Korfball is one of the fastest growing sports in Scotland.  The name may sound alien to many, but don’t let that put you off.  Korfball is, in fact, one of the most ‘user-friendly’ sports around, highlighted by the fact that there are now clubs in most cities and at most universities around Scotland.

Korfball is a mixed team sport based around team work and cooperative play.  Similar to netball, each team consists of eight players, four men and four women.  Though the teams are mixed, a male may only mark enough male, and a female may only mark another female.
 
The basic rules are very simple – no running with the ball, no contact and no shooting if tightly marked.  These rules work to ensure a team has to work together to create shooting space, while the baskets are 3.5m high and placed in from the back of the court, enabling play to continue all around them.

The benefits of the sport are easy to see.  Like any athletic endeavour, fitness and skill is required.  But unlike some sports, there are very few prohibitives.  Physical size or strength counts for very little, as it is a non-contact sport.  It is cheap and easy to play – all you need is a ball and a net.  And it is all inclusive – there are no gender barriers.  What’s more, as it is a relatively new sport, you will be welcomed open-armed into any practicing club.

The Scottish Korfball Association was formed in 2006, following the breakdown of the British Korfball Association into separate nations.  Since then, the Association has been working on expanding korfball in Scotland, as well as developing a national team to compete at the highest level.
 
Indeed, earlier this summer the Scottish side was invited to play in an international tournament, the Commonwealth and Friends Championships, in South Africa.  In The Winning Zone caught up Naomi Reid and Grant Calder, two members of the Scotland korfball team, as they prepared to depart for Africa.

WZ: How did you discover korfball?

Naomi: I am actually a hockey player.  In university I played hockey but I wanted to do another sport to keep me fit.  I played a lot of basketball but I couldn’t make the basketball trials so I tried korfball and got right into it.  I discovered it at the Freshers’ Fayre at university.

Grant: In my third year at university I got the opportunity to take up another sport.  I went to the football team and it was very tough and I didn’t get in but my friend asked me to come to korfball so I went along. Most people started from scratch. 

WZ: Who invented it and how did it come to be?

Grant: It is a Dutch Sport. I was invented by a primary school teacher about 100 years ago.  He really wanted to have a game were both sexes could compete on the same playing field. Then he developed korfball.  It is played much more in Holland and Belgium than it is here. [the Netherlands have won every world championships since they began in 1978, except for 1991, when Belgium won]

WZ: Can you tell us a bit about the rules?

Naomi: We have eight players on each team, so 16 players in total on court.  Half the court is attack and half the court is defence. So there would be two girls and two guys marking within the defence area and the same for the attack area. You change around every two goals.  So you have to be a defender and an attacker, and everyone can shoot, unlike netball, so you have to be able to come on and do both positions.

Grant: It is good because everyone gets a bit of the glory when they are attacking or defending. In netball, it feels like you do all the work just to give it to the goal attack.  Whereas, in this sport every person is fundamental.  By guys marking guys and girls marking girls it means maybe the guys would be more important in one game if you need the height but in other games the girls can really be stronger and usually they win the game.

WZ: Is it most popular at universities?

Grant: It’s great at University because a lot of people want to play sports but they would have to be at a very high standard to get into the team. Korfball is accepting of everyone and it is good if you want to play for a University and have a fun social life.

Naomi: You will all come in as beginners. It is a good way to start because you are all on an equal level.

WZ: Strength and fitness-wise, how you would compare yourselves to other sports-people, like an international hockey player or karate athlete?

Naomi: I think our Coach is trying to make us take this seriously and she doesn’t want it to be a joke sport or anything.  She is making sure we are doing personal training and fitness.

Grant: At the moment we are obviously not the same standard of fitness as football, hockey or karate, but I think with a lot of enthusiasm it will go that way.  At the moment everyone in the Scotland team is fit because we like sport, but I wouldn’t say it is necessarily because of Korfball.

Naomi: My university (St Andrews) take it really seriously that I play on a national team because obviously they don’t have many athletes who play at that standard.  So they make me do exercises, do my own private shooting and have given me my own personal trainer. It has got more serious now that I am on a national team.

WZ: How much of your life does it take up to get to the standard that you are playing?

Naomi: We train for six hours a week. I do normal club training, then have a session by myself for maybe an hour or two on a Friday morning.  Getting availability of the sports facilities at St Andrews University is a bit of a problem. I have been very involved in the Club at St Andrews and that has taken up a lot of my time, not because I am on the Scotland team but just because I was president of the Scotland Club. A lot of my friends play Korfball and we all go out together.  It’s a big part of my social life and how I keep fit.

WZ: Can you tell us about the championships in South Africa?

Naomi: It’s called the Commonwealth and Friends Championships because they have invited America as well. It has been going for a couple of years now and the last one was in England. This is the first one that Scotland is playing in.  It will be five days in Victoria, with teams like Malawi, Australia and India taking part.

WZ: Do you feel like you are carrying the sport on your own backs, because it is still so small in Scotland?

Grant: It’s growing and every time someone comes along, most people stay on for another session and keep coming back, it’s catching and the foundation is there.  Now Beth Bennett, the Scottish Korfball Development Officer, has come in, she knows a lot of people and she really has put a lot of emphasis on trying to make it serious in Scotland and more organised and professional. Hopefully that will keep growing and more teams will play.

Naomi: Our Club at St Andrews had about eight players a few years ago and there are 52.  So every year it has doubled.  I think that is why our national team needs to do well.  I am a very competitive sports-person and don’t just play because it is fun. I think if the national team does well then young people will have something to aspire to.  They see that it is a serious sport and also a social sport.  England are a lot better at doing that as they have a bigger club structure and compete at a very high level, but Scotland need to focus on getting new players to the sport.

WZ:  What are the typical skills that a Korfball player needs?

Naomi: Basics – catching and throwing the ball. Speed is important as the main rule is you can’t shoot if you are in contact with someone, so you have to be fast to get past them. The ability to shoot as well is very important.

Grant: Hand-eye coordination and being able catch one handed, move and have good vision.  And general awareness is fundamental.  If you get someone who is really enthusiastic they will just keep running around aimlessly which is totally pointless and doesn’t do anything. Being able to calm yourself down and controlling your runs is very important.

WZ: Concentration must play a big part in it too?

Grant: Especially when you are defending somebody.  If you are marking somebody that is very quick then there are ways to defend that but you have to concentrate the whole time.

Naomi: A couple of inches can make such a difference. It’s all about how close you are marking.

WZ: What sports you did before korfball?

Naomi: I played hockey at quite a high level. I played for the West of England and played for my state in India when I lived there.  Hockey has been my main sport but I was also my school basketball captain and my school football captain.  Sport is pretty much my life.  At University I play social netball and I play on the St Andrews first hockey team, which I am about to give up this year.  I felt that I couldn’t commit to both being in my third year.

WZ: What are your lifetime ambitions as a Korfball Player? Where would you want to see yourselves and your sport in ten years time?

Grant: Personally, if the sport can gain entry to the Commonwealth Games, that would be fantastic. It would be amazing to support Scotland at that level.  From my point of view I want Scottish korfball to grow and hopefully for me to continue playing for Scotland.  There is always this fear that so many people come in then I will lose my place in the team.  My ambition is to hopefully one day play for Scotland in a really serious competition like the Commonwealth Games.

Naomi: I definitely see it as a sport that I would be playing in ten years time.  It’s the kind of sport, that if I moved down the England then I would be able to keep playing and meet people.  I want to carry on playing it at this high standard in Scotland.  It is my aim, as one of the youngest members, to stay in the team and keep improving.  We are hoping to host the University World Cup next year in Scotland. I am the Chairperson for The Scottish Korfball Association and one of our aims is to be able to host this major international event that could be in Edinburgh or Glasgow.

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Naomi and Grant did travel to South Africa in late June to compete in the Commonwealth and Friends Championships.  However, due to late withdrawals of England, India and Australia, the only national teams present were Scotland and South Africa. 

Scotland played a series of three Internationals against the senior and u-23 South Africa sides in the evenings, and during the day they competed in their Regional Championships.

The South Africa senior team, ranked 13th in the world, beat the Scots quite comfortably both times, 23-9 and 31-10.  Scotland gave their u-23s a tougher match, although they eventually lost 9-6 to their hosts. 

The Scotland squad gained a lot from the experience, with many players making their International debuts at senior level.  They are now planning on competing in Holland in November in the build up to the Europa Bowl competition in May.

RO
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