Kārlis Ārens
Latvian footballer and basketball player (1917–1997)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kārlis Ārens (18 December 1917 – 30 June 1997), sometimes spelt as Karl Arens, was a Latvian basketball player and footballer who played as a defender.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 18 December 1917 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Moscow Governorate, Russian Empire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 30 June 1997 (aged 79) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Florida, United States[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defender | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1936 | Sporta biedrība 13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1937 | Vilhelmas Ķuzes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1938–1940 | RPDS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1942–1943 | ASK Riga | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1946–1947 | TSV Schwaben Augsburg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1947–1949 | RC Paris | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1950 | CA Paris | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1950–1951 | RC Paris | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1951–1953 | Stade Français | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1953–1957 | New York Lithuanians | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1957–1958 | Brookhattan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Football career
Ārens began playing football in elementary school,[2] and made his debut in 1936 for Sporta biedrība 13. The following year, he joined the Vilhelmas Ķuzes factory team.[3] Between 1942 and 1943, he played for ASK Riga.[4]
Following the end of World War II, Ārens ended up in a refugee camp in Mannheim.[5] There, he played for an exile football team, along with fellow Latvians Jānis Bebris and Valdemārs Baumanis.[3] In 1946, he joined Oberliga Süd side TSV Schwaben Augsburg. After a season there, he joined RC Paris in 1947,[6] becoming one of four Latvian players to play in France during the late 1940s, along with Bebris, Strasbourg's Aleksandrs Vanags, and Lens's Harijs Gailis.[7] In 1949, he won the Coupe de France with RC Paris after beating Lille 5–2 in the final.[8]
In 1953, Ārens emigrated to the United States. Prior to emigrating, he completed a coaching course at the French Football Federation.[3] In the United States, he worked in construction[9] as he continued playing football in New York,[1] playing for both Cosmopolitan Soccer League side New York Lithuanians[2] and American Soccer League side Brookhattan.[10]
Basketball career
While at Vilhelmas Ķuzes, Ārens also played basketball.[3] In 1937, he joined Rīgas ASK.[3] Internationally, he made his debut for the Lativan national team in 1938,[2] and the following year, played for Latvia at EuroBasket 1939, where he averaged 7.9 ppg as Latvia finished runners-up.[11] In total, he played 22 times for Latvia.[9]
Ārens's basketball career was halted due to World War II.[3]
Personal life
Ārens was married to a woman named Tanya, who played for the Latvia national women's basketball team,[1] and had three children, with one daughter passing away at the age of one, and two sons who both played basketball in university.[1] In addition to football and basketball, he also played volleyball and table tennis,[12] as well as novuss starting in the 1970s.[1]
Ārens died on 30 June 1997, at the age of 80.[1]