Why do the Teesside Lions youth coaches choose to volunteer

Benas Maldutis is a player for Teesside Lions and is a part of the Teesside Lions youth coach team. Benas, originally born in Lithuania, emigrated to the UK at a young age and grew up in Northampton. His love for basketball has only grown since he picked up a ball at the age of four. He had a glittering career and as a youth basketballer, finding success as both a point guard a, he was picked for East Midlands county at 14 years old and with Northampton school, he reached the u16 dynamic school final. At u18 level he won the National League conference title with Northants Thunder, and he also is a accomplished 3v3 player. Making it to the National final of the 3v3 Ball out competition.

In 2025, Benas left Northampton to become a Teesside University student. He juggles his studies, playing for Teesside University University team in BUCS, playing for Teesside Lions in NBL division 1 and being a youth coach.

On why he is a community basketball coach, Benas said: “I like giving back to the community, I enjoy to see kids develop their basketball skills. As I had coaches that nurtured my abilities.”

Benas Maldutis coaching a group of young players

“We have lots of players with the potential to break into the first team. They put in lots of hard work, are disciplined and have a willingness to be coached.”

Toby Scully is also a player on the Teesside University basketball team and a community coach. His biggest achievement has been winning Northern tier 4 with the University team this year, using his large 6'8 frame to get rebounds and block shots.

Toby said on being a coach: "I focus on the entry level, generally under 8s basketball. I focus on getting kids active, using fun games get them involved lime stuck in the mud. It’s really great to coach as that young age they develop so quickly which is fantastic to see”.

"It's less about fine tuning the skills like Serge Bojev does with the first team and the u18. It's about getting them to enjoy the game and try and get the basic skills down."