Czech team on intense preparation programme

Directly after the Extra Czech league final in May, players from the the Czech Republic’s top clubs were selected for the Czech national korfball team and began preparaing for the World Games in Cali.

Former international player Ivo Kracik is now coach of the team, which has a schedule of five weekend training camps, consisting of 15 training sessions and 10 friendly matches. Two of the camps will take place in the Netherlands, where the Czech team will play matches against local clubs and the German national team. One of the training weekends in Czech will also host the Dutch U21 national korfball team.

Playing so many preparation matches, against so many different opponents, will be a first for the Czech squad, which Ivo Kracik hopes will give his players more self-confidence and improve their performance in their early World Games matches.

Czech national squad members include a mix of experienced and young promising players. One of the players, Klara Zabojova, will play in her third World Games, while team mate Denisa Kolarova is only 16 years old and playing in her first big event.

Coach Kracik says the goal for the team is to return to Europe as number three, though concedes that winning the bronze medal will be a tough task.

The Czech team’s participation in Cali is thanks to financial support from the Czech national Olympic committee (COV) and Ministry of Education and Sports.

COV has put in place a four year support programme leading up to the World Games of 2017 in Wroclaw, which is near the Czech Republic border, and which COV expects will attract considerable interest from the Czech sporting public.