TK Sports GmbH: The game has started anew! The TK brand's elephant logo is a household name to every hockey player. Over the years, it has become the symbol for hockey. But where does the logo actually come from and what is behind TK today?
When the company Kille & Bal was founded in 1985, the game of hockey still began with a so-called "Bully". The founders adopted this image of sticks facing each other in the form of two elephants crossing their trunks. It would become the company logo. The initials "T" and "K" stand for Thomas Kille, the co-founder at the time, who ran the company himself for many years. In the summer of 2020, Axel Schröder, by then already involved in the company for many years as Sales Manager Germany, took over the management of TK Sports GmbH with the motto matching the logo: "Let's start "the game" anew!"
And the game has started anew! In the last two and a half years, TK has succeeded in increasing the perception of the brand in the hockey market through further developments in almost all product groups and the focus on the original elephant logo.
TK stands for quality, innovation, reliability, dynamism and team spirit.
"I have the ambition to develop and distribute what I consider to be the best product for the sport of hockey based on the existing rules. In doing so, special attention is always paid to the quality and functionality of an article. Only then does the price play a role. Saving on the product in order to achieve a better price is out of the question for me," says Axel Schröder.
TK's product development takes into account, on the one hand, the rules and regulations of the World Hockey Federation FIH and, on the other hand, the EU regulations for the sale of protective articles in hockey. In the last two years, TK has invested considerable sums in the certification of its products. As a result, all protective articles in the goalkeeper and player protection segment, such as shin guards, now meet the applicable EU requirements and can therefore carry the CE mark. TK Hockey products with certification are marked with this label.
Axel Schröder, himself a former National League player for TG Frankenthal, when asked what makes the perfect hockey stick for him: "When I hold the perfect stick in my hand, I feel the "magic" of the stick with my eyes closed! Here, it is very important that, in addition to the appropriate shape, the quality of the material can also be felt."
TK is constantly working to design the "consummate" stick shape that will suit the very dynamic game of hockey. The materials also have to meet and adapt to the demands of the rapidly evolving sport. In order to meet the individual perception of all types of players, TK therefore offers a wide range of sticks that vary in the shape of the bias, the weight, the thickness and the material composition.
In addition to the main product, rackets, the innovative TK product range extends from bags, balls, a variety of player protection articles, complete goalkeeper equipment to a wide selection of playing and training clothing. Numerous talents and national players worldwide, but also teams of various Bundesliga clubs such as TSV Mannheim Hockey, Hamburger Polo Club Hockey, TG Frankenthal and also HC Ludwigsburg are equipped.
Soon, hockey players can look forward to another innovation in the stick sector as well as a new range of textile models. So it's worth staying on the ball...
