The steelworks has always supported sport in Košice, and U. S. Steel Košice keeps up this tradition. The company has been cooperating with the players of handball, basketball, soccer and ice hockey, and also with the international Peace Marathon team for the past fifteen years. Ice hockey and the Marathon have more than ninety years' tradition in Košice, and are still two dominant sport areas which are nowadays getting help from the steelmakers. In both cases U. S. Steel Košice is a general partner and the main sponsor.
Let us recall some great performances of the Košice ice hockey club, which started in 1921, although firstly there were just some groups of youngsters playing hockey(probably with a ball). In the 1920s and 1930s, hockey here was among the best in Slovakia. After the Second World War hockey experienced some losses and then celebrated its comeback in 1962. Two years later Košice belonged among the Czechoslovakian elite. The players progressed to the top hockey competition and since those times they have always been there. The first ČSSR champions award was given to the players of VSŽ team in year 1986 and they repeated this success two years later. After Czechoslovakia was divided, Košice players were successful also within the Slovakian Extra League. HC Košice hockey club has won eight champions awards and they have presented themselves at the European championship competitions, recently twice within the Champions League.
The success of the hockey players has surely been influenced by higher-quality sporting conditions. U. S. Steel Košice took part in finishing the Steel Arena and construction of a new training hall in the neighborhood. The hockey players had a temporary home at the Kavečanská Road stadium from 1996, when the old Ladislav Troják stadium was destroyed, and because of the poor conditions there they were happy to move to their new home.
The international Košice Peace Marathon is the oldest European marathon, and is known worldwide. This year it was the 92nd edition. The organizers can be satisfied. This year 11 thousand runners registered from 49 countries worldwide, and they competed in thirteen running disciplines. There were many runners with links to the steel company taking part in this event. The employees like the U. S. Steel Family Run mini-marathon more and more each year. Entire families take part and run through the city centre.
The company also helps young sportsmen who are socially disadvantaged or who are from the incomplete families, foster home children, and also the children of company employees so they can develop their sporting talents. Since 2006 the program Your Chance to Play has allowed at least five hundred children to work on their sporting careers. In this school year there are 25 boys and girls registered or ice hockey, soccer and basketball training. Finally, when talking about sports we have to mention the employees who are recreational sportspeople. U. S. Steel Košice organizes summer and winter corporate games for them, with soccer and ice hockey championships as integrated part of these games.
