IKF ECup 2018 starts today!

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Today will be the start of a new adventure in the history of the IKF ECup. As from 09:00 teams will compete for the “Alfons Janssens” trophy. The whole korfball community is looking forward to witness exciting matches in the beautiful venue of Platja d’Aro. Yesterday the international referees all passed the physical test with glamour. The arbitration is ready for a high performance.

You can follow this IKF ECUP 2018 on worldkorfball.org: CLICK HERE
For ikfchannel on YouTube: CLICK HERE

Official event site on Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/147931785836069

All images, reports, interviews, videos and curiosities will be available live 24/7 on IKF social media profiles (#ECUP2018):

The IKF Europa Cup 2018 is ready to start in Platja d’Aro!

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From Thursday 11 to Saturday 13 January 2018 in Platja d’Aro (Costa Brava – Girona, Catalonia), the 52th IKF Europa Cup 2018 will take place, with 8 European national korfball champions competing to be the best team in Europe.

All information, pools, tournament rules and matches schedule are available on www.ikf.org/event/ikf-europa-cup-2018 and www.ecup2018.cat

PARTICIPANTS (Country – Club):
BELGIUM – AKC/Luma Korfbalclub
CATALONIA – Club Korfbal Vallparadís
CZECH REPUBLIC – KCC Sokol České Budějovice
ENGLAND – Trojans Korfball Club
GERMANY – SG Pegasus
HUNGARY – 1908 SZAC Budapest Korfball
NETHERLANDS – Korfbalvereniging TOP/SolarCompleet
PORTUGAL – Núcleo Corfebol Benfica

As usual, all IKF Europa Cup 2018 matches will be available through live webcasting. You are invited to watch all the games on www.worldkorfball.org, with all the statistics, play-by-play, top scorers, graphics and much more. Or directly through the ikfchannel on YouTube.

cap_ecup2018

For IKF ECUP 2018 on worldkorfball.org: CLICK HERE
For ikfchannel on YouTube: CLICK HERE

All images, reports, interviews, videos and curiosities will be available live 24/7 on IKF social media profiles (#ECUP2018):

Hans Vroegh, long-time international development volunteer, dies at 76

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The IKF regrets to announce the passing of Mr Hans Vroegh, bearer of the IKF Pin of Merit, at age 76, following a progressive disease. Mr Vroegh has spent all of his life supporting the development of korfball, with in particular during the past decades an emphasis on international development. He was one of the key figures behind the “Apeldoorn Youth Tournament” which later developed into the IKF Youth World Cup, and invitation tournament for national U23 teams, and for the international development committee of the KNKV East District. Later, after moving to the North of the Netherlands, he also supported the U19 Korfball World Cup for some years. Within the IKF, Vroegh had been active as referee instructor and as development officer for India and Indonesia. He was awarded the IKF Pin of Merit in 2012.

Mr Vroegh is survived by his wife, two children and four grandchildren. A mourning ceremony will be held on January 10 in Oldeberkoop, Netherlands.

Best wishes for a very busy korfball year ahead!

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As 2018 has just commenced, we are all realising that we are facing an exciting year ahead, with many competitions around the globe.

On all continents, continental championships will be held. Americas is first, with the IKF Pan-American Korfball Championship to be held in Cali, Colombia. Six teams teams will compete for the title, with for the first time ever two spots available for the IKF World Korfball Championship in 2019. Merely a month later, Harare (Zimbabwe) will be the host of the All African Korfball Championship. Also there, for the first time ever, and due to the IKF World Korfball Championship 2019 being held on the African continent for the first time (Durban, South Africa), two spots will be available. So, apart from host South Africa, a second African country will be able to qualify for the World Championship. Later in the year, the Asians and Oceanians will have their quadrennial joint championship in Tokyo-Saitama (Japan) and the Europeans will see their long qualification series (which already started last year) completed in the Netherlands, where sixteen European teams will compete for their continental title.

For many countries, taking part in the continental championship is their main target, and a great way to focus development efforts. Especially for those countries ranked between 30 and 50 on our world ranking, taking part in the continental championship is the pinnacle of their performance. I am happy to see so many countries taking part in this quadrennial cycle, where we are likely to break again the record of the number of participating countries. This is important for us as worldwide korfball community to demonstrate our growth by hard numbers. It is however also important to help grow the performance culture in all of our member organisations. While grassroots participation is always and should remain the primary objective of any national organisation, it is critical for each national organisation to also develop a strong performance pillar, which includes a national league and championship at different age groups levels, and includes international participation.

To further stimulate this international participation, this year we see the first-ever official IKF U19 Championship. While World Cups have been held for two decades in this age group, I am very excited to now see an official biannual U19 World Championship emerge. Before too long, we hope to be able to also convert the U17 World Cups every two years to a World Championship.

With all this ahead, I realise that many of our volunteers are devoting a lot of effort and creativity to making this happen, both financially and organisationally. It is to them that I wish to dedicate my New Year’s Message this year: lots of success with all or your endeavours, which I hope you will complete in good health and with great joy.

 

Dr Jan C. Fransoo

President

International Korfball Federation

Healthy, happy and sportive 2018

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The IKF Council and the IKF staff wish all of you a healthy, happy and sportive 2018.

We will continue to support our members to spread korfball over the world and increase the level of play.

IKF New Year 2018

Belgium (Blankenberge) host of the IKF Beach Korfball World Cup (Europe) 2018

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The IKF is happy to announce that the Royal Belgian Korfball Federation (KBKB) will host the IKF Beach Korfball World Cup (Europe) 2018. The event will take place on the weekend of the 11th and 12th August 2018 and will be held in Blankenberge, Belgium. The best ranked European team will become European Beach Korfball Champion 2018.

With the introduction of World Cups, the IKF invests in the global development of beach korfball. Every continental organisation has the opportunity to organise a World Cup in 2018 and every country from all over the world is able to participate in each of the events. This can lead to at most 5 World Cups:

  • IKF Beach Korfball World Cup (Europe)
  • IKF Beach Korfball World Cup (Asia)
  • IKF Beach Korfball World Cup (Oceania)
  • IKF Beach Korfball World Cup (Africa)
  • IKF Beach Korfball World Cup (Americas)

The bid of Belgium to organise the IKF Beach Korfball World Cup (Europe) 2018 surpassed the competitive bid of the Turkish Korfball Federation (TDSF). Decisive in this process was the overall picture by the KBKB, presenting the event in a wider “Korfball Experience” approach to promote (beach) korfball in Flanders. This includes a side event for youth teams and recreational teams during the Championship weekend and a tournament for schools at the end of June. In Blankenberge, there is two kilometres of beach available, so having enough playing space for all beach korfball activities is not an issue!

Next summer it will be 15 years since two small clubs outside Antwerp started playing beach korfball. Since then beach korfball has grown significantly. In 2010, the Belgian Federation started a taskforce to organise a beach korfball tour across Flanders, which has been converted into an official committee within the Federation. To date, the highlight is the year of 2015 with more than 1200 participants in the korfball tour. This has left no doubt that the 2018 event will create a special 15th anniversary!

IKF President in Taipei

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IKF President Fransoo is in Taipei this week for various meetings with the leadership of the Chinese Taipei Korfball Association and the President of IKF Asia. The President commended the CTKA with winning the silver medal at The World Games in Wroclaw this Summer. Also, he thanked the CTKA Exco and IKF Asia President Huang for their extensive support developing korfball in Asia. Thanks to the efforts of the CTKA, now three Asian countries rank in the world’s top 10 and a file requesting recognition has been submitted to the Olympic Council of Asia.

Today, President Fransoo and President Huang met with the Chinese Taipei Sports Minister and the director of the International Affairs department to discuss future opportunities for major IKF events in Taiwan and further collaboration in the development of korfball in Asia.

IKF Europa Cup History – November 2017

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Today we published the updated IKF Europa Cup History Booklet.

This Booklet tells the full history of 51 IKF Europa Cup Events since 1967. The IKF Europa Cup is the korfball event with the longest history.

The 52nd IKF Europa Cup will be played from 11 – 13 January 2018, in Platje d’ Aro, Catalonia.

You can find the booklet under Click here for IKF Europa Cup History November 2017.

IKF Europa Cup 2018 match schedule

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From Thursday 11 January till Saturday 13 January 2018 the 52nd IKF Europa Cup final round korfball will be played in Platja d’Aro, Catalonia.

Thursday 11 January 2018 9.00 AM the first match will start; KCC Sokol České Budějovice versus SG Pegasus Rommerscheid 1991 e. V.

Today the IKF published the IKF Europa Cup 2018 pools, match schedule (all times in GMT + 1)+ the event rules:

Click here for match schedule, pools and event rules

IKF Ranking 2017 updated (from 1 November 2017)

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Only one change in the top 20 of the new IKF ranking is seen after the last official IKF Championships. Only Hungary and Turkey have swapped position on the ranking. Suriname and Kenya enter the list.

* Points for the ranking are mainly earned through participation in IKF events with a weighting for each event given according the importance of the event. Countries who take part in qualifications for a final round are awarded points for that event also, being ranked for example, 17th, 18thetc. Points earned are weighted less each year until the next edition of the event. The previous edition of the event drops out of the calculations. With the change in some continental championships to a bi-annual rather than a four yearly cycles weighting reductions are revised to reflect this.

IKF Ranking 2017 as of 1 November 2017; CLICK HERE