Further promoting women's handball
Stadtwerke Gießen and HSG Kleenheim-Langgöns have extended their successful partnership.
Traditionally, a lot of good handball is played in Central Hessen. HSG Kleenheim-Langgöns has been an integral part of this regional handball scene for more than five decades. And Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG) has been supporting the club's particularly successful women since 2011. The team was able to hold its own in the high-performance regional league last season.
The two partners recently sealed their successful partnership for the coming season - and, strictly speaking, even extended it. In future, SWG will also support the female A-Youth team, which will be competing for goals and points in the Bundesliga next season. "Promotion is a really great thing. But the upcoming Bundesliga season costs a lot of money. Without generous sponsors like SWG, we wouldn't be able to finance this adventure," explains Sebastian Fleck-Rosenkranz, who is responsible for marketing at HSG. "That's why we're delighted and very grateful that SWG is once again getting involved with us," adds Jürgen Klein, HSG Chairman.
Bringing on talent
The success of the youth team is no coincidence, but the result of consistent work and a clear strategy: "In order to keep the first women's team competitive, we always need new, strong players. That's exactly what we train in the youth programme. And the more high-class the young women are, the easier it is to integrate them into the regional league team," summarises Jürgen Klein.
The proven success of the youth work at HSG Kleenheim-Langgöns made the decision to extend the existing co-operation agreement an easy one for those responsible at SWG. HSG Kleenheim-Langgöns offers children from the age of five an introduction to handball, encourages them accordingly and gives ambitious players the opportunity to play handball at a high level. "The idea of promoting our own talents in such a way that they can deliver top performances in the foreseeable future is a perfect match for our approach. We also do everything we can to train young people to become qualified specialists," explains Ulli Boos, company spokesperson for SWG, at the signing of the contract.
A total of eleven youth teams wear the HSG jersey with passion, team spirit and sporting ambition - six of them are girls' teams. And they are convincing: in addition to the A-Youth, the B-Youth also play in the Bundesliga. And the 13- and 14-year-olds will be competing in the regional league in the new season, the highest Hessian league in this age group.
An important side effect of the dedicated youth work is that the coaches not only teach their protégés the skills required for successful handball, but also important values. With appropriate guidance, the young players experience in every training session and in every competition that discipline, teamwork, fairness, respect, tolerance and motivation pay off. And last but not least, that exercise is fun. "We consider this aspect in particular to be extremely important. HSG Kleenheim-Langgöns is a prime example of very well-functioning youth work. We are delighted to be able to support the club again next year," explains Ulli Boos.