Gryphon Hockey and the Hockey Dreams Foundation sign Memorandum Of Understanding to support hockey development in Zambia.

Amsterdam – Lusaka – Perth

When Hockey Dreams Foundation (HDF) Ambassador Maria Verschoor visited Zambia, she knew she was supporting something cool. She contacted her sponsor Gryphon who were keen to join in on this venture to develop hockey in Zambia even more. Both organisations have just signed a Memorandum Of Understanding where Gryphon supports hockey coaches and events for kids in Zambia.

Equipment partnership

Lucas Sevestre from Gryphon Australia: “I have a lot of admiration for the work that Hockey Dreams does and the projects they have been running to develop local communities thanks to Hockey. It is a project Gryphon Hockeywould love to assist in and with Maria being the ambassador for Zambia it makes sense to focus on these programs!” Gryphon has agreed to kit out the team of ten coaches from Lusaka with brand new and colorful Gryphon apparel, sticks and other hockey equipment. The coaches will also receive large stick bags so they can transport training gear to their projects in the compounds of Lusaka. Gryphon will assist in the collection of second hand sticks through their reseller points in Europe and sponsors the Dutch Volunteer team with HDF Promotional sweaters and shirts.

“Great recognition and reward”

“We are very exited for this cooperation as it really helps to create a professional team in Zambia. It will be great recognition and reward for our local coaches who spend lots of their time making kids happy with hockey,” says HDF founder Gijs Hardeman.  “It will also be a great motivation for other coaches and kids to be the best and hopefully be part of the coaching family in the future.” To assist in fundraising for all programs, Gryphon has proposed to provide prizes for fundraising events in Europe. Lucas: “When an event decides to raise funds for Hockey Dreams, we will make sure there are some cool prizes available if the event has some kind of competition going. Maria might even be available to come and present the prizes to the winners.” Because of this idea, Hockey Dreams has decided to create a “Score for Africa” game to create value for the fundraising event as well.

Kick off

The kick off for the Brand Partnership between Gryphon and Hockey Dreams will take place in Lusaka during the African Hockey Experience 2018, where Hockey Dreams will officially hand over a Gryphon kit to the Zambian coaches. The trip is an event where hockey lovers from around the world get the chance to be part of the development programs. By visiting the projects, getting to know the local coaches and work together with them, they have the unique opportunity to experience hockey development from within the community and actually make a difference. If you would like to join in this adventure, you can still sign up: www.africanhockeyexperience.com.