A look at the history of HSG Linden reveals a glorious past with great sporting successes. Today, the traditional Giessen club is committed above all to introducing children and young people to handball at an early age. SWG is supporting this with a donation as part of the "Play your game" campaign.
They have been waiting since mid-March: the 16 boys of the E-youth team of the HSG Linden handball club have finally received their new team clothing. The practical hoodies and training trousers were donated by Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG). As part of its "Play your game" campaign, the regional energy service provider supports sports clubs, kindergartens, schools and private initiatives that offer children and young people meaningful exercise programmes. "Especially today, when children are sitting in front of the television more and more often, often spending many hours playing games or clicking through social media, the commitment of sports clubs cannot be valued highly enough," emphasises Stephanie Orlik, who works in Marketing Services at SWG. "Our aim is to get children and young people interested in more physical activity and daily exercise as early as possible in order to promote their health and improve their performance."
Practising early
HSG Linden fulfils this aim in an exemplary manner: The club has a total of 15 teams from E to B youth for regular league play. "There are also three mini teams, where the little ones can gain their first experience of handball from the age of five," says Philipp Schmeken-Kant, coach of HSG Linden's E-youth team.
There are currently 35 experienced coaches looking after a total of around 208 children and young people. One of their goals is to get the girls and boys interested in handball from an early age in order to promote the next generation in their own ranks and discover new talent.
Commitment costs
Despite the pleasingly high number of paying members, the club often lacks the money for important new purchases. "Suitable training equipment is very expensive. That's why we applied for the SWG 'Spiel' Dein Spiel' campaign - and were successful," says Torsten Spengler, father of an E-youth player and himself a member of the club. "Unfortunately, the handover of the hoodies and training trousers couldn't take place in March due to coronavirus, so we're delighted that we were able to make up for it last Monday at the E-youth training session in the sports hall in Lützellinden," emphasises Stephanie Orlik.
Campaign starts again
In order to reduce the risk of infection during the coronavirus pandemic, SWG suspended its "Play your game" campaign for months. "After the long period of standstill, we would now like to make a donation in cash or in kind to a deserving applicant every month again," emphasises Stephanie Orlik. However, the prerequisite for this is that the current number of cases remains stable or does not increase any further.
SWG is happy to accept applications at
www.swg-spieldeinspiel.de/jetzt-bewerben-und-foerderung-erhalten/ .