The England Korfball Association held their Championship weekend on 4th and 5th May at the Whitgift Sports Centre in Croydon. Trojans KC won the trophy for the sixth year in a row by beating Kingfisher KC (from Kent) in the final 28 – 13. The result means that in the 2014 edition of the IKF Europa Shield Kingfisher KC will compete for the first time ever. Nomads KC clinched 3rd place by beating Nottingham KC 16 – 13.
In the National League semi-finals Kingfisher KC, who finished 3rd in the regular season, surprisingly beat Nottingham KC 19 – 13 to reach their first ever final. The other semi-final also almost provided an upset as Nomads KC (4th in the regular season) led Trojans KC until shortly before the end when the holder’s greater experience prevailed and eventually won 18 – 16.
In the Promotion Play-offs, Birmingham City KC, a club formed just three years ago, won their way through at the expense of Cambridge City KC, who missed out for the third year in a row. Promotion is decided following a round robin event and with Birmingham and Cambridge finishing equal on points the promotion hinged on the head to head match between the two clubs, which Birmingham won 11 – 6.
The promotion of Tom Brady’s Birmingham means that the Premier Division of the EKL now has three teams from outside London and Kent, the areas which have dominated the League since its inception in 1985

The Welsh Korfball Association WKA announced today that it has appointed former Dutch korfball star Leon Simons as its Head Coach. The task for the new coach is clear: qualify the Welsh team at the upcoming European Bowl Tournament in October in Turkey for next year’s European Championship in Lisbon (Portugal).

Simons had been working with the Welsh team during a coaching clinic last year, and apparently the relationship was to both to the WKA’s and Simons’s satisfaction given today’s announcement. Simons is one of the most admired international players of his age, having played 94 times in the Netherlands national team, having won multiple European and World Championship, and World Games titles. In 2010, after retiring with a European Championship title, he was made an honorary member of the Royal Netherlands Korfball Association KNKV, and was also awarded a knighthood in the Order of Oranje-Nassau, one of the highest public distinctions in the Netherlands.

In the final of the U16 Korfball World Cup 2013, hosted by the Royal Netherlands Korfball Association KNKV in Schijndel (NED), the Netherlands convincingly retained the title. The orange favorites beat their Belgian rivals by 21-13. Germany won the bronze medal, the Royal Dutch Korfball Federation (KNKV) organised the 15th U16 Korfball also convincingly beating the Czech Republic 8-4. Full results of all matches of the tournament are available online

It was the first time a team from Belarus participated in an official international competition. Korfball development in Belarus has been going strongly, and the senior team of Belarus expects to make its first international appearance later this year at the European Bowl tournament in June in Slovakia.

The final 2013 rankings are:

1. The Netherlands
2. Belgium
3. Germany
4. Czech Republic
5. England
6. Russia
7. Belarus