“We hope to inspire more sponsors”

SunPine signs new three-year incremental agreement with LHF/MSSK.

– The only way to improve the conditions for women's players is for those of us who can to increase our sponsorship, so we urge other companies to do the same as us, says Johan Torgerstad, HR manager at SunPine.

The SunPine biorefinery produces climate-smart tall oil diesel, which is sold via Preem as the country's only Nordic Ecolabelled diesel. SunPine has already made a name for itself as a sponsor that invests in women's sports. In fact, only women's sports.

Johan Torgerstad, HR manager at SunPine:

– We usually say that our sponsorship is deliberately unequal, we choose to only sponsor women at the elite level in order to contribute in the long term to correcting the unfair skewed distribution that prevails today. We want to contribute in the long term to a more equal society.

In 2018, SunPine attracted national attention for its provocative choice to match UEFA's Champions League contribution to the Swedish women's football team Piteå IF. They received 250,000 from UEFA compared to the men's team's 221 million kronor. An unreasonable difference, SunPine argued.

Now the company is making a similar move. In a new agreement with the women's hockey team Luleå Hockey Munksund Skuthamn SK, they have chosen to sign a three-year agreement that increases year by year. From today, in three years, they will reach a level that is an increase of 33 percent.

Stefan Enbom, CEO of Luleå Hockey, applauds the initiative:

– We are very happy that Sunpine has chosen to expand our commitment in our journey towards “Ice hockey on equal terms between boys and girls in a gender-equal association”. We are proud to have the opportunity to deepen our collaboration with a Norrbotten company that focuses on sustainability.

Town hall:

– Women's hockey is undergoing an exciting and important development that we want to support. But, if there is to be any real difference, we must of course increase our sponsorship. And do it long-term. So that's why we have signed an agreement that increases our efforts over the next three seasons.

– We hope that we can inspire more sponsors to do the same to give women hockey players even better opportunities to pursue their elite endeavors. Not just here in Norrbotten, but throughout the SDHL. Yes, even in the regions that currently lack representation in the SDHL, but have men's clubs in the SHL. It is time now to take action, to move from words to action, Torgerstad states.

LHF/MSSK team captain Jenni Hiirikoski smiles broadly when she hears SunPine's challenge:

– Wow, it's really cool that you're challenging other companies to also invest more in the development of women's hockey. Tough, I like that (laughter!).​