Aleksejs Auzins

Aleksejs Auzins
Position	Center
Teams	US Riga Dinamo Riga
National team	Latvia
Born	August 7, 1910, Jelgava, Russian Empire
Died	April 25, 1997, Riga, Latvia
Playing Career	1933 – 1948

Aleksejs Auzins (August 7, 1910 - April 25, 1997) was a Latvian hockey player who was a member of the Latvian National Team at the World Championships in 1935 and 1938, and at the 1936 Winter Olympics. He was also a talented footballer.

He won three Latvian Championships with US Riga - in 1937, 1940, and 1942. Auzins also played briefly for Dinamo Riga.

Auziņš was born in the provincial city of Jelgava, but he made his first serious steps in football in Riga where he joined the Latvia Higher League side Amatieris in 1927. He played with Amatieris until 1930, but in 1931 he joined Riga Vanderers, a much stronger club than Amatieris who's days of glory were already in the past. In the early 1930s Auziņš became a candidate for Latvia national football team, but he didn't play for it until 1935. He played with Vanderers until 1939 and the biggest achievements were two second place finishes in the Latvian league – in 1932 and 1934. In 1936 Auziņš was a member of the Vanderers squad that won the Latvian Cup (in the first year when its name had been changed from Riga Football Cup) and another time in 1938. With the Latvia national team Auziņš played seven matches in 1935.

He played with Riga Vanderers until 1939, then retired from active football only to return to it during World War II. In 1941 during the German occupation of Latvia he played with the Students football club, and from 1942 to 1944 – with US Riga.

Auziņš was the director of the Lokomotīve football stadium in Riga for more than three decades – from 1947 to 1980 but in addition to it he also worked as a football and ice hockey coach. In football he worked with the senior squad of Lokomotive Riga (from 1956 to 1959) and with its youth squad. The most notable footballers whom he coached include Vilnis Straume and Leonards Andžāns.

Statistics

	Years	#	GP	Goals	Assists	Pts
Olympic Games	1936	1	2	0	0	0
World Championships	1935-1938	2	6	2	0	2

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