The Netherlands wins the U19 KWC

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The Netherlands wins the U19 Korfball World Cup in front of a sold out venue with around 1,000 spectators. After a great final the Dutch U19 team was the the strongest team in the 2013 event in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.

The Dutch beat their rivals Belgium 16-14. At half time the young Belgiums were in the lead 8-9. Dean Woods (ENG) was the referee in the U19 KWC.

Chinese Taipei achieved the 3rd place after a narrow victory over England; 11-10.

More informations; go to the U19 KWC website: http://www.u19kwc.com/

Maroc beats China in U19 KWC

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The 2nd day of the 18th U19 Korfball World Cup showed an interesting match between the two first time participants China ad Maroc. Maroc did reach their first win. Their enthusiasm after their 11-8 victory was enormous.

Hungary, Poland, Germany and Russia 4 could not outperform the top 4: Belgium, Chinese Taipei, England and The Netherlands. In the poolmatch Chinese Taipei versus The Netherlands the youngsters from Asia could equalize till the first part of the second half; 9-9. The Dutch scored an unbeaten 7 goals; 9-16 was the final score.

Portugal, Czech Republic, Maroc, Roumania will play for the places 9 – 12 on the last event day. China will be placed number 13.

Sunday morning the semi finals are on the program. The finals start 1300 PM (Amsterdam time). The event championship final starts 1700 PM.

Hungary U19 ousts Portugal to advance to top 8 in U19KWC

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In Leeuwarden (NED) today, the first round was played of the U19 Korfball World Cup, the annual open tournament for national U19 teams. Today’s matches did not see many surprising results as most teams did what was expected from them. However, Hungary upset Portugal beating them 9-5, forcing the Iberians to play the remainder of the tournament in the bottom half.

Chinese Taipei, Netherlands, Poland, England, Russia, Belgium and Germany all advanced to the final 8 of the World Cup, as expected. The performance of the Chinese team, for the first time participating in an U19 event, was below expectations as they suffered big losses to all their rivals in the group. Also Morocco, in a first-ever international participation in any official korfball event, lost all matches.

Witnessed by many spectators, the tournament was conducted under a very pleasant athmosphere, with many of the youth teams being hosted by korfball clubs in the Friesland province. The second round will be played on Saturday, with finals on Sunday.

Portuguese Federation ready for big challenges

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The Portuguese Korfball Federation FPC, under the leadership of his President Mario Almeida, has an ambitious development program. In their strategy, they aim at giving the sport a national presence. Furthermore, they are about to host two major international events: the IKF Korfball World Congress in October 2013 and the IKF European Korfball Championship in October 2014.
In the past few days, IKF President Fransoo was in Portugal to witness the various developments and preparations. With many projects, the awareness of korfball has been substantially increased. In the project “korfball without frontiers” hundreds of immigrants have been introduced to korfball and are now being integrated into the clubs. Further, as part of a project to involve universities, 600 students took part in a beach korfball event in the sunny Algarve earlier this week. The national teams have been offered full support by the High Performance Center of the Ministry of Sports.
Jan Fransoo met with Alexandre Mestre, Secretario de Desporto (sport minister), to discuss the important position of korfball in his policies. Further, he inspected the SANA Metropolitan Hotel, which will be host to the IKF Korfball World Congress, 24-27 October 2013, in Lisbon. He also visited two of the venues, in Lisbon and Odivelas, that will be host to the 2013 European Championship.

Cali korfball community developing

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The Cali (COL) korfball community is gradually growing and developing. While on an inspection visit for The World Games, which are due to be held in Cali (COL) this Summer, IKF President Fransoo met with local korfball developer Mr Pedro Sanchez, and attended a training session of some of the Cali players.

Currently, the total community is still small, and consists of about 35 players, mostly students of various universities in Cali. The main limitations are the availability of a space to practice, and the lack of korfball knowledge. However, during the visit, the IKF signed an agreement with the Escuela Nacional de Deporte and the Sports Administration of the City of Cali to work together to develop korfball, as a legacy to The World Games korfball presence. As part of the agreement, the city will make available a permanent outdoor space for training and playing. The space, in one of the sports parks at a central location in the city, will allow thousands of Calenos to watch and experience korfball. Further, the IKF will work with the END to educate korfball coaches, such that korfball could be included in the elective course program of END, and the coaches could work with Cali’s 22 communities to teach korfball to kids across the city.

Chinese Taipei Sports Minister pledges support

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In a recent meeting with IKF President Dr Fransoo and IKF Asia President Dr Huang, the Chinese Taipei Minister of Sport, Dr Ho, pledged support for the objective to include korfball on the program of various multisports events in Asia. IKF Asia is currently requesting the Olympic Council of Asia for recognition, upon which korfball should be included in the Asian Indoor Games. However, the national korfball organizations in East Asia are also targeting inclusion on the program of the East Asian Games, a high-profile quadrennial multisports competition. Taichung (Taiwan) is current bidding for the 2017 edition of the East Asian Games. If Taiwan is successful in the bid, Dr Ho pledged support to include korfball on the program.

In the meeting, President Fransoo thanked the Sport Administration, now part of the Ministry of Education, for their long-standing support and collaboration with the Chinese Taipei Korfball Association, the IKF, and IKF Asia.

Korfball Promotion Tour Australia

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This tour is sponsored by IKF and KNKV and looks forward to receive applications from players in Europe that are willing to travel to Australia for a combination of clinics and tourism in some of the main cities. IKF instructor Mr. Edwin Bouman is in charge of this project together with Korfball Australia, in order to recruit 12 players according to the following conditions:

 – Playing at international level Seniors or U23,  or playing at lowest in Overgangsklasse/ Reserve Hoofdklasse standard in the Dutch competition.
– Good communication level in english.
– Good enthusiasm and coaching skills.
The tour will last for 3 weeks, from 22nd June until 15th July and “Promotion Team” will visit cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Australian Korfball Association will take care of the accommodation and different arrangements together with Australian clubs listed in the tour. Details of the trip as well as flight schedules conditions are managed by Mr. Bouman. If anyone is interested please contact him before 20th April 2013.

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Mundialista Coliseum construction on track, but schedule remains tight

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On a visit to Cali (COL), host city for the upcoming edition of The World Games, IKF President Fransoo was fully briefed by the Cali Local Organizing Committee CLOC. The main purpose of the visit was to obtain an update of the status of preparations for the korfball tournament, which is to be held from July 31 until August 4 at the Mundialista Coliseum. The Mundialista is a brand-new venue that is currently under construction. The start of the construction has been delayed several times over the past year, but started on February 1, 2013. The construction is still on schedule to be completed by June 15, 2013.

As is common in Colombia, the coliseum consists only of specatator stand, a court, and a roof on poles. To take advantage of natural cooling by wind, none of the facilities in Cali have walls, and neither does the Mundialista. The Mundialista is located on the premises of the Instituto Universitaria Escuala Nacional de Deporte. The END is the only dedicated sports university in Colombia and is well-equipped with full support facilities, including a gym, physiotherapy facilities and staff, and sports medical facilities and staff. As korfball will be the only sport played at the END during the World Games, all facilities will be available prior and during the tournament for the korfball athletes and their staff.

The Mundialista will be equipped with a floor that is well-known to many korfball athletes and fans: SportCourt. SportCourt was also the floor on which the final of the IKF World Championship 2003 was played in Rotterdam.

Marc van Leuven (BEL) awarded IKF Pin of Merit; Ruts new chair of KBKB

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Marc van Leuven today resigned from the Presidency of the Royal Belgian Korfball Association KBKB after serving in this position for 11 years. He will continue to serve on the Executive Committee of the KBKB until 2015. In 2015, the KBKB will host the IKF World Korfball Championship. Frans Walvis, IKF Senior Vice-President, awarded Van Leuven the IKF Pin of Merit, to appreciate the extensive support that Van Leuven – in his position as KBKB President – has given to many programs for korfball development. Over the past decade, the KBKB has provided extensive support to multiple programs, including the IKF “referee to a higher level” program.

At the General Meeting of the KBKB, it was announced that Mrs Danielle Ruts will take over the Presidency. It is the first time in its 92-year history that the KBKB will be lead by a female President. Ruts currently also serves on the Council of the IKF, a position she is planning to retain.

Netherlands win U16 Korfball World Cup 2013

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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