ROMAN STERLY´S SPORTCENTRAL PROJECT WINS TAKEOFFS 2013

The winner of the main prize will receive CZK 100,000 and other prizes from the partners of the competition
The special jury prize was awarded to Jana Šmitmajerová’s Věci z recy project
T-Mobile continues to provide specialist support to the winners 

Prague, 4 September 2013 – T-Mobile today announced the winner of the third edition of the Takeoffs project. According to national on-line voting, the best project was presented by Roman Sterly, whose Sportcentral.cz is now the largest Czech database of sports grounds. The special prize of the jury composed of Takeoffs’ production and implementation team was awarded to Jana Šmitmajerová for her Věci z recy (“Recycled Stuff”) project. Within the project, its originator tries to reuse a wide range of materials and things that can no longer be used for their original purpose. 

In addition to the prizes awarded during the regional round, the winner of the main prize will receive another CZK 100,000 from T-Mobile to be used for his business activities and attractive products from the partners of the competition: a free business account for ten years from Česká spořitelna, free company incorporation and consultations from Zalozfirmu.cz and free entry to workshops organised by KnowHowKlub. The winner of the special jury prize will receive CZK 50,000, the prizes from the partners of the competition listed above and a Smart PC from Samsung. T-Mobile extends its thanks to the above-mentioned partners for their cooperation as well as to the Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic, which again assumed patronage for this year’s edition of the Takeoffs project. 

Regarding his project, Roman Sterly says: “We want to help sports enthusiasts to find a sporting place or friends easily and quickly and to provide them with information they need for this activity. Searching for sports grounds on the Czech internet was not an easy task and so we have started to work changing that.” 

“In June, the jury advanced the 21 best picks from the individual regions to the finals. In July and August it was the public’s turn to select a winner out of the 21 projects on the web. I think that it was not easy to make a decision as most of the projects were of very high quality this year. We see huge potential in many of these projects as well as long-term contribution to the society. One can clearly see that with the winning project that finally found the greatest appeal with the public. We would like to wish all contestants success in both their private and professional lives,” says Petra Pavičová, CSR Manager at T-Mobile.                                        

NOT ONLY FINANCIAL SUPPORT
The projects that advanced to the national round concerned leisure-time sports and cultural activities, consultancy services and education, as well as unusual toys, nesting boxes and minimalist footwear, among other subjects. Competition among the 21 selected finalists was very tough. Within the voting that took place between 8 July and 18 August on www.rozjezdyroku.cz, nearly 9,000 votes were sent by the public. However, there can only be one winner in a competition. 

In this year’s edition of the Takeoffs project, juries picked a total of 65 winners in the regional rounds. All winners received a financial award and free voice and data services from T-Mobile, technical equipment – a smart PC, tablets and smartphones from Samsung – and a free business account with Česká spořitelna for five years. Other major prizes included free consultations upon starting business, which are very much appreciated by beginning entrepreneurs. 

ABOUT TAKEOFFS 2013
A total of 408 projects were registered in the third edition of the Takeoffs project for business start-ups. A number of the competing projects were submitted in regions with fairly high unemployment; the jurors therefore very much appreciated the active approach of the contestants. As in the previous editions, the largest number of projects were submitted by contestants from Prague, followed by the South Moravia and the Moravia-Silesia regions. The smallest number of projects were entered in the Hradec Králové region. This year’s edition newly featured a special student category in which 92 projects were entered. 

Juries in the individual regions were composed of representatives of T-Mobile Czech Republic, Samsung Electronics, Česká spořitelna, KnowHowKlub and, for the third time, the Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic. Jurors traditionally included representatives of the regional press, businesspeople from the respective regions and winners of Takeoffs 2012. 

The regional rounds featured seminars and workshops which focused on starting a business and provided regional information as well as the latest information from the areas of modern technologies and marketing.   

More information is available here.    

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

T-Mobile Czech Republic places emphasis on taking a responsible approach to the environment and society. It adheres to fair business practices, helps beneficial applications and services to see the light of day, supports non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals, and lends a helping hand whenever crisis situations arise. The company’s employees serve as volunteers in many places across the entire Czech Republic.

More information about the company is available at www.t-mobile.cz, www.t-press.cz (the portal for journalists) and www.t-mobile.cz/pomahame (information on the company’s CSR activities).

Contact details of the press unit: press@t-press.cz.