IKF U21 European Korfball Championship update

/in , /by

The IKF Competition Committee has published in close communication with the local organising committee a revised match schedule for the IKF U21 European Korfball Championship (IKF U21 EKC). See under Events.

This event in Olomouc, Czech Republic starts Sunday 6 July 2014.The first match starts 1245 PM Prague time.

Thru the online IKF software system worldkorball.org you can follow the matches on your Pc or tablet: Worldkorfball link to the IKF U21 European Korfball Championship. For the smartphone you can use the korfball app. Worldkorfball is directly connected to the jury table in the venue.

Eleven teams participate. Wales did witdraw their U21 team from the event.

Korfball promotion in Sri Lanka

/in , /by

Our experienced IKF teacher, Mr Erik Buizer (NED), did make an IKF Development and Education  trip to Sri Lanka recently. Erik was supported by his daughter Iris. In Sri Lanka Mrs Jose van Nunspeet did take the initiative to start korfball.

To give you an impression Erik Buizer made a video presentation and we encourage you to watch this video: Sri Lanka video June 2014

This shows commitment, dedication and fun by bringing korfball to another culture again.

Korfball features again in Sony commercial

/in , /by

For the second time in less than 2 weeks korfball in Hongkong features in a Sony commercial; follow this link to the 2 minute Sony commercial.

An excellent show and excellent korfball promotion again.

Changes in the Rules of Korfball as of 20140901

/in , , , , , /by

The Rules of Korfball will change as of 20140901.

The Rules will come into effect for the IKF from 1 September 2014 but countries may bring forward to an earlier date or put back the date of implementation to no later than 1 July 2015.

The revised Rules of Korfball, the Guidance notes for the Rules of Korfball and the changes are published in the IKF website as well under Documents and Playing Rules.

Promoting korfball to the masses

/in /by

Many of you that have heard me in the past few years have heard me speak of the “multiplier”: we can grow the number of active players with much of our effots, but if we really want to have more exposure, we need to grow the non-player fan base much more. For every new player, I would like to see ten new people that become a fan of our sport to watch.

Initiatives that specifically target this are few and far between, but especially the Hungarian and Hong Kong Korfball Associations have been very active in this realm recently. In Hungary, korfball will be part of an annual night sport festival on the Heroes Square, one of Europe’s most famous Squares. 10,000 people are expected to take part and will be able to witness and feel korfball. In Hong Kong, korfball has been featured in a nationwide TV and subway commercial that has been shown to millions of people in the territory. Moreover, tens of thousands of people are watching the video every day on Youtube.

Creativity has no limits, and I challenge each and every korfball player to think about their effort in creating the multiplier. Ideas are welcome – executing those yourself even more!

Jan Fransoo

President

New leadership for Chinese Taipei Korfball

/in , /by

Mr Wu-Hsiung Huang has been elected the new President of the Chinese Taipei Korfball Association CTKA. He will lead the development of korfball on the island over the next years together with newly elected Secretary General Mr Watson C.T. Chen.

Mr Huang succeeds Professor Likang Chi, who has served the CTKA for eight years as President, and Dr Inglish Y.C. Huang, who served the CTKA as Secretary General during the same period. Under their leadership, Chinese Taipei korfball has developed into a worldwide powerhouse, gaining recognition as the world’s first A-level country outside Europe, winning bronze medal at the 2005, 2009, and 2013 World Games, and the 2011 World Championship. Highlight of their tenure was winning the silver medal at the 2008 U23 World Championship. Dr Huang will continue to serve as Vice-President of the CTKA and as President of IKF Asia.

Mr W.H. Huang is a successful entrepreneur from Hsinchu city and very engaged with the further development of korfball. The day-to-day leadership team will be coordinated by Secretary General Watson Chen, who has been a top-level athlete and has played many years in the Chinese Taipei national team, including winning a bronze medal at the 2001 World Games. He will be assisted by two other former national team players as Vice-Secretary Generals: Mr Jano C.H. Huang and Mr Vincent W.C. Huang.

Korfball features in prime-time Sony commercial

/in , /by

With close to 150,000 views on Youtube within a week of its release, this will easily become the most watched korfball-video ever produced: A commercial for the Sony experia in Hong Kong airs on major television channels across the territory, and in the entire subway system on the trains’ video screens.

The video illustrates the Hong Kong spirit by telling the story of the Hong Kong U23 national team that had qualified for the 2012 World Championship but did not have the funding to travel. The team took their fate in their own hand and started a fund raising campaign on facebook: “A court for every dollar” where the team took up the challenge to run around a korfball court for every dollar donated. The campaing attracted attention of local newspapers and other media at the time, who started to pressure the sports ministry who eventually came in with financial help for the team, to supplement the funding raised by the campaign.

Kwok Kuen Ham, captain of the team (who also became topscorer at the World Championship U23) was one of the initiators of the campaign, and was approached by Sony earlier this year when they were developing the promotion campaign for the launch of the new Experia camera: “Sony contacted me on Facebook to find out whether we would be interested in working with them to make their new commercial advertisement, since they really believed we represented the Hong Kong spirit. Our story became the story of the new commercial.” The shooting took place earlier this year with an extensive production crew. Later, an additional day of shooting was done with korfball being played on one of the piers in Hong Kong. This should become the footing for a longer documentary on the story of Hong Kong’s U23 team: Korfball Everywhere.

 

Night korfball in Budapest’s Heroes Square

/in , /by

Korfball will be played at night in one of the most famous squares of Europe. On June 28, korfs will be available at the Heroes Square in Budapest  for everyone to enjoy playing our great sport. Korfball is part of the Night Sport Festival, together with 10 other trend sports in the heart of Hungary’s vibrant capital.

According to Bandor Nagy, Development Director of IKF Europe, and Director of MKBA Sport Management, on Facebook: “It is a huge sport festival. Right now more than 5,000 people have registered, with still three weeks to go. I think there will be more than 10,000 people. A great promotion for korfball”. The MKBA is exploring to play at the event in Budapest with a glowing ball. The event wil be held from 10pm until 4am.

More information can be found on Facebook.

China Korfball presents awards to Crum, IKF and IKF Asia

/in , /by

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the introduction of korfball into China, the Chinese Sport Ministry and the Chinese Korfball Association honored many that contributed to the development of korfball in the world’s most populous nation.

Ben Crum, IKF Senior Advisor, was awarded the title of Honorary Life Coach of the Chinese National Korfball Team. Crum, who was part of the introductory mission in 2004, has conducted over the past decades many coaching courses in China, has coached the national korfball team at the World Championship in 2011 in Shaoxing, and has advised the current coaches Ma and Liu over a long period of time. Crum was touched by the recognition: “This means a lot to me”.

Furthermore, awards were presented to the IKF (represented by President Fransoo, who also lead the introductory mission in 2004) and IKF Asia (represented by President Huang, who was also part of the delegation of the introductory mission) for the extensive support over many years and the commitment of both organizations towards the development of korfball in China.

In addition, a number of national korfball leaders were recognized, of which the most well-known is Mr Guo Qilin, who arranged the introductory mission and subsequently supported and initiated many korfball activities in China.

The event took place in Zhengzhou, where also the 6th national korfball championship was held.

IKF U21 European Korfball Championship pools and match schedule

/in , /by

The IKF Competitions organised based on the IKF youth ranking 2013 the two pools for the 16th  IKF U21 European Korfball Championship (IKF U21 EKC) to be held from Sunday 6 July to Saturday 12 July 2014 in Olomouc, Czech Republic.

Twelve (12) national U21 teams will compete to become the next IKF European U21 Korfball Champion on Saturday 12 July. The tournament starts with round robin pool matches on the first five days. On day six the teams play semi-finals. The last day is finals day.

The pools are:

Pool A
 Pool B

A1

 NED ;

B1

 BEL

A2

 POR ;

B2

 ENG

A3

 CAT ;

B3

 GER

A4

 RUS ;

B4

 CZE

A5

 HUN ;

B5

 POL

A6

 TUR ;

B6

 WAL

Wales is a first time competitor in this youth event.

The IKF U21 EKC match schedule is published under Events in the IKF website.