PRESS RELEASE

Filip is the first THW-YOUNGstar Stamina and long trip to the competition for up-and-coming players have paid off

Kiel. 14-year-old Filip's handball career begins in a professional environment. He came out on top in the final phase of the competition for up-and-coming talent, unique in handball, initiated by petrol stations, beating several hundred competitors. A six- month handball scholarship at THW Kiel with the star-sponsored players and Bundesliga professionals and now awaits him.

Filip Wawrzyniak is very happy. The young up-and-coming talent from Wroclaw in Poland could hardly believe his luck when Klaus-Dieter "Pitti" Petersen called him on the phone on Monday. "You did it, you are the first THW-YOUNGstar," said the German record-holding national player and THW up-and-coming talent coordinator, delivering the wonderful news.

The technically accomplished back-court player had come out on top in an exciting online vote against Henri Pabst from Ellerbek near Hamburg. A margin of more than 500 votes decided between the two finalists in the week-long vote, with Filip ultimately winning. He had huge support from his home club in Poland, Moto-Jelcz Oława, who asked people to vote for Filip on social media.

But it was not just the online vote that was a close affair. The two finalists, who had outperformed several hundred competitors since the programme started in September 2016, qualified for the grand final after a 4-stage selection process: First in a talent scouting stage at handball camps throughout Germany or via a video call, followed by day camps in the metropolitan regions of North Rhein-Westphalia, Berlin and Hamburg, as well as a weekend camp and the star Excellence Week in the handball capital, Kiel.

Selecting the two talented players for the online vote in the final stage was extremely difficult for the star jury, with its high-profile line-up in the form of THW professionals Andreas Wolff and Patrick Wiencek, THW head coach Alfred Gislason and THW up-and-coming talent coordinator Klaus-Dieter Petersen. "Our team of trainers was impressed by the high quality of the participants during the weekend camp. This continued during the star Excellence Week, which made the final decision particularly difficult for us. We are now really looking forward to the six-month scholarship with Filip, whose enormous talent needs to be encouraged further. If he continues to be as motivated as he is, he has what it takes to have a great handball career," believes Petersen, talking about the first THW-YOUNGstar.

An exciting time is now beginning for the young Pole, who would like to take part in the Olympic games, just like the star-sponsored players Andreas Wolff and Patrick Wiencek.

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A total of three intensive training weeks in Europe's handball capital Kiel with young talent coaches the Zebras await the first THW-YOUNGstar. Individual, position-specific training and athletics sessions are included in the programme, as well as training in character development and exclusive meetings with the German record holding champion club THW Kiel and its star-sponsored players Wolff and Wiencek.

"The star Excellence Week was already an awesome experience for me that I will never forget. Being on the handball court with the THW professionals Andreas Wolff and Patrick Wiencek was fantastic," Filip excitedly recounts. "It is a great honour to be the THW- YOUNGstar and to be able to train professionally in Kiel. I hope to be able to continue to develop during the scholarship, so that one day I will be a great handball player."

Wieslaw Milkiewicz, CEO and press spokesperson of star filling stations and sponsor of the THW-YOUNGstar competition, also has his fingers firmly crossed for him on his journey to becoming a professional handball player. "I got to know Filip during the star Excellence Week and I was impressed by his modest, polite manner and his handball skills. For the THW- YOUNGstar project, in the first stage, we consciously started with handball camps in small towns throughout Germany, alongside the option to qualify via a video call, in order to give as many talented players as possible an opportunity. The fact that talented players from neighbouring countries also applied, like Filip from Poland, shows that our concept was also a complete success in this respect. I hope he has a lot of fun on his handball scholarship, which I will be following closely. Powodzenia Filip!"

Filip's personal insights and experiences during his handball scholarship at THW Kiel can be followed in his diary at young.star.de.

If you would like more information or have any questions about THW-YOUNGstar, the concept to encourage up-and-coming talent, please contact:

Sebastian Zuther Managing Director CommEvent Management GmbH Dorothea-Erxleben-Straße 4 DE-24145 Kiel [email protected] Tel: +49 (0)431 - 69670 - 25 Fax: +49 (0)431 - 69670 - 50

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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 Telephone: +49 (0)4121 / 4750 - 1609, [email protected] Isabel Scherer / Head of Marketing & PR Telephone: Telephone +49 (0)4121 / 4750 – 1610, [email protected]

THW Kiel Handball-Bundesliga GmbH & Co. KG THW Kiel is the most successful and best-known German handball team of the past two decades. The “Zebras” have won the German championship 20 times, more than any other team. The team from Kiel has also won the DHB Cup nine times, which is also a record. And no German team has won the European “top class”, the Champions League, more often than THW Kiel. The team from Kiel has triumphed three times in this most important sport club competition in the world. “Tradition lives through sport” is the motto of THW Kiel, which promotes and encourages talents through intensive work with youngsters. For the THW, for Kiel and for handball in Germany.

Contact: Christian Robohm / Press Officer Telephone: +49 (0) 431/670 39-19, [email protected]

HANDBALL-CAMP Handball-Camp is a brand of CommEvent Management GmbH, based in Kiel. Founded in 2003, the agency is Europe’s largest provider of handball camps, with more than 5,000 participants per year in more than 200 locations. Skilled camp trainers and almost 20 permanent employees provide the planning, organisation and implementation of the events. Founder Mannhard Bech was a player at THW Kiel and the German handball national team. The 48-year-old also trains a team associated with THW Kiel in the 3rd league, TSV Altenholz.

Contact: CommEvent Management GmbH Mannhard Bech / Managing Director Telephone: +49 (0) 431 / 69670 – 20, [email protected] Sebastian Zuther / Managing Director Telephone: +49 (0) 431 / 69670 – 25, [email protected]

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