IWC Schaffhausen

IWC Celebrates in Sardinia with the German National Football Team

Date — 18 May, 2012

Schaffhausen, May 2012 – IWC Schaffhausen made sure that the German National Football Team had a great time at their training camp in Sardinia, Italy – only weeks before they play in the European Championships 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.

A watchmaking course enthused the footballers in Geneva before the world championships of 2006 – setting a precedent for such encouraging activities. In 2008 the team had the chance to experience flying on a sightseeing flight in Majorca, on board a 60 year old Ju 52 plane. This year, the National players faced the challenge of assembling and racing folding kayaks by Klepper, in teams of three, in Sardinia. These activities are offered by IWC within the PR partnership between IWC Schaffhausen and the German Football Association (DFB). The IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Edition DFB is at the heart of this pleasant collaboration.

It was a great afternoon at the beach near Porto Cervo in Sardinia when the German national team gathered together for the IWC Team Challenge. The wives and children of the players, along with the coaches of the DFB team, looked on. In the challenge this year, players first assembled the folding kayaks. Next, they had an exciting race off the Sardinian coast. Oliver Bierhoff, the German National Team Manager, said after the experience: “It has been a physically active afternoon which was a lot of fun and will remain in the best memories of everybody.”

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Under the guidance of the specialists of Klepper, the leading manufacturer of folding kayaks from Rosenheim, Germany with more than hundred years of tradition, the national players started highly-motivated and highly-concentrated. According to the motto “assemble and depart”, a kayak was built in just under 20 minutes suitable for almost any waters. It is stable, unsinkable and non-tilting – and easy to paddle. The environmentally-friendly folding kayak by Klepper is primarily composed of natural materials such as wood, cotton and rubber.

The national players proved with the boat that they are not only familiar with the handling of a football in any situation, but they can also glide over the water when the waves are right. “Our team also proves at other sports activities that they are able to meet interesting challenges in an impressive manner” commented Joachim Loew, Team Coach of the National Team, with a laugh.

Henrik Ekdahl, Managing Director of IWC Northern Europe, wished the German national team within the scope of the event a good preparation time and great success at the European Championships: “Since 2006, it has become a tradition that IWC makes it possible for the German National Football Team to participate in activities within the scope of the World Championships and European Championships training camps which exceed a pure athletic preparation, and provide the players with special experiences and new insights.”

—The countdown to the start of EURO 2012, the UEFA European Football Championship, in Poland and Ukraine has already begun. As part of its agreement with the German Football Association (DFB), Swiss watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen is launching a special edition – for the third time.