New Zealand ready for IKF AOKC

New Zealand’s team for the 2014 IKF Asia Oceania Korfball Championship (IKF AOKC) is ready for competition and will attempt to be the first from their country to qualify for a korfball World Championship.

Unofficially calling themselves The Korus, which refers to the shape of the native fern frond that is on the Korfball New Zealand logo, the team has the furthest journey of all teams to reach Hong Kong, even further than their neighbour Australia.

Most of the players in The Korus have at least four years korfball experience, which is more than previous times that New Zealand has played at international level. Ten of the members of the squad have attended international korfball tournaments before.

New Zealand’s chances have been boosted by the return of senior players Bevan Lawson and Rosa Cooper, who both spent extended periods in the Netherlands over the past 12 months, where they trained and developed their game with leading club DOS ’46. Their ranks are also boosted by ‘secret agent’ Carl Chung, who was born in Auckland but moved to Hong Kong when he was young, starting his korfball career there aged 15, before moving back to New Zealand at age 18.

New Zealand is coached by Mark Garrett, who was assistant coach of the Australian team that reached that country’s highest korfball peak with fourth place in the 1995 World Championships. Mark is still based in South Australia and has commuted monthly to run weekend-long training camps in New Zealand since September 2013.

Eight of The Korus live in Christchurch, which is still recovering from a series of major earthquakes that devastated the city four years ago. Although many sports facilities were damaged or destroyed, korfball activity has continued in Christchurch, and with new sports facilities promised as the city is rebuilt, is set to enjoy further growth.

The Korus’ team blog is here: http://korfballnzteamblog.weebly.com