Hummel Supports the Deaf Community Through Sign Language Charity Shirts with Gamba Osaka
Danish sports brand hummel and Gamba Osaka created a sign language charity shirt. The 800,000 yen in proceeds was used to donate gym floor sheets to a local school for the deaf.
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- 📰 Published: April 24, 2026 at 00:07
- 🔍 Collected: April 23, 2026 at 15:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 23, 2026 at 21:03 (5h 31m after Collected)
Danish sports brand hummel has created a charity shirt featuring a sign language design in collaboration with J-League club Gamba Osaka. The proceeds from this shirt were used to donate items utilized at the Osaka Prefectural Ikuno School for the Deaf, located in Gamba Osaka's hometown area, contributing to a society that embraces diversity.
Bringing Smiles to Children
Under the vision of 'Change the World Through Sport.', hummel engages in initiatives concerning human rights, gender, and peace. To support the hearing-impaired, Gamba Osaka players wore this sign language shirt during the 2025 season match against Urawa Reds on September 13. As a related event, an e-sports event involving students from the School for the Deaf, the recipient of the donation, was also held on the same day.
Themed 'Let's Wave the Flag of the Heart', the sign language shirt incorporates the imagery of a waving flag and a liberated heart, with 'GAMBA' written in fingerspelling and alphabet on the front. On the upper back, sign language was integrated into the design by expressing the club slogan 'BE THE HEAT, BE THE HEART' ('Become a blue flame, generate enthusiasm, and be the center.') through the signs for 'blue flame' and 'enthusiasm'.
The donation this time amounted to 800,000 yen, combining a portion of the sales from the general release of this shirt and all proceeds from the charity auction of the shirts worn by the players. With the goal of 'bringing smiles to the local community', Gamba Osaka has been conducting interaction activities at elementary schools in its 7 hometown cities for over 20 years, as well as visiting Naniwa Juvenile Training School to help with social rehabilitation.
This time, the donation was converted into equipment needed on the ground by the Osaka Prefectural Ikuno School for the Deaf, attended by hearing-impaired children in Gamba Osaka's hometown area. They donated floor sheets to be laid in the gymnasium, as the ones used for many years were severely torn. These began to be utilized from the entrance ceremony of the 2026 academic year.
Principal Taguchi of the Osaka Prefectural Ikuno School for the Deaf commented, 'Our school is celebrating a major milestone this year, its 100th anniversary. In such a memorable year, we are incredibly grateful to receive equipment that supports the learning and growth of our children. This equipment will be carefully used not only for daily educational activities but also for our 100th-anniversary ceremony. We express our heartfelt gratitude for your warm support.' He also shared that at the entrance ceremony, the children's smiles looked even more radiant.
Through this initiative, the feelings of the supporters took shape, leading to the smiles and health of the children. hummel hopes to continue implementing initiatives that bring smiles to the community together with Gamba Osaka in the future.
About Gamba Osaka
Gamba Osaka is a club team belonging to the J1 League of soccer, with 7 cities in the Hokusetsu region of Osaka Prefecture, including Suita City where its stadium is located, as its hometown, operating in the Hokusetsu and Kitakawachi areas. Tracing its roots back to the Matsushita Electric Industrial Soccer Club founded in 1980, it is one of the 'Original 10' clubs that joined the J-League at its inception in 1993. The team name GAMBA means 'leg' in Italian, and is also a play on the Japanese word 'Ganbaru' (to do one's best). They won the AFC Champions League in 2008. They have won 9 titles, including the domestic treble in 2014. Rebranding was carried out in 2021 as the club celebrated its 30th anniversary. They aim to be Japan's premier sports experience brand.
[OFFICIAL WEBSITE] https://www.gamba-osaka.net/
About hummel
The Danish sports brand 'hummel' developed the world's first football boots with studs and was born in 1923. At a time when soccer was played in leather shoes, attaching studs to completely flat soles brought a dramatic improvement in grip, enabling plays that were previously impossible. An anecdote about a bumblebee (hummel in German)—which is theoretically considered unable to fly due to being too heavy but became able to fly through relentless effort—was overlaid on this, leading to its adoption as the brand name and logo. Over its 100 years of history, it now develops a unique brand story under the vision 'CHANGE THE WORLD THROUGH SPORT'. They continue to take on new challenges.
[OFFICIAL WEBSITE] https://www.hummel.co.jp/
Bringing Smiles to Children
Under the vision of 'Change the World Through Sport.', hummel engages in initiatives concerning human rights, gender, and peace. To support the hearing-impaired, Gamba Osaka players wore this sign language shirt during the 2025 season match against Urawa Reds on September 13. As a related event, an e-sports event involving students from the School for the Deaf, the recipient of the donation, was also held on the same day.
Themed 'Let's Wave the Flag of the Heart', the sign language shirt incorporates the imagery of a waving flag and a liberated heart, with 'GAMBA' written in fingerspelling and alphabet on the front. On the upper back, sign language was integrated into the design by expressing the club slogan 'BE THE HEAT, BE THE HEART' ('Become a blue flame, generate enthusiasm, and be the center.') through the signs for 'blue flame' and 'enthusiasm'.
The donation this time amounted to 800,000 yen, combining a portion of the sales from the general release of this shirt and all proceeds from the charity auction of the shirts worn by the players. With the goal of 'bringing smiles to the local community', Gamba Osaka has been conducting interaction activities at elementary schools in its 7 hometown cities for over 20 years, as well as visiting Naniwa Juvenile Training School to help with social rehabilitation.
This time, the donation was converted into equipment needed on the ground by the Osaka Prefectural Ikuno School for the Deaf, attended by hearing-impaired children in Gamba Osaka's hometown area. They donated floor sheets to be laid in the gymnasium, as the ones used for many years were severely torn. These began to be utilized from the entrance ceremony of the 2026 academic year.
Principal Taguchi of the Osaka Prefectural Ikuno School for the Deaf commented, 'Our school is celebrating a major milestone this year, its 100th anniversary. In such a memorable year, we are incredibly grateful to receive equipment that supports the learning and growth of our children. This equipment will be carefully used not only for daily educational activities but also for our 100th-anniversary ceremony. We express our heartfelt gratitude for your warm support.' He also shared that at the entrance ceremony, the children's smiles looked even more radiant.
Through this initiative, the feelings of the supporters took shape, leading to the smiles and health of the children. hummel hopes to continue implementing initiatives that bring smiles to the community together with Gamba Osaka in the future.
About Gamba Osaka
Gamba Osaka is a club team belonging to the J1 League of soccer, with 7 cities in the Hokusetsu region of Osaka Prefecture, including Suita City where its stadium is located, as its hometown, operating in the Hokusetsu and Kitakawachi areas. Tracing its roots back to the Matsushita Electric Industrial Soccer Club founded in 1980, it is one of the 'Original 10' clubs that joined the J-League at its inception in 1993. The team name GAMBA means 'leg' in Italian, and is also a play on the Japanese word 'Ganbaru' (to do one's best). They won the AFC Champions League in 2008. They have won 9 titles, including the domestic treble in 2014. Rebranding was carried out in 2021 as the club celebrated its 30th anniversary. They aim to be Japan's premier sports experience brand.
[OFFICIAL WEBSITE] https://www.gamba-osaka.net/
About hummel
The Danish sports brand 'hummel' developed the world's first football boots with studs and was born in 1923. At a time when soccer was played in leather shoes, attaching studs to completely flat soles brought a dramatic improvement in grip, enabling plays that were previously impossible. An anecdote about a bumblebee (hummel in German)—which is theoretically considered unable to fly due to being too heavy but became able to fly through relentless effort—was overlaid on this, leading to its adoption as the brand name and logo. Over its 100 years of history, it now develops a unique brand story under the vision 'CHANGE THE WORLD THROUGH SPORT'. They continue to take on new challenges.
[OFFICIAL WEBSITE] https://www.hummel.co.jp/