Polish ski jumpers' shoes made with EU support

The Polish national ski jumping team in the upcoming season will fight for medals and top awards in brand-new sky-jumping shoes. Made in the Opolskie Region in Poland, the shoes were created with the support of EU funds for specialised services available under the Opolskie Regional Operational Programme for 2014-2020.

’This will certainly be one of the pearls amongst Opolskie EU projects. Not the only one, but very unique. From now on, we will all follow our ski jumpers, looking not only at the distances they reach, but also at the shoes they wear during competitions’ - said the Marshall of the Opolskie Region, Andrzej Buła.

Each winter season, competing national teams have been trying to improve player performance with the help of modern equipment. This year the Polish team managed to surprise the others. Stoch, Żyła, Hula and Kot are now testing completely new ski boots. The shoes were created under the watchful eye of Adam Małysz, the Polish ski champion and current sports director of the Polish team, for the Nagaba company from Krapkowice in Opolskie Province. In the past, most ski shoes from around the world were produced by just one company.

The story behind success

The history of new Polish shoes could be a good scenario for a film.

‘Hello, my name is Adam Małysz and I would like to talk about shoes for our ski jumpers’. When Ms. Ewa Nagaba heard this over the phone, she thought it was a joke. ‘This was in August last year’ says Ms. Ewa. ‘At first I thought someone was playing a prank on me, but the voice sounded like Adam Małysz indeed. To be certain, I invited him to visit us. I thought that, if it was a joke, the person will not show up!’

Two days later, in the company located in a former Polish footwear manufacturing hub (Otmęcie in Krapkowice, a region promoted with the EU-funded InduCult 2.0 project), Mr. Adam Małysz appeared at the door. The multiple winner of the Crystal Ball in ski jumping and medallist of the World Championship and the Four Hills Tournament and other prestigious competitions. A person whose name is known in the world of sports in every corner of the globe. ’I did not believe that he really came. Then everything happened very quickly’, recalls Ewa Nagaba.

‘Over the past few months, I’ve been in contact with several different companies, but we couldn’t find a common ground with any of them,’ said Adam Małysz, speaking to the district authority in Krapkowice, a strong supporter of the Nagaba project.

‘Finally, I started looking online and I found the company Nagaba, whose name reminded me of Japan. The company turned out to be a family business were optimistic about my idea.  Along with the team coaches, we were surprised how quickly their words turned into action, especially given it’s a family owned company. To act so quickly they needed to postpone other projects,’ recalls Małysz.

Experience and knowledge are key

The Nagaba company belongs to Ms. Ewa Nagaba, who has managed the business with her husband Mr. Grzegorz Nagaba since 1993. The firm produces shoes, sandals and trekking boots in dozens of designs and unusual colours. It’s fans are not only in Opole. Ski boots (let alone jump ones) have never been manufactured by the company.

‘What helped us with this project was that for years our company has been manufacturing leather shoes and our shoemakers are very experienced, with vast knowledge and imagination,’ says the owner of the Nagaba brand.

‘Ski jump shoes are really a handcraft. Machine production also plays a role, but many elements need to be done manually. Our firm works like a small workshop and therefore we can make a product tailored to truly individual needs. In this case, very specific ones’.

Another great asset of the company is that it has been working on shoes made from vegan materials for some time. ‘They have all the properties of skin, but they are created in laboratories. We offer them to customers who do not accept animal products,’ explains Nagaba. ‘The shoes for our ski jumpers, for technical and technological reasons, have been made with such materials’.

The importance of EU support

To make the product of the highest quality, Nagaba obtained EU funding from the Opolskie Economic Development Centre, an entity managed by the regional government. The firm financed patent agent services (more than 5,800 PLN) and technical advice around selection of materials for the production of shoe insides (almost PLN 86,500 PLN).

‘If someone thought that EU projects mean only tons of files and paper work, they are mistaken. It was one of the projects that we are very supportive of, it has been difficult not to speak about it!’ says the director of the Opolskie Economic Development Centre, Roland Wrzeciono.

For around 8 months, it was one of the most well-kept trade secrets of Opole and Polish sports. It was finally revealed by Adam Małysz in a media interview during the summer Grand Prix in Klinghental.

‘Before the start of the next World Cup there is not much time left. The first competitions will take place 23-24 November in Wisła and then we will definitely learn more about the shoes from Otmęt. We and the whole world,’ says the mayor of the Krapkowice region, Maciej Sonik.

EU support for specialised services still available

The EU support received by Nagaba via the Opolskie Economic Development Centre comes from a project that aims to finance so-called specialised services. These include legal advice, technical advice, financial and accounting, access to databases, renting laboratory facilities, patent agent services and others. The project “Operator vouchers improving the competitiveness of SMEs active in the field of smart specialisation in the Opolskie region” is carried out under Measure 2.3 of the 2014-2020 Regional Operational Programme. It will last until the end of 2021. It accounts for more than PLN 18,6 million and companies can still apply for funding of up to PLN 50,000 or PLN 150,000 in the form of grants or stand-by arrangements.

‘Interest in this project is increasing. The success of Nagaba can help to promote it even more,’ says Roland Wrzeciono.

The specialist services for Nagaba were carried out in cooperation with the Science and Technology Park in Opole (its construction and re-equipment were also financed with EU funds of the Regional Operational Programme).

’The park has offered us collaboration with Piero Composites company that carries out research on plastics,’ says Ewa Nagaba. ’The company’s experts did a very good job. They helped us with testing of properties of materials and their selection for parts used in the final product.’.

A great adventure, and challenge

Today the product is ready. ‘The ski jumpers have been testing the shoes for two months,’ says Ewa Nagaba. ‘The stage of alterations, modifications and improvements has already been completed, but we are still in touch with both the jumpers and the coach team. We listen to their input and take it into account’.

How do the new shoes differ from what ski jumpers have been wearing during competitions until now? What kind of new technology was used in their production?

’It has to remain a secret for now. We are not allowed to yet speak about it. Also it is our knowledge and technology so we are not inclined to share it,’ admits Ewa Nagaba.

What did the project give to the company? ’We are certainly satisfied. It brought us an opportunity to take up a big, yet very interesting professional challenge,’ says the company’s owner. ‘It also gave us experience in carrying out major projects in parallel with our daily work. And we met some great people, like our ski jumpers, their support team and Adam Małysz. This is a great adventure for us!’