A lot has happened since the Chattanooga Korfball Weekend back in November. Feeling marvelous about the trip to the United States, I went back to Europe and we continued the conversations online. It is great to see that already in six different places (i.e.,) throughout the USA, people are working hard to build a solid base for Korfball and have started working towards the National Championships later this year.
Developing Korfball in the United States requires the training of both youth and adult players. As many of our current players have experienced, having the right equipment and spaces to play has been a challenge. Netball equipment just as basketball hoops can be used for shooting drills, while passing and receiving can easily be done against a wall. However, proper playing of Korfball and shooting games similar to those we practiced in Chattanooga work best with Korfball equipment and more people. This applies to all formats of Korfball (e.g., Korfball4, Korfball8, Beach Korfball). It has, therefore, become important to make connections with manufacturers who can produce posts and bases and to find the financial means to order equipment from local and/or international vendors, such as the company in Hong Kong or from the Schelde Sports America. Only then can universities, colleges, and K-12 schools adopt the sport and contribute to growing our members.
All over the world, there are interesting developments in Korfball. For this newsletter, I want to take you all with me and describe the Korfball Champions League in Europe. During the last week of January in Lisbon, Portugal (coincidentally where Lariel, one of our Team USA members, is based), the Korfball Champions League Challenger was held. Korfbal Klub Brno from the Czech Republic were the winners. The week before in Turkey, the Korfball Champions League Satellite was played during which Schweriner Korfball Club from Germany won the trophy. Preceding both tournaments, there were qualifying tournaments in Portugal and Poland last year. In Papendrecht, The Netherlands, the Korfball Champions League Finals will occur, with the champions of the earlier tournaments Boeckenberg from Belgium and PKC from The Netherlands added to the field of six. On www.korfball.sport, you can find more information on these tournaments and the participating clubs from many European countries. It’s incredible that Korfball is already so widespread that such a concept works. A Champions World Cup with champions of all continents would be a dream for the future of Korfball. With this, I believe the only country in the world who would be able to beat the Dutch in the future is the USA. The US has the sports mentality, the economic options, and the capacity to recruit athletes to do so.
Next to the upcoming National Championships, the successes of Team USA Beach Korfball and their aspiration to compete in the World Beach Korfball Championship in Pattaya, Thailand in April and the opportunity to be involved in the Pan-American Games are on the horizon! Let’s keep our sport growing within the country…
I am proud to work with so many people who are already so passionate about Korfball, and I am convinced that together, we will succeed.
Thanks!
Coach Dankmar
