Mateusz Mróz and Paula Piotrowska – talented and already very titled Taekwon-do ITF (International Taekwon-do Federation) competitors used the Polish crowdfunding site PolakPotrafi.pl to go to Australia for the ITF World Cup 2018. They didn’t raise enough money. CSHARK’s board member Marcin Krok having read an article on Onet.pl about the case took it upon himself to help young talents. Results? 4 medals and life satisfaction.
Mateusz Mróz and Paula Piotrowska in late May 2018 organized a campaign on PolakPotrafi.pl to fight for their dreams. The Polish Taekwon-do Association didn’t have enough money to send every relevant competitor, so the matter of flying off to Australia and participation rested entirely on talents alone.
Onet.pl, a leading Polish internet portal had written about Mróz and Piotrowska at the end of May. A few days later our president Marcin Krok read the article and immediately called marketing to see if something can be done. 18.000 zl (which is roughly $ 4,500) was needed ASAP. The decision to help had been made over the weekend. In fact, it was done in just a few hours. The weekend for Mróz and Piotrowska had been tough, because the fundraising on PolakPotrafi.pl was closed on Friday with no success and they knew they are not going to make it this time around. While checking emails next day morning they discovered message from CSHARK which shocked them – CSHARK will not only cover the entire sum needed for the trip and accommodation but also the tax coming with this gift of heart.
As Marcin Krok says:
We simply couldn’t act differently. After reading the article I was shocked how little it takes for someone’s dreams to be crushed. I felt the inner need to help; that’s why I called marketing with the question if something could be done and quick. Polish professional sport is internally known for being underfunded and interestingly enough, despite of that we have many European and World champions across many sport disciplines. In the case of Marcin and Paula we believed in their sport talent and amazing achievement list. We also believed that with our help they would shine in Australia.
Mateusz is 25, Paula is 24. He is an active Taekwon-do fighter for 18 years and counting, Paula has been in training for 17 years. They have multiple local, continental and international successes. Paula is an European champion, a World Cup gold medallist, European Championship bronze medallist. Mateusz is a world’s runner-up (vice-champion) and European champion in Taekwon-do ITF. They both achieved numerous titles as juniors, adding additional titles and medals as senior fighters.
During the ITF World Cup 2018 they brought home:
This outstanding achievement was a direct result of passion, determination and years of experience. They clearly deserved it. But as fighters claim on their own, this years’ successes would not have been possible without sponsorship from CSHARK.
Paula Piotrowska remembers May and following events very vividly:
This entire situation was surprising to us from the beginning. Just a few weeks ago we were both devastated, now we stand with a total of 4 medals, including a gold one. We were hoping for participation and funding, then for a gold medal since we’re ambitious, now we have four of them! This is amazing! We both thought we hit a jackpot when CSHARK contacted us and used the words ‘we want to support you’ and ‘sponsoring’. That felt amazing. We are so grateful!
Mateusz Mróz is not that surprised:
Exactly. Don’t get us wrong, we were hoping for a gold medal, we know our worth. We also believed in crowdfunding but that method failed us miserably. Fortunately someone found us and treated us very fair. CSHARK believed in our capabilities to not only proudly represent ourselves and Poland but also to bring home a medal. As Paula already said, we have four of them and we could not be happier!
This situation shows the value of a spontaneous gift of heart and determination to make things work, from both sides. Sportsmen and sportswomen often don’t get funding, therefore private companies step in to fill the void. Given our attitude towards talent we are not taking further sponsorships off the table. We are very proud!
