Korfball

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A korfball match in the Netherlands between 'Trekvogels' and 'OZC'
A korfball match in the Netherlands between 'Trekvogels' and 'OZC'

Korfball is a team ball game, similar in many ways to mixed netball. It is played in over fifty countries. The countries with the most players are the Netherlands and Belgium. Korfball differs from other team sports in that it is a mixed-gender game: a team consists of four men and four women.

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Korfball is played either indoors or outdoors on a court divided into two halves called zones. In each zone there is a post (3.5m, shorter for the young) with a basket at the top. This is positioned at two thirds of the distance between the centre line and the back of the zone.The ball is similar to the one used for association football. There are two teams, each consisting of eight players: two men and two women of each team in each zone (attack and defense). Players score by throwing the ball through the other team's basket. After two goals the teams change zones: the defenders become attackers and attackers defenders. At half-time the teams swap halves of the court.

Nico Broekhuysen, a Dutch school teacher, learned a game called ringboll on a visit to Sweden in 1902. Points are scored in ringboll by throwing the ball through a ring attached to a 3 meter high post. After Broekhuysen returned to the Nederlands, he replaced the ring with a basket (for which the Dutch word is korf) and simplified the rules. As his school was co-educational, he created a system which enabled men and women to play together, with one another, at the same time. Thus, korfball was born.[1]

Korfball is a team sport. Individual class is essential but there is no room for individual play. Belonging to a team means teamwork; running with the ball or dribbling is not allowed. A player who receives the ball while running must stop within two steps and pass the ball to another player.

Korfball is a mixed sport. Men and women play side by side. But while women are equal in the tactics of the game, duels are man to man and woman to woman. One man may guard one man and one woman may guard one woman. So it's not two against one and a woman may not defend a man nor may a man defend a woman.

Third, korfball is a tactical game. Each team tries to win by scoring more goals using tactical skills of the team as a whole. The rules follow this principle and prevent physical strength from dominating the game. That means that physical contact is undesired. Blocking, tackling and holding your opponent are not allowed in korfball.

The same goes for kicking the ball or hitting it with your fists. Also, one is not allowed to move the post, which would make it harder to score.

Another rule that makes this a largely tactical game is that a player may not attempt to score when defended. That occurs when the defender is closer to the basket and is facing his/her opponent, and is at arm's length, and is attempting to block the ball.

Korfball is a popular sport (especially in the Benelux area) and featured in at least 50 countries with a national Korfball committee[2] [1]. Its emphasis on the unisex aspect, its "clean" gameplay, outlawing most physical contact and encouraging players to outsmart rather than outmuscle their opposition, contribute to its popularity.

Ironically, these aspects also often serve as a foil for ridicule. Korfball players, like netball players, are often ridiculed - both by cynical female and male basketball players. Korfballers reciprocate by saying that it is too easy to shoot baskets, because a basket is lower than a korf and has a backboard.

However, the popularity of Korfball has remained unbroken, there are many players who play both sports, and its role of being the only true unisex team sport makes Korfball unique.

Originally, korfball was mostly played in Belgium and the Netherlands. It was a demonstration sport during the Olympic Games of 1920 and 1928 (which were held in Antwerp and Amsterdam).

The foundation of the International Korfball Federation in 1993 and the existence of tens of national federations seem to imply an international popularity for the game, which has been played in the World Games since 1985.

World Championships have been held every four years since 1978. Most great tournaments are won by the Netherlands or by Belgium.

New Zealand recently hosted their first international tournament, The Asia Oceania Games, 2004. They came last of a pool of three. They are improving steadily.

International Korfball Federation organizes a Korfball World Championship every four years.

The ball appears as a charge in the arms of some South-African korfbal clubs.

  1. ^ Koninklijk Nederlands Korfbalverbond (Royal Dutch Korfball Association). Historie (History) (Dutch). Retrieved on August 30, 2006.
  2. ^ International Korfball Federation. Korfball played in 50 countries!. Retrieved on January 4, 2007.

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