Kiel, 17 August 2017: A year has passed since the star filling station brand launched the unique THW-YOUNGstar concept to encourage up-and-coming talents together with THW Kiel and Handball Camp. For this, the coaches of the camps took a look at more than 200 young handball players across Germany in the 2016/17 season and gave the best the chance to win a premium-class scholarship: Together with professional players and trainers from THW Kiel, the selected talent experienced what it means to play professional handball and fine-tuned their fitness and technique.
The handball-loving children applied either online at www.young.star.de or were discovered as talents by the trainers at a handball camp supported by star. Then, 48 of them went on to the day camps in the metropolitan areas of North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin and Hamburg. There, 16 participants per camp demonstrated their skills. In total, 21 selected talents from these camps were finally able to qualify for the weekend camp in Kiel. They trained there for two days with THW up-and-coming talent coordinator Klaus-Dieter Petersen. For the best seven children from the camp, the THW-YOUNGstar adventure then continued into the final star Excellence Week. At the end of this, two hopeful talents were then eligible for the title "THW-YOUNGstar 2016/17". Ultimately, 14-year-old Filip Wawrzyniak from Wrocław won out against strong competition.
An exciting time for handball talent Filip
Since Filip was elected the first THW-YOUNGstar in spring 2017, he has experienced unforgettable moments together with the German record champion: Personal training with the star-sponsored players Andreas Wolff and Patrick Wiencek, the gripping visit to the Sparkassen-Arena at the VELUX EHF Champions League match against FC Barcelona or being handed the signed THW shirt, printed with his own name – the first THW-YOUNGstar will surely remember his handball scholarship in Kiel for a long time.
"My season as a THW-YOUNGstar was an incredibly exciting time that took me a great step further on and around the handball court. So I would like to thank all the people involved who made this experience possible for me", Filip explained after he completed his handball scholarship.
Klaus-Dieter Petersen is also satisfied with the young Pole's development. "Throughout the entire project, Filip developed further personally and as a player and has every possibility to become a successful handball player himself some day. Perhaps one day we'll see him again in the THW Kiel shirt", the experienced coach said.
Start signal for the second round of THW-YOUNGstar
Under the motto "More than just sport", star has been active as the main sponsor of THW Kiel since 2016 and is pleased about the successful first season in this role. The company particularly focuses on the promotion of children and youths. For this reason, star and THW Kiel founded the unique handball programme THW-YOUNGstar together with Handball Camp.
For Wieslaw Milkiewicz, managing director and press officer of the star filling station brand and sponsor of the THW-YOUNGstar competition, the first THW-YOUNGstar was a great success: "The lively participation in the first round and the positive feedback from the trainers and the specialist sports press show us that we are right on track with our commitment to young players. We would definitely like to continue THW-YOUNGstar and we look forward to the next talent. We've got our fingers crossed for all the applicants!"
For THW-YOUNGstar 2017/18, the three strong partners – star, Handball Camp and THW Kiel – are looking, from October 2017 on, for hopeful handball talents aged between 10 and 15 years, who, like Filip Wawrzyniak, would like to win a six-month scholarship in the vicinity of THW Kiel. Challenging professional training and many highlights related to the "Zebras" await participants.
You can find further information on THW-YOUNGstar on the official website of the project at www.young.star.de.
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star – a Strong Brand from ORLEN Deutschland GmbH
star is the petrol station brand of ORLEN Deutschland GmbH, which has been operating more than 570 petrol stations in the northern half of Germany since 2003. The company, based in Elmshorn near Hamburg, is part of the Polish mineral oil and petrochemical group PKN ORLEN SA, which is the largest Central Eastern European group, with an annual turnover of 21 billion euros in 2015.
PKN ORLEN SA is listed in Warsaw and London and is represented on the petrol station market in Eastern and Central Europe with a total of 2,700 service stations in Poland, Czech Republic, Germany and Lithuania. In recent years, major investments have been made in Lithuania and the Czech Republic to bring the group a step closer to its goal of becoming the leading oil company in Central Europe.
Contact:
ORLEN Deutschland GmbH
Wieslaw Milkiewicz, Managing Director and Press Officer
Isabel Scherer / Team Lead Marketing & Corporate Communications
170817_Press release_THW-YOUNGstar_2017-18.pdf