Apologies to those who look forward to my weekly updates about korfball life in the Netherlands for my tardiness in posting another update. It has been a couple of weeks since you have heard from me and a lot has happened in that time.
A quick aside for those of you who don’t understand the structure of the Dutch Korfball competition:
Essentially there are two different competition ladders – one for first teams and one for reserve teams (any other team apart from your clubs top side). For first teams the best ten teams will compete in the Korfball League; the next 16 teams in the Hoofdklasse; next is the Overgangklasse followed by 1st, 2nd 3rd, 4th klasse etc. Exactly the same structure sits alongside for the reserve teams with the reserve teams of the Korfball League clubs automatically competing in the Reserve Korfball league. Then the best reserve teams will compete in Reserve Hoofdklasse, followed by Reserve Overgangklasse etc. First teams are promoted/relegated between divisions from the first ladder while reserve teams are promoted/relegated between divisions in the second ladder. There is no cross over where first teams play against reserve teams. Hope that makes sense!
The Good
Communicating with the NZ korfball family is becoming a more integral part of my journey now as we work towards the 2014 AOKC. Thanks to the interweb this task is made much easier, a bonus for me although some of the players back home might find my messages and prompts a bit tiresome. Recently we had a great catch up with the members of the NZ team to create a new level of focus and drive for 2014, coming up with a number of initiatives and areas to train (both on and off court) for our korfball development this year. I continue to be more and more excited about the group we have and their potential to surprise a few people in Hong Kong.
Here at DOS ’46 I traveled with the third team to Eindhoven for their away game against RustRoest 2. Following a big win last week, DOS 3 were feeling confidant that they could come away from Eindhoven with two points and create some breathing space between them and the bottom teams in the Reserve Hoofdklasse. DOS 3 stayed in control through the first half, building a lead that fluctuated between three and four goals for most of the first half. RustRoest leveled the scores early in the second half with a three goal run and took the lead for the first time. After some back and forth where no team was able to build ultimate control of the game, the scores were locked at 16-16 with about 10 minutes remaining. DOS 3 finished the stronger of the two teams, scoring five unanswered goals to complete a 16-21 win and secure their second win in a row!
I was also given the chance to have a run with DOS 5, which consists of a number of very experienced former first team players. It was great fun to play with this group, having a run on court in the second half. Although my shooting was atrocious, some of the others were more accurate and we had a 13-19 win over Leeuwarden 2.
The junior teams at DOS ’46 also continue to shine with A1, B1 and C1 all in the top three teams of their pools with A1 looking good to secure a semi-final spot and have a shot at competing in the final in Ahoy for the second year running.
Furthermore, I have been able to watch DOS KIDs (mentioned in my last post) and learn more about coaching korfball at a junior level, which will help develop the juniors starting to play korfball back in NZ.
The Bad
DOS 4 had a loss to fellow cellar-dweller in the reserve first class Oost-Arnhem, leaving the team winless for the hall season so far and still struggling to find enough females to play due to the injury situation at DOS ’46. Our game over the weekend had to be canned for this exact issue as we were unable to get enough players together to play away for the third time this season, prompting a message from the KNKV that will be reported in ‘The Jammer’.
DOS 1 also continued their tough start to the year. A home draw against Wageningen followed by an away loss to Groen Geel has left them with little chance of making the top two in their Hoofdklasse pool for the crossover games and a chance to be promoted to the Korfball League. I know this will be disappointing for a team that started the season with high hopes of returning to the Dutch korfball elite. It has been a tough hall season for the club in general and one that no doubt will provide many valuable lessons for the coming years so that dream of returning to the Korfball League is realised soon.
The Jammer
From what I eluded to above, DOS 4 was given an ultimatum by the KNKV. Either make sure you have a team to play in every game left, including the three games missed already, or pull the team out of the competition. There was a meeting between the team and members of the DOS ’46 committee to discuss what the decision would be. I have to admit while I was still bemused and confused during good portions of the meeting I was surprised how much I could actually understand. In my brain, Dutch now makes sense as a language, even if it is full of words I don’t know the meanings to. In the end there was only one possible conclusion for DOS 4, which was to withdraw the team from the competition.
Now without my own team to play for, along with the other members of DOS 4 we will be filling in for other teams when required. DOS ’46 will do as much as they can to give us any opportunity possible over the coming weeks. This also means I must continue to work harder to develop my korfball knowledge as much as possible with the time I have left here. I have also managed to organise a trip to Belgium to catch up with my former New Zealand coach Daniel De Rudder, be a tourist (i.e. sample Belgian beer, chocolate and history) and also enjoy some of the Korfball in Belgium as well
Tot ziens,
Lorenzo
A quick aside for those of you who don’t understand the structure of the Dutch Korfball competition:
Essentially there are two different competition ladders – one for first teams and one for reserve teams (any other team apart from your clubs top side). For first teams the best ten teams will compete in the Korfball League; the next 16 teams in the Hoofdklasse; next is the Overgangklasse followed by 1st, 2nd 3rd, 4th klasse etc. Exactly the same structure sits alongside for the reserve teams with the reserve teams of the Korfball League clubs automatically competing in the Reserve Korfball league. Then the best reserve teams will compete in Reserve Hoofdklasse, followed by Reserve Overgangklasse etc. First teams are promoted/relegated between divisions from the first ladder while reserve teams are promoted/relegated between divisions in the second ladder. There is no cross over where first teams play against reserve teams. Hope that makes sense!
The Good
Communicating with the NZ korfball family is becoming a more integral part of my journey now as we work towards the 2014 AOKC. Thanks to the interweb this task is made much easier, a bonus for me although some of the players back home might find my messages and prompts a bit tiresome. Recently we had a great catch up with the members of the NZ team to create a new level of focus and drive for 2014, coming up with a number of initiatives and areas to train (both on and off court) for our korfball development this year. I continue to be more and more excited about the group we have and their potential to surprise a few people in Hong Kong.
Here at DOS ’46 I traveled with the third team to Eindhoven for their away game against RustRoest 2. Following a big win last week, DOS 3 were feeling confidant that they could come away from Eindhoven with two points and create some breathing space between them and the bottom teams in the Reserve Hoofdklasse. DOS 3 stayed in control through the first half, building a lead that fluctuated between three and four goals for most of the first half. RustRoest leveled the scores early in the second half with a three goal run and took the lead for the first time. After some back and forth where no team was able to build ultimate control of the game, the scores were locked at 16-16 with about 10 minutes remaining. DOS 3 finished the stronger of the two teams, scoring five unanswered goals to complete a 16-21 win and secure their second win in a row!
I was also given the chance to have a run with DOS 5, which consists of a number of very experienced former first team players. It was great fun to play with this group, having a run on court in the second half. Although my shooting was atrocious, some of the others were more accurate and we had a 13-19 win over Leeuwarden 2.
The junior teams at DOS ’46 also continue to shine with A1, B1 and C1 all in the top three teams of their pools with A1 looking good to secure a semi-final spot and have a shot at competing in the final in Ahoy for the second year running.
Furthermore, I have been able to watch DOS KIDs (mentioned in my last post) and learn more about coaching korfball at a junior level, which will help develop the juniors starting to play korfball back in NZ.
The Bad
DOS 4 had a loss to fellow cellar-dweller in the reserve first class Oost-Arnhem, leaving the team winless for the hall season so far and still struggling to find enough females to play due to the injury situation at DOS ’46. Our game over the weekend had to be canned for this exact issue as we were unable to get enough players together to play away for the third time this season, prompting a message from the KNKV that will be reported in ‘The Jammer’.
DOS 1 also continued their tough start to the year. A home draw against Wageningen followed by an away loss to Groen Geel has left them with little chance of making the top two in their Hoofdklasse pool for the crossover games and a chance to be promoted to the Korfball League. I know this will be disappointing for a team that started the season with high hopes of returning to the Dutch korfball elite. It has been a tough hall season for the club in general and one that no doubt will provide many valuable lessons for the coming years so that dream of returning to the Korfball League is realised soon.
The Jammer
From what I eluded to above, DOS 4 was given an ultimatum by the KNKV. Either make sure you have a team to play in every game left, including the three games missed already, or pull the team out of the competition. There was a meeting between the team and members of the DOS ’46 committee to discuss what the decision would be. I have to admit while I was still bemused and confused during good portions of the meeting I was surprised how much I could actually understand. In my brain, Dutch now makes sense as a language, even if it is full of words I don’t know the meanings to. In the end there was only one possible conclusion for DOS 4, which was to withdraw the team from the competition.
Now without my own team to play for, along with the other members of DOS 4 we will be filling in for other teams when required. DOS ’46 will do as much as they can to give us any opportunity possible over the coming weeks. This also means I must continue to work harder to develop my korfball knowledge as much as possible with the time I have left here. I have also managed to organise a trip to Belgium to catch up with my former New Zealand coach Daniel De Rudder, be a tourist (i.e. sample Belgian beer, chocolate and history) and also enjoy some of the Korfball in Belgium as well
Tot ziens,
Lorenzo
PS - it's getting a bit colder here but keep in mind there are many record temperatures as well. One day recently a couple of weeks ago was 10 degrees C, a mere 28 degrees higher than the -18 degrees on the same day last year!