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From August 16 to 26, the Wheelchair Basketball World Championship will be held in Germany for the very first time. 28 national teams will fight out the title at the Wilhelmsburger Edel-optics.de Arena.
A large supporting programme will accompany the Championships including sports, culture and music to try out and inspire the visitors.
"The importance of sport for integration and inclusion can not be overstated. Hamburg is looking forward to an exciting World Championship in wheelchair basketball. And I am sure that after the World Championships many people will think differently about handicap-sport and the common life of people with and without disabilities, "says Christoph Holstein, State Councilor for Sport in Hamburg.
The sponsorship of this event is supported by the head association and the Hamburg based institutions for statutory accident insurance and prevention and the public-sector accident insurers and BG Hospital Hamburg as member of Hospital Group of the Statutory Accident Insurance . An agreement with the WM-Organizers was signed on 5 September 2017.
Involved:
- German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the trade and logistics industry (BGHW)
- German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the health and welfare services (BGW)
- German Social Accident Insurance Institution for Transport and Traffic (BG Verkehr)
- German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the administrative sector (VBG)
- German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the public sector in Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg (UK Nord)
- German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) (DGUV)
- BG Hospital Hamburg (BGKH)
Sport keeps you fit and healthy and is therefore important for people with disabilities in order to enable full social participation in the sense of the UN Disability Equality Convention, the representatives of the statutory accident insurance involved state this as one of the reasons why they are committed to the sporting event.
Professional associations and casualty insurances ensure the optimal medical treatment and ensures reintegration into the professional and social life after a work or path accident as well as in case of a professional illness. Sport is an indispensable means of rehabilitation: it promotes both physical and mental health. Sport gives strength, promotes mobility, activates, brings joy to life and gives a community experience. There is no top sport without grassroots sports, at the same time the top sport is motivation-promoting and identification-forming. This opportunity is also provided by the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship. It will show the highest achievements of athletes with a disability.
At the World Championships 2018, 16 men's and 12 women's teams will play for two World titles in 96 games. More than 1,000 participants and 50,000 spectators are expected.
Statements from the Hamburg carriers of the statutory accident insurance about their involvement in the World Championships 2018.
Prof. Dr. Stephan Brandenburg, Chief Executive Officer of BGW:
"BGW is particularly linked to inclusion. We have always had direct connections to it. For instance, our insured persons also include employees in numerous workshops for people with disabilities and other disabled facilities. They all - whether with or without disabilities - have the right to a healthy professional life. For this we enter. Furthermore, our task is to help insured persons to return to work and social life after an accident or a work-related illness. This is where sport plays an important role. We therefore gladly support the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships. It allows us to highlight this among other things,
Dr. Stefan Hussy, Managing Director of BGHW:
"As a logistics partner of the Wheelchair Basketball World Championship, we pay particular attention to the safety and health of the employees in the trade and merchandise logistics. This is also important, so that an event of this magnitude can be carried out without any problems. Here, especially in Hamburg, our focus is on the harbour, where many goods are handled and stored. In the case of maneuvering or reversing, but also during the unloading and loading, serious accidents happen again and again. And when something happens, we are able to quickly return the affected person to the workplace with a great clinical network. Rehasport plays a decisive role in the motivation and recovery process of our insured persons. You see: To help people, we provide security - everything from a single source, but we stand for the professional cooperatives and are therefore valuable partners for our operations. The Wheelchair Basketball World Championships is an excellent opportunity for us to show this."
Stefan Höppner, member of the management board of BG Verkehr:
"Our experience shows the importance of mobility for rehabilitation and participation, which is why we are committed to working together with our employees to integrate people with disabilities into their everyday lives. As a partner for mobility, we want to make the Wheelchair Basketball World Championships an inclusive experience for Hamburg."
Prof. Bernd Petri, member of VBG's Management Board:
"The VBG is not only the statutory accident insurance of the Organizing Committee of Wheelchair Basketball World Championships Team its also partner for prevention. As an accident insurance for sports, VBG knows the special importance of preventive measures for the health of athletes. This also applies to disabled sport. Competitions and the sports program in Hamburg will also allow VBG employees to witness it. They will gain experience in our consulting practice, which will benefit both, inclusive sports companies and people with disabilities."
Petra Zilch, deputy chief executive of DGUV:
"After “Tag ohne Grenzen”, the large inclusive sports festival, which we celebrated in June 2015 on the Rathausmarkt in Hamburg, we are now looking forward to the Wheelchair Basketball World Championships. We also want to involve the visitors in the inclusive grassroots sport."
Jan Holgerstock, member of the Management Board of the Unfallkasse Nord:
"Sport motivates, sports integrates. This is confirmed every day by our insured persons, who are starting to exercise themselves after serious accidents. Sport also paves the way for inclusion. As the bearer of the legal student accident insurance, we advise schools on the subject of inclusion. In addition, we have been promoting the "Wheelchair Sports School" project in Schleswig-Holstein for the last three years. It is aimed at high school students. Throughout play and sports, they will spend one day learning how to master the world in wheelchairs. Finally a wheelchair basketball match is played. For most of the pupils, awareness of the barriers in everyday life arises very quickly. At the same time the young people experience the wheelchair positively as a sports device. In the end, the enthusiasm for athletic performance and fair competition counts. I wish the Wheelchair Basketball World Championship many exciting moments. I hope that the inclusion of the Wheelchair Basketball World Championship will give a strong impetus to the Hansestadt Hamburg."
Click here for more information on the Wheelchair Basketball World Championships
