VOITTO means victory in Finnish. Dr. Daryl Foy is certainly onto a winner with his holistic hockey brand, which offers a range of products all focused on helping players improve their performance.
From premium equipment including sticks and apparel, to podcasts featuring sports science experts, and evidence-informed strength and conditioning coaching, VOITTO is a brand that cares.
“You’ll be surprised by Voitto. We will do things that are interesting and different, not for the sake of it, but just because we genuinely like to help people,” says Dr. Foy.
The founder of New Zealand-based VOITTO, Foy brings a wealth of experience to the brand. He holds a PhD in Preventive Health and is an International Sports Science Association-accredited elite trainer.
He says: “I thought, why don’t you do something to educate and support the people who [other brands] just take for granted?
“These Masters players that I was treating and providing high-performance work for, they were going, ‘How come no one ever asks how I feel about stuff?’”
So VOITTO set about providing a service that looks after the whole athlete rather than just providing a stick and leaving the rest to chance.
The brand aims to support Masters-aged hockey players to improve and sustain their performance by providing high-quality products, advice on their podcasts and blogs, and evidence-based coaching.
“Let’s look at the sport that you’re playing. How can you keep doing it?” poses Dr. Foy. “How can it recognise that there are other things going on in your life affecting your health and affecting your performance so that you’re not getting as much enjoyment from it?”
Taking into perspective the challenges facing GENZ and GENX hockey players today, VOITTO seeks to provide answers to these questions.
Customers have the opportunity to talk to VOITTO coaches through an online chat as well as access one-to-one coaching to improve their fitness and understand their health.
“You get a wealth of free knowledge and support. Our online life health is real, I answer it. We have actual people answer, not bots,” explains Dr. Foy.
His blogs, found on the VOITTO website, address topics from the psychology of confidence to the importance of mobility and bring expert advice to dissect and explain how to improve in a range of areas.
“It’s all about hockey performance within a health context. How can I get the most out of hockey by getting support from a brand that is qualified, experienced and understands what it takes?” says Dr. Foy.
“I believe that you have an obligation to the hockey community to do more than just sell them products.”
Yet VOITTO puts just as much care into its products as it does its whole service. All their sticks are 90% or more carbon with research underway for a flax and bamboo indoor stick, indicative of the innovation and commitment to being eco-friendly that the brand clearly prioritises.
All their clothing is made from environmentally friendly materials. Their training shirts, named ‘Montreal’ after New Zealand’s Olympic medal at the Montreal 76’ games, are made from bamboo and charcoal in a low-energy process.
“The sticks are really good, the clothing’s really different, it’s super comfy and super cool,” says Foy. “You just have things that are super practical from people who have spent a lifetime in the sport, at the highest level and the lowest level.
“High-quality components but still affordable. Voitto is about understated luxury.”
Offering sticks, shinpads, bags and apparel, VOITTO provides everything a player needs to perform. It does so without shirking its responsibility to the player nor its responsibility to the environment.
For more merchandise head to www.voitto.life
