Korfball

Korfball

Outdoor korfball match in the Netherlands
Highest governing body	International Korfball Federation
First played	1902
Characteristics
Contact	Limited
Team members	8 per side: 4 males and 4 females or 8 females
Mixed gender	Yes
Type	Team sport, ball sport
Equipment	Korfball
Venue	Korfball court
Presence
Olympic	Demonstration sport in 1920 and 1928

Outdoor Korfball

Korfball (Dutch: Korfbal) is a ball sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. It is played by two teams of eight players with either eight females in each team or with four females and four males in each team. The objective is to throw a ball through a bottomless basket that is mounted on a 3.5 m (11.5 feet) high pole.

The sport was invented by Dutch school teacher Nico Broekhuysen in 1902. In the Netherlands, there are around 580 clubs and over 100,000 people playing korfball. It has a mixed-gender league and an all-women league, but no all-men league. The sport is also very popular in Belgium and Taiwan, and is played in many other countries. Mixed-gender korfball is more generally played in the north of the Netherlands, while all-female korfball is generally played in the south.

History

Korfball match at the 1928 Summer Olympics in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam

Korfball has Dutch origins. In 1902 Nico Broekhuysen, a Dutch school teacher from Amsterdam, was sent to Nääs, a town in Sweden, to follow an educational course about teaching gymnastics to children. This is where he was introduced to the Swedish game 'ringboll'. In ringboll one could score points by throwing the ball through a ring that was attached to a 3 m pole. Men and women played together, and the field was divided into three zones. Players could not leave their zone.

Broekhuysen was inspired and when he returned to Amsterdam he decided to teach his students a similar game. He replaced the ring with a basket (for which the Dutch word is "korf" or "mand"), so it was easier to see if a player had scored or not. Broekhuysen also simplified the rules so children could also understand and play it. Korfball was born. The main idea was the same as ringboll, but it now stood on its own.

The oldest still existing korfball club to never have merged with any other club is a Dutch korfball-club H.K.C. ALO from The Hague, Netherlands. H.K.C. ALO was founded on 1 February 1906.

At first there was considerable controversy about the sport, because the players were of both sexes. Several sports journalists refused to pay even the slightest attention to the new sport. Korfball-players were accused of being immoral. Even the sportswear was criticized, because the women were showing bare knees and ankles. A newspaper even wrote: "Korfball is a monster that spreads its claws to all sides". Yet korfball was featured as a demonstration sport in the Summer Olympics of 1920 and 1928.

Members of the International Korfball Federation

The International Korfball Federation was founded in 1933.

Korfball is played in over 60 countries including: United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Poland, Greece, Serbia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Germany, Taiwan, Turkey, Hong Kong, Portugal, Pakistan, Sweden, Hungary, the Philippines, Italy, Spain, France and Romania. It is growing in popularity in the UK and in a unique reference to the sport, is featured in a song by the band Half Man Half Biscuit entitled "Joy in Leeuwarden (We Are Ready)" on their 2011 album 90 Bisodol (Crimond).

Korfball has been played in the World Games since 1985. IKF World Championships have been held every four years since 1978. The leading nations are Belgium and the Netherlands.

Hong Kong hosted its first international tournament, the Asia Oceania Championship in 2006. New Zealand hosted the Asia Oceania Youth Championships in 2007.

Rules and regulations

Equipment

File:Korfball basket with ball size 5.jpg

Korfball basket with ball

Korfball is played inside in winter and outdoors in spring and fall.

The size of the indoor court is 20 x 40 m (22 x 44 yd), outdoor courts are 30 x 60 m (33 x 66 yd). The new outdoor courts size is 40 m x 20 m.The court is divided into halves called zones. In each zone is a 3.5 m (11.5 ft) tall post with a basket at the top. This is positioned two-thirds of the distance between the center line and the back of the zone.

Team

A korfball team consists of eight players; all female, or four female and four male.

Every team has their own coach, who can switch players during a match, negotiate with the referee, create the formation for the match and keep up the team's spirit.

Match

Korfbal match in the Netherlands

A korfball match consists of two periods of 35 minutes (the youth teams play 20, 25 or 30 minutes), with a break of 10 minutes in between periods.

Four players of each team are in one zone, and the others are in the other zone. During the match they cannot switch zones. In the mixed gender league, men and women play side-by-side, but duels are man to man and woman to woman. However, it is allowed for a player to switch among opponents whom he/she is defending, as long as they are of the same sex.

At the beginning of the match one team chooses one-half of the court. That half will be their defending zone, with 'their' basket in it. Players score by throwing the ball through the opponents' basket. After two goals, the teams change zones: defenders become attackers and attackers become defenders. In between those zone-changes, attackers cannot set foot on their defending zone or vice versa. At half-time teams swap halves.

The rules prevent physical strength dominating the game. Blocking, tackling and holding are not allowed, as well as kicking the ball. Once a player has the ball, one cannot dribble, run or walk with it, however, one can move one foot as long the other remains on the same spot. Therefore, tactical and efficient teamwork is required, because players need each other to keep the ball moving. A player may not attempt to score when defended, which occurs when the defender is in between the opponent and the basket, is facing his/her opponent, is within arm's length and attempting to block the ball. This rule encourages fast movement while also limiting the impact of players' height compared to their opponents.

International tournaments

World Games

Main article: Korfball at the World Games

The national teams competition organized by the International Korfball Federation has been played roughly every four years since 1978.

	Year	Host	Champion	Second place	Third place
II Details	1985	United Kingdom	Netherlands	Belgium	United States
III Details	1989	West Germany	Netherlands	Belgium	West Germany
IV Details	1993	Netherlands	Netherlands	Belgium	Germany
V Details	1997	Finland	Netherlands	Belgium	Chinese Taipei
VI Details	2001	Japan	Netherlands	Belgium	Chinese Taipei
VII Details	2005	Germany	Netherlands	Belgium	Czech Republic
VIII Details	2009	Taiwan	Netherlands	Belgium	Chinese Taipei
VIII Details	2013	Colombia	Netherlands	Belgium	Chinese Taipei
IX Details	2017	Poland
X Details	2021	United States

World Championship

Main article: IKF Korfball World Championship

The national teams competition organized by the International Korfball Federation has been played roughly every four years since 1978.

	Year	Host	Champion	Second place	Third place
I Details	1978	Netherlands	Netherlands	Belgium	West Germany
II Details	1984	Belgium	Netherlands	Belgium	West Germany
III Details	1987	Netherlands	Netherlands	Belgium	Great Britain
IV Details	1991	Belgium	Belgium	Netherlands	Chinese Taipei
V Details	1995	India	Netherlands	Belgium	Portugal
VI Details	1999	Australia	Netherlands	Belgium	Great Britain
VII Details	2003	Netherlands	Netherlands	Belgium	Czech Republic
VIII Details	2007	Czech Republic	Netherlands	Belgium	Czech Republic
IX Details	2011	China	Netherlands	Belgium	Chinese Taipei
X Details	2015	Belgium	Netherlands	Belgium	Chinese Taipei

IKF U23 World Championship

Main article: IKF U23 World Championship

• 2008 Kaohsiung, Taiwan – Winner: Netherlands
• 2012 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain – Winner: Netherlands

Continental championships

IKF promotes four continental championships: European Korfball Championship, All-Africa Korfball Championship, Pan-American Korfball Championship and Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship.

Europa Cup for Clubs

Every year the IKF organises the European Cup for clubs. The winner in 2009 was Koog Zaandijk from Koog aan de Zaan, the Netherlands. The winner in 2007 and 2008 was DOS '46 from Nijeveen, the Netherlands. DOS'46 won their first European Cup in 1982. Ons Eibernest from The Hague, the Netherlands won the first championship in 1967. PKC from Papendrecht, the Netherlands, have won the championship the most times, a record 10 wins in total. The Europa Cup is the only official international competition for clubs.

Until now, the winning team was either from the Netherlands or Belgium, with respectively 39 and 6 championships. The only club from the United Kingdom to reach the final was Mitcham Korfball Club from London. Mitcham lost the final against Catbavrienden from Belgium in 1998.

Beach play

For beach play, the rules of the game differ slightly from those of indoor play. Each team has 4 starters and 4 substitutes. The field of play is 16 metres by 8 metres, and goals are to be placed 3 metres from the end line. Matches consist of four quarters of 150 seconds each with a 45-second rest between each quarter. If either team has only two players remaining (1 man and 1 woman) because of injury or other reason during the match, the referee will stop play and terminate the game early.

Cultural references

Korfball is the theme of the song "Joy in Leeuwarden (We Are Ready)" on the album 90 Bisodol (Crimond) by Half Man Half Biscuit.

See also

• Korfball European Bowl
• Commonwealth Korfball Championships
• British Student Korfball Nationals
• Korfball Europa Shield

External links

• International Korfball Federation (IKF) includes rules, all national associations and event results.
• (Dutch) Royal Dutch Korfball Association​ PDF (793.7 KB) Extensive description and explanation of rules and requirements in competition korfball.
• Infographic about what korfball is