Jahovičs reveals his path to basketball and the fatherly advice behind Latvia's U16 gold

Markuss Jahovičs, captain of Latvia's U16 basketball team that recently won gold at the European Championship, shared details about his sporting journey and his father's influence in an interview with "Izgaismots."

Jahovičs revealed that basketball wasn't his first sport — around age six he started playing football and said he was reasonably good at it. He began basketball later, around age seven, training under an acquaintance of his father, Gatis Jahovičs. The young player emphasized that his father never pushed him toward basketball but instead let him try different sports and choose what he enjoyed most.

A father's advice about losing

The young athlete highlighted one piece of advice from his father that stuck with him since childhood. While playing on a youth team that rarely lost, Jahovičs reportedly cried after one of his first defeats. His father explained at the time that losses are unavoidable in basketball and that they are precisely what push a player to become better.

That advice proved useful ahead of the recent European Championship, where Latvia's U16 team went undefeated, winning all seven of its games. However, the road to the tournament wasn't smooth — in warm-up matches before the championship, the team won only three of seven games. Jahovičs acknowledged that this rough patch mobilized the team and forced them to pull together before the tougher challenge ahead. The situation improved after Benjamins Beruē joined the squad, which had a positive effect on the team's performance.

Jahovičs himself had an outstanding tournament, averaging 18.1 points per game and finishing as the competition's sixth-highest scorer. He also averaged four rebounds and two assists per game, earning him a spot in the tournament's all-star team.