A korfball match in the Netherlands between 'ZKV Zaandam' and 'ALO'

Korfball (Dutch: Korfbal) is a mixed gender team sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. A team consists of eight players; four female and four male. A team also includes a coach. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1902 by Nico Broekhuysen. In the Netherlands there are around 580 clubs, and over 100,000 people playing korfball. The sport is also very popular in Belgium and Taiwan, and is played in 54 other countries.

Rules[link]

Korfball is played indoors and outdoors. The size of the court is 20 x 40 m (22-44 yd). The court is divided into halves called zones. In each zone is a 3.5 m (11.5 ft) tall post with a basket at the top. This is positioned two thirds of the distance between the center line and the back of the zone. A korfball match consists of two periods of 30 minutes, with a break of 10 minutes in between periods. Every team has their own coach, who can switch players during a match, negotiate with the referee, create the formation for the match and keep up the team's spirit.^[1]

The ball is similar in size to that used in football (soccer),^[1] but with more grip and bounce. At the beginning of the match one team chooses one half of the court. That half will be their defending zone, with 'their' basket in it. Players score by throwing the ball through the opponents's basket. After two goals, the teams change zones: defenders become attackers and attackers become defenders. In between those zone-changes, attackers cannot set foot on their defending zone or vice versa. At half-time teams swap halves.

Two men and two women of each team are in one zone, and the others are in the other zone. During the match they cannot switch zones. Men and women play side-by-side, but duels are man to man and woman to woman. However, it is allowed for a player to switch among opponents whom he/she is defending, as long as they are of the same gender.

Each team tries to score using tactics. The rules prevent physical strength dominating the game. Blocking, tackling and holding are not allowed, nor are kicking or punching the ball. Once a player has the ball, one cannot dribble, run or walk with it, however, one can move one foot as long the other remains on the same spot. Therefore tactical and efficient teamwork is required, because players need each other to keep the ball moving. A player may not attempt to score when defended, which occurs when the defender is in between the opponent and the basket, is facing his/her opponent, is at arm's length and attempting to block the ball.

History[link]

Korfball has Dutch origins.^[1] In 1902 Nico Broekhuysen, a Dutch school teacher from Amsterdam, was sent to Nääs, a town in Sweden, to follow an educational course about teaching gymnastics to children. This is where he was introduced to the Swedish game 'ringboll'. In ringboll one could score points by throwing the ball through a ring that was attached to 3 m pole. Men and women played together, and the field was divided into three zones. Players could not leave their zone. ^[2]

Broekhuysen was inspired and when he returned to Amsterdam he decided to teach his students a similar game. He replaced the ring with a basket (for which the Dutch word is "korf" or "mand"), so it was easier to see if a player had scored or not. Broekhuysen also simplified the rules so children could also understand and play it. Korfball was born. The main idea was the same as ringboll, but it now stood on its own.

At first there was quite some controversy about the sport, because the players were of both gender. Several sports journalists refused to even pay the slightest bit of attention to the new sport. Korfball-players were accused of being immoral. Even the sportswear was criticized because even the women were showing bare knees and ankles, which was unthinkable at that time. A newspaper even wrote: "Korfball is a monster that spreads its claws to all sides". Yet korfball was featured as a demonstration sport in the Summer Olympics of 1920 and 1928. ^[3]

International Korfball[link]

Korfball is played in 57 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Poland, Greece, Serbia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Germany, Taiwan, Turkey, Hong Kong, Portugal, Pakistan, Sweden, Hungary, the Philippines, Italy, Catalonia, France and Romania. It was played as a demonstration sport in the Summer Olympic Games in 1920 and 1928.

The International Korfball Federation was founded in 1933. Korfball has been played in the World Games since 1985. IKF World Championships have been held every four years since 1978. The leading nations are Belgium and the Netherlands. The oldest still existing korfball club to never have merged with any other club is a Dutch korfball-club H.K.C. ALO from The Hague, Netherlands. H.K.C. ALO was founded on February 1, 1906.

Hong Kong hosted its first international tournament, the Asia Oceania Championship in 2006. New Zealand hosted the Asia Oceania Youth Championships in 2007.

Beach play[link]

For beach play, the rules of the game differ slightly from those of indoor play. Each team has 4 starters and 4 substitutes. Only a single basket is used and matches consist of 5 minute halves with 3 minutes rest between. If either team has only two players remaining (1 man and 1 woman) because of injury or other reason during the match, the referee will stop play and terminate the game early.^[4]

World Championship[link]

The national teams competition organized by the International Korfball Federation has been played roughly every four years since 1978.

	Year	Host	Champion	Second place	Third place
I Details	1978	Netherlands	Netherlands	Belgium	West Germany
II Details	1984	Belgium	Netherlands	Belgium	West Germany
III Details	1987	Netherlands	Netherlands	Belgium	Great Britain
IV Details	1991	Belgium	Belgium	Netherlands	Chinese Taipei
V Details	1995	India	Netherlands	Belgium	Portugal
VI Details	1999	Australia	Netherlands	Belgium	Great Britain
VII Details	2003	Netherlands	Netherlands	Belgium	Czech Republic
VIII Details	2007	Czech Republic	Netherlands	Belgium	Czech Republic
IX Details	2011	China	Netherlands	Belgium	Chinese Taipei
X Details	2015	Belgium

IKF U23 World Championship[link]

• 2008 Kaohsiung, Taiwan - Netherlands
• 2012 Barcelona, Spain -

Coverage via www.korfball.tv

Continental championships[link]

IKF promotes two continental championships: European Korfball Championship and Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship.

Europa Cup for Clubs[link]

Every year the IKF organises the European Cup for clubs. The winner in 2009 was Koog Zaandijk from Koog aan de Zaan, the Netherlands. The winner in 2007 and 2008 was DOS '46 from Nijeveen, the Netherlands. DOS'46 won their first European Cup in 1982. Ons Eibernest from The Hague, the Netherlands won the first championship in 1967. PKC from Papendrecht, the Netherlands, have won the championship the most times, a record 10 wins in total. The Europa Cup is the only official international competition for clubs.

Until now, the winning team was either from the Netherlands or Belgium, with respectively 39 and 6 championships. The only club from the United Kingdom to reach the final was Mitcham Korfball Club from London. Mitcham lost the final against Catbavrienden from Belgium in 1998.

See also[link]

• European Korfball Championship
• Korfball European Bowl
• Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship
• Commonwealth Korfball Championships
• British Student Korfball Nationals
• International Korfball Federation
• Korfball European Cup
• Korfball Europa Shield

English indie rock group Half Man Half Biscuit recorded a song about the sport on their 2011 album 90 Bisodol (Crimond). The affectionate tribute to the game is called "Joy in Leeuwarden (We Are Ready)". The sleeve notes explain: "Written by Henny Wassenaar and Corien Steenstra. The original version of this song was entered into a competition to celebrate the arrival of the 2010 European Korfball Championships in Leeuwarden, Netherlands (it came second but in the words of town mayor Ferd Crone - 'it should have won and as a consequence of it not doing so I have much spite towards the victor')". ^[5] The song's history was later revealed to be a hoax, with Steenstra clarifying "I didn’t write a song about Korfball, but I did perform with a friend during the breaks of the European Korfball Champions in Leeuwarden."^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• International Korfball Federation (IKF) includes rules, all national associations and event results.
• (Dutch)Royal Dutch Korball Association​PDF (793.7 KB) Extensive destrciption and explanation of rules and requirements in competition korfball.