“ZaryaD” began to produce hockey sticks for sledge-hockey players
The first factory in Russia producing hockey sticks “Zarya” made of high-strength composite materials launched production of equipment for adults and young sledge hockey players. Ivan Savin the General Director of the company “ZaryaD” company said to the editorial staff of asi.ru web-site.
The trial lot of the clubs in July 2018 was successfully tested by participants of the Children's Sledge Hockey League.
“After our hockey sticks were tested, we received only positive feedback from the guys. Until today, no one has designed a club specifically for children, they played with adult clubs. Therefore, we want to finalize the clubs now, to make changes in their design, taking into account the physiological characteristics of the child's organism, so that it would be easier to keep them in hand and easier to manage them, and in the middle of autumn we will start mass production,” Ivan Savin said.
According to the Managing Director of the Children's Sledge-Hockey League Anastasia Baradacheva, only European sticks were used in sledge hockey before the cooperation with “Zaryad”. Now it is possible to provide sledge hockey players of different ages with Russian sports equipment.
“This is another step that will make hockey more accessible for children with special needs, will increase the number of people who wish to engage in it and will give an opportunity to realize themselves” Anastasia Baradacheva said.
The Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) supports the ZaryaD project “Development of production of hockey composite sticks from carbon-filled plastic and fiberglass” from May 2018. The first 2 thousand “Zaryad” sticks have already been exported to Germany.
“We help the project to enter the sectoral plan for import substitution in the sports industry, which is currently being prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation so that the company can receive state support both for compensation of costs incurred in the construction of the plant and for supporting their export contracts” the Director of “New Business” direction Artem Avetisyan explained.
REFERENCE
“ZaryaD” is the first factory in Russia producing a full range of high-quality hockey sticks from carbon-filled plastic and fiberglass for all ages and levels of play. Russian “ZaryaD” sticks have already been chosen by many players of the leading domestic leagues - the KHL, the NHL, the MHL and the WHC, as well as hockey players of the Czech national team at the 2018 Olympics. Currently, the company “ZaryaD” produces 40 thousand sticks per year with the possibility of increasing production to 70 thousand. By localizing production in Russia and using Russian raw materials, the cost for the consumer is 20-40% lower than foreign peers.
The Children's Sledge Hockey League is a non-profit organization whose main activity is aimed at creating conditions for the development of sledge hockey in Russia and enhancing its role in the social rehabilitation of children and youth with various health disorders.