About Us

TK Hockey has been at the heart of the game since 1985 — and the elephant on every stick tells you why. Field hockey once opened each match with the 'bully': two players facing off, sticks crossed. TK's founders captured that image as two elephants crossing trunks, and it's been our mark ever since.

The initials T and K stand for Thomas Kille, the co-founder who built and led the company for decades. His passion for hockey started young — he played 60 games for the German Junior National team, captained the Under-21 German team, and went on to play in the National League. In the 1970s, while studying Business Economics, he began experimenting with new glass fibre and polyester materials in his own basement, reinforcing blank sticks and selling them to players he knew. Demand grew, and in January 1985, the first sticks branded TK went on sale.

In the summer of 2020, Axel Schröder — already Germany's Sales Director and a former Bundesliga player himself — took over as Managing Director with a simple motto: "Let's start the game over." Since then, TK has refined its product range, restored the elephant to its rightful prominence, and sharpened its identity across every market it serves — from Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium to Argentina, the UK, the US, and now South Africa.

Our mission

"My ambition is to develop and distribute what I consider to be the best product in hockey, based on the rules of the game. Quality and functionality always come first. Price is secondary. Cutting corners on a product to achieve a better price point is simply not something I am prepared to do."
— Axel Schröder, Managing Director, TK Sports GmbH

Every product carrying the TK elephant is developed with the FIH's global rulebook and EU safety certification standards in mind — because athletes deserve equipment they can trust absolutely.

What TK stands for

• Quality — every product begins with the question: is this the best it can be? Price follows quality, never the other way around.
• Innovation — TK continuously evolves its stick designs, materials, and protective gear to match the demands of the modern game.
• Reliability — from FIH compliance to EU safety certification, athletes and clubs trust TK because the standards never slip.
• Community — from grassroots clubs to Bundesliga teams, TK equips players at every level, because the sport grows when everyone has access to the best.

Beyond sticks, the TK range covers the full spectrum of a player's needs: bags, balls, protective equipment, complete goalkeeper kits, and playing and training apparel — trusted by internationally recognised talent, national team players, and clubs across multiple Bundesliga divisions, including TSV Mannheim Hockey, Hamburger Polo Club, TG Frankenthal, and HC Ludwigsburg.