The IHF and Official Partner, the Danish sports brand hummel, will continue their inspiring ‘Player of the Match’ award initiative at the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship in Spain, which throws-off this week.

Spain 2021 will see every single ‘Player of the Match’ in the 108-game championship given a direct opportunity to pass on their talent and passion for handball by donating hummel handball equipment to less fortunate girls in Sierra Leone through the HAND – Handball for A New Destiny project.

The event is the fourth senior IHF World Championship to feature the reimagined award and third that will benefit HAND.

“I am proud that the International Handball Federation is partnering with hummel and the HAND project for the third consecutive senior World Championship,” said IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa. “This is a tremendous initiative that will not only continue to grow our great sport, but also make it more diverse and inclusive.”

In addition to the initiative on court, off court, fans can also help HAND. By using the discount code ‘HAND20’ fans can save 20% on everything at hummel.net. hummel will then donate 10% of all sales generated from the discount code directly to the project in Sierra Leone.
 
“We’ve been proud sponsors of the HAND project and together with IHF and the world’s best male and female handball players, we’ve been able to donate both handball equipment, handball shoes and new handball courts to vulnerable girls in Sierra Leone,” said Allan Vad Nielsen, hummel CEO.

“We believe that everyone should be able to play sport. By donating handball equipment to the HAND project and provide the girls with better conditions for playing the sport they love, we hope to break down barriers one game at a time.”

The founder of HAND and Olympic gold medallist Josephine Touray elaborates: “We’re extremely proud and thankful to receive the generous support from hummel once again. The results from previous years have made a huge impact in our mission to improve the girls’ opportunities within handball. Every day we get one step closer, and we’re so grateful to share this journey together with hummel.” 

A legacy of giving

Following the announcement of Danish sports brand hummel as an IHF Official Partner back in 2019, the two organisations worked together to reimagine the traditional ‘Player of the Match’ award given to the most influential, or best player in the match just played, with the individual then awarded on court directly after the final whistle.

Instead of just rewarding a classic gift such as a watch, a statuette or a traditional diploma, hummel and the IHF chose a new way, a new initiative, with the player winning the award receiving the privilege of passing the sport of handball on to less fortunate children. 

The first edition of the award was at the 2019 IHF Men’s World Championship with hummel equipment passed on to Partille Cup – the world’s largest youth handball tournament – via their “We Care” programme which helps less fortunate children and teams to participate in the tournament and share the game of handball. By the end of the championship, 1,152 children had received hummel equipment.

The awarding initiative then moved forward at the 2019 IHF Women’s World Championship in Japan with hummel and the IHF launching their partnership with HAND. The initiative ended with 1,300 full kits distributed throughout Sierra Leone with the initiative continuing at the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship in Egypt.

For a list of award winners from Japan 2019 visit here and for Egypt 2021 visit here.

You decide

With the IHF app, fans watching from home or anywhere around the world can cast their vote for the ‘hummel Player of the Match’ for every single match at the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship.

Any fans who have downloaded the app and created their own profile can cast their vote for one of three nominated players when the match has five minutes left to play. Just click on the 25th IHF Women's World Championship on the home page or under the 'competitions' tab, then click on the match(es) in progress to vote!

You can download the app via the Apple Store or Google Play.

About HAND

HAND – Handball for A New Destiny is a project lead by the organization FANT – Football for A New Tomorrow, an organization that uses sports to create stronger civil societies. 

Together with local stakeholders in Sierra Leone, 6 new handball clubs have been formed in Sierra Leone – clubs for girls lead by women. By introducing the girls in Sierra Leone to handball and incorporating them into democratic structures in the clubs, the girls become part of a strong and healthy community which over time creates better livelihood for the girls.

About hummel

hummel is a Danish Sport and Lifestyle brand with a history going back to 1923. hummel designs, produces, and markets sportswear, training and lifestyle wear, equipment and sneakers for adults and children, male and female. Through the four product categories teamsport, footwear, kids, sport lifestyle as well as selected premium co-labs, hummel introduces product multiple times per year inspired by a mix of retro and contemporary trends.