Wales appoint Leon Simons as national coach

The Welsh Korfball Association WKA announced today that it has appointed former Dutch korfball star Leon Simons as its Head Coach. The task for the new coach is clear: qualify the Welsh team at the upcoming European Bowl Tournament in October in Turkey for next year’s European Championship in Lisbon (Portugal).

Simons had been working with the Welsh team during a coaching clinic last year, and apparently the relationship was to both to the WKA’s and Simons’s satisfaction given today’s announcement. Simons is one of the most admired international players of his age, having played 94 times in the Netherlands national team, having won multiple European and World Championship, and World Games titles. In 2010, after retiring with a European Championship title, he was made an honorary member of the Royal Netherlands Korfball Association KNKV, and was also awarded a knighthood in the Order of Oranje-Nassau, one of the highest public distinctions in the Netherlands.