Dominik Klein and EHF Marketing support Plan International Champions of Change project

Dominik Klein recently returned to the handball court for a very special training session.

But the former THW Kiel and HBC Nantes left wing, who retired in 2018, is not attempting a comeback as a world-class player. Together with the VELUX EHF Champions League’s official charity partner Plan International and EHF Marketing Managing Director David Szlezak, he travelled to Brazil to visit 12-year-old girl Lays, the child sponsored by EHF Marketing, and to support the project Champions of Change.

In the year of the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the ‘Champions of Change’ project actively engages teenage girls and boys from Latin America to carry out community actions to challenge harmful gender norms and stereotypes.

In the region of São Luís, in the north east of Brazil, Plan International is using sport to support boys and girls gain equal rights.

As a Plan International ambassador, Klein visited the local project and, of course, carried a bag full of handballs with him. On a sandy outdoor court, the German star taught the children the basics of handball.

“I am happy to teach my passion to the children,” said Klein, adding that learning to play handball was not the main objective.

“That’s something really special. The aim of the project is to strengthen the girls’ self-confidence,” added Klein. “With this Champions of Change project, Plan International shows that girls and boys can come together in sport, train together and be a team. It is great to see how self-confident the children become through the project.”

Plan International, an independent organization, has been standing up for children’s rights worldwide and tackle poverty, violence and injustice for more than 80 years. One of the main objectives is to strengthen girls and women and to promote gender equality.