NO 4 STAN DARGIS
5 feet 10 inch (180cm) Guard
1956 Olympic Games
The city of Palanga in Lithuania is a beautiful seaside town on the Baltic Sea. It has long beaches and is a popular holiday resort. In 1940 it was taken as part of the Soviet invasion and the Pact with Germany. In 1941 the German army invaded Lithuania and Palanga was once again under foreign rule. The Dargis family were enduring occupation and the deprivation of war again and again. During the German occupation the Dargis family saw great resistance from local partisans before the Soviets again occupied Lithuania in 1944.Vast masses of Lithuanian inhabitants, part of them on receiving evacuation orders, others led by the sense of self-preservation, withdrew from a second Soviet invasion. Some of them tried to get to Sweden but only some hundreds were lucky enough to reach that country. German war-ships overtook most of the fugitives, put them in jail or took them to forced labour camps. The majority of Lithuanian refugees, however, moved towards the only country within reach that was not occupied by the Soviets, namely to Germany. The Dargis family and their son Stan were among those fleeing to Germany.
Stan Dargiswas born in Palanga, Lithuania in 1928.He played basketball at school before and during World War Two. His family fled to Germany in 1945 and Stan continued to play basketball in the Displaced Persons (DP) Camps after the war. Basketballwas a popular game in the refugee camps where the game was introduced and enhanced by the US troops. Life was tough in the camps, food was not plentiful and much of the time was taken with working out an existence but there was time for basketball. Stan played in the various camp basketball leagues from the age of 17 until at the age of 21 Stan and his family migrated to Victoria, Australia in April, 1949.
In Melbourne Stan quickly found friends among other refugees and he played on the Varpas basketball team in the Business Houses competition. As a member of the Varpasteam Stan won theMelbourne Business Houses competition every year from 1949 to 1956. He worked as an assembler in the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation.
At 5ft 10 inches Stan played the guard position and was renowned for his ball handling and dribbling skills.
Stan represented Victoria in the Australian Championships every year from 1950 to 1956 except in 1953 when the Australian Championships were not held. During this period he also came under the coaching of the legendary Leon Baltrunas who had played on the Lithuanian National Team that won the European Championship in 1937.
Stan was named to the All Australian Team in 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955 and 1956.
After the 1955 Australian Championships he was named on the Australian Squad for the 1956 Olympics.
In 1956 at the age of 28 he was selected to play on the Australian Men’s Basketball Team for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Many of the Australian Teamwere from NSW and South Australia and prepared for the Olympics by “correspondence”. Stan was in Melbourne and he and the other Victorians on the team were able to do some preparation under the Olympic Coach Ken Watson. The Olympic Basketball Team entered the Olympic Village a week before the Games commenced. Once together the team underwent fitness training under Assistant Coach Harry Burgess, practice under the guidance of Watson and played some practice games, one of which was against the mighty USSR team. In the Olympic Tournament the Australians found the European rules interpretation difficult as Australian basketball was very much American based at that time. As the tournament went on Stan and his team-mates continued to improve and they eventually finished in 12th position. The lack of preparation and time together inhibited their performances but they gave it everything they had and established the start of Australia’s long and high performing participation in Olympic competition.
After the Olympics Stan played little basketball and “disappeared” from the basketball scene. What happened to him or his whereabouts are not known by his team-mates.
Stan Dargis
Stan Dargis (8) rebounding at the 1956 Olympic Games
(Courtesy of the Public Record Office of Victoria)