hummel rethinks Player of the Match award

The 26th edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship will start on January 10 in the two host countries, Denmark and Germany. As always, the event will see participation from the world’s best national handball teams – all competing to become world champions. And as always, one player from each game during the whole tournament will be named as Player of the Match (POTM). But this year, hummel will do it a bit differently.  

With hummel entering as a main sponsor of the International Handball Federation – and the World Championships – it is hummel’s honour to reward the Player of the Match award after each game. But instead of just rewarding a classic gift such as a watch, a statuette or a traditional diploma, hummel and the IHF have chosen to go new ways.

At the 2019 IHF Men’s World Championships each Player of the Match will receive the privilege of passing the sport of handball on to less fortunate children. By winning the Player of the Match award the selected player will be donating hummel handball apparel and handball equipment to a youth handball team that normally would not have the opportunity to play handball.

Player of the Match helps kids to participate in the world’s largest handball tournament

The equipment will be passed on to Partille Cup – the world’s largest youth handball tournament. Here the apparel will be distributed via Partille Cup’s so-called “We Care”-programme that helps less fortunate children and teams to participate in the tournament and share the game of handball. All in all hummel will end up donating handball equipment for 1,152 children.

“We truly understand and honour both the talent and the effort that goes into playing handball at this level. And what better way to honour this than giving the Player of the Match the opportunity to help inspire and motivate kids around the world to start playing handball and enjoy being part of a team. In this case kids whose access to training facilities and equipment is limited. Instead of ‘just’ honouring the player with yet another trophy that will stand and collect dust on a shelf – we give the player the opportunity to pass on his skills and talent to the next generation of stars,” says Allan Vad Nielsen, CEO at hummel International.

After each game an IHF jury selects the best Player of the Match. He will then be rewarded with a hummel POTM t-shirt and a diploma as a symbol of the donation that he has made to children in need. An eternal memory of the specific game and the donation that was made in his name.

“We think it’s a wonderful idea to replace the usual Player of the Match gift with a meaningful initiative like this. We believe handball is the most beautiful game in the world and therefore it’s nice to be able to share the game with as many people around the world as possible. And that we – together with hummel – can give less fortunate children the opportunity to play handball with brand new equipment is just fantastic. I hope that everyone – including the players – will welcome this with open arms,” says Dr Hassan Moustafa, IHF President.