LIBERTY Ostrava donates 200,000 crowns to the Flamingos Ostrava parahockey team

Visitors to the Colours of Ostrava festival last week and Ostrava’s Festival in the Streets in June have helped the new Flamingos Ostrava parahockey team win a donation of CZK 200,000 (c. EUR 8,000), thanks to 1,800 visitors riding a total of 375 kilometres on parahockey sledge trainers. This means the team’s disabled athletes will be able to purchase additional training equipment and rent an ice rink.

LIBERTY Ostrava together with Parahockey Czech Republic built a Para Hockey Arena at the Colours of Ostrava festival which gave visitors the opportunity to play parahockey on a reduced field, to try shooting at the goal from a parahockey sledge simulator, and also collect not only kilometres but also funds for the handicapped by using four para hockey simulators  –  the Ostrava team pledging to turn each kilometre covered into money for their local parahockey team.

Radim Raszka, CSR specialist at LIBERTY Ostrava, said: “The company has been cooperating with para-hockey players since 2019, when we provided a large number of tickets to our employees as a support of the para-hockey world championship, which was held for the first time in Ostrava. And our colleagues helped create a great atmosphere and helped to turn the event into a great success. Therefore, in 2021 we became the general partner of the next championship. Everyone that came to watch the matches was excited by the enormous passion of the athletes.”

Jiří Šindler, manager of the Czech para-hockey, explained: “Over the past three years, Ostrava has essentially become the world city of para-hockey, also thanks to the support of LIBERTY Ostrava. This opens up a huge opportunity for the self-actualisation of our athletes since para-hockey has changed the lives of many.“

At this year’s stand at the Colours of Ostrava festival, 1,800 people took turns on four work-out machines. When the first visitor started first, there were already 146,500 meters on the board – delivered by those using the two machines during Ostrava’s Festival in the Street held earlier in June. At the end of the festival, the number had reached 522,391 meters and 156,717 crowns shone on the board, meaning 375 km was ridden during the Colours alone. LIBERTY Ostrava then made the decision to round up the amount donated to Flamingos Ostrava to 200,000 crowns.