.S. less than four months, there’s a good reason. Audrius’ mother, Lijana, used to teach English and currently has a school supply and computer business in Taurage.
“My mother is coming here this winter,” he said. She’ll join her son and her husband, Arunas, a construction worker who arrived a year and a half ago.
Zinkebicius is making a fluid transition not only on the soccer field but in the classroom as well. “He’s so dedicated and determined,” Mitchell said. “He’s putting into his studies as much as he’s putting into soccer.
“And he’s so mature. It’s difficult to come into a new school as a senior.”
Certainly soccer has helped that transition. And Zinkebicius has helped Begley, whose Red Devils will be looking for the kind of ending the team had in 1975, when the school made its only appearance in the state soccer finals.
All Hinsdale Central did that year was win the state title.
