Virginija Paliukaite of the Lithuanian Tennis Union is the latest candidate to have taken part in the ITF Solidarity Programme – an exclusive exchange programme between the ITF and its member National Associations and six Regional Associations.

The ITF Solidarity Programme sees National and Regional Association staff members selected and invited to the ITF offices in London for a period of several weeks.

During that time the candidate is provided with training in the ITF’s best practices and takes part in an educational process within a variety of ITF departments in order to gain a worldwide perspective on the administration of the game.

Twenty minutes into the interview and the conversation takes an unexpected twist. The discussion was meant to centre solely around Virginija Paliukaite and her week-long placement at the International Tennis Federation as part of the ITF Solidarity Programme but the focus is now European football’s elite club competition, the Champions League.

To set the scene, Paliukaite is the General Secretary of the Lithuanian Tennis Union and through the Solidarity Programme had spent the previous five days meeting with departments throughout the ITF to enhance relations with key contacts, share ideas and establish best practice.

She is also the latest recipient of the ITF Scholarship to study a Masters degree in Sport Administration, which she undertakes at the Russian International Olympic University in Sochi, but during an end-of-trip debrief it becomes clear that tennis was not her first sporting love.

In an otherwise empty boardroom high in the rafters of the ITF headquarters in Roehampton, the 26-year-old reveals her past life and is happy to talk about bygone endeavours which saw her scale some impressive footballing heights.

For the best part of a decade, Paliukaite represented Gintra Universitetas, a team based in the city of Siauliai that have won the A Lyga – Lithuania’s top division – on 13 occasions and every season since 2005.

Such dominance warranted Uefa Women’s Cup, which later became the Champions League, recognition, with Paliukaite, a former defender, going head-to-head with the likes of Bayern Munich during the 2009/10 campaign.

A sickening cruciate knee injury put paid to her footballing career, and as it happens the chance to face Barcelona during the Champions League round of 16 last season – “we lost of course,” joked Paliukaite.

But football’s loss might just be tennis’s gain. Paliukaite had been a tennis fan since her teenage years and was a volunteer during Lithuania’s Group I Europe/Africa first round Davis Cup tie against Ukraine in Vilnius in 2015. It proved a new dawn.

“Aside from being a supporter, I never really related to tennis. After playing football, I always imagined working in football administration or at a federation, Fifa perhaps,” Paliukaite told itftennis.com.

“When I saw that Lithuania was staging a Davis Cup event I applied to be a volunteer. Some roles were more difficult than others. I think they [the Lithuanian Tennis Union] saw my management skills and offered me a job.”

After a year spent as a Technical Assistant, Paliukaite was promoted to the position of General Secretary. She is one of four to work at the National Association so human resources are thinly spread. “What the President does not do and what is not financial or media is my responsibility,” says Paliukaite.

Such levels of responsibility are the precise reason why the ITF Solidarity Programme has proven so significant and helpful to National and Regional Associations since its inception in 2017.

The scheme was designed to provide candidates with the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the support which the ITF can offer its members nations.

The selected candidate also has the opportunity to provide feedback directly to ITF staff on his or her nation’s unique challenges so they have a better understanding of how to assist. It is those core principles of the programme which have resonated with Paliukaite.

“I have really enjoyed my time at the ITF,” she added. “It has been really great to go to the different departments and get the information I needed face-to-face. I went from table to table and asked the questions I needed answering.

“It was a fantastic opportunity to discover how we can work more closely together with the ITF and continue developing all areas of tennis in Lithuania.

“The Solidarity Programme has allowed me to learn how the Lithuanian Tennis Union might take advantage of grants and other opportunities provided by the ITF.”

With working relationships strengthened and a bolstered knowledge base, Paliukaite, on behalf of the Lithuanian Tennis Union, has much to consider in the coming weeks, months and years. Indeed, she now has a clearer outline as to what the future of tennis in Lithuania may look like.

“I would really like to see us have a National Training Centre. This is the top priority for us. It would allow Lithuania to gather together its best junior players and have them train together,” said Paliukaite.

“At the moment they train in different cities and not always with players of a similar standing. At the same time, we need the infrastructure and facilities throughout Lithuania to improve.

“This will help increase the number of players moving from junior tennis into the professional game. The ITF ranking system as part of the ITF World Tennis Tour will help players continue playing and become professionals.

“I believe some of the Lithuanian juniors at the moment can be Top 150 players, maybe Top 100. I want to see them continue to participate rather than stopping playing at the end of their junior careers.

“There is currently just one Lithuanian player participating on the WTA Tour, so that needs to improve, while we are very keen to develop Beach Tennis – we have the facilities to do this – and Wheelchair Tennis, and engage more with Seniors."

Despite only working in tennis for a relatively short period, it has not escaped Paliukaite’s attention that there is a limited number of women occupying senior leadership positions within the sport.

It is a situation which she describes as “challenging at times”, but through initiatives such as the ITF’s Advantage All campaign, Paliukaite believes progress is being made and brighter times in terms of gender equality lie ahead.

“I admire those women who are in the top positions,” she said. “I think we’re on the right road in terms of gender equality but, in a lot of ways, it is sad that these policies have to be made in the first place.

“I really believe I have achieved something to be in this position and want to go even further because I think more women should be at higher levels.”

Completing her Masters in Sports Administration at the Russian International Olympic University in Sochi, courtesy of an ITF Scholarship, will be another weapon in her armoury as she looks to forge ahead in her career.

The one-year course started in September, and sees Paliukaite, whose dissertation focuses on Davis Cup reforms and the new-look format of the competition, study during the day and carry out her duties at the Lithuanian Tennis Union during the evening.

“It is really hard working full-time in tennis and having assessments almost every day – but I have got used to it,” she said.

Thinking of her Champions League days, Paliukaite has performed, home and away, in Europe before.