Introducing Koru, The Korfball Kiwi
Kia ora! If you haven’t been lucky enough to meet me yet my name is Koru the Korfball Kiwi. Before I let you know about what Korfball experiences I have been having, I thought I would tell you all a little about my past.
In 2010 when the New Zealand Korfball team were preparing for the Asia Oceania Championships in China. Grahame & Doreen Felton were mentoring the team and working on their mental skills but unfortunately they were unable to travel to China to be with the team. This was when I was born. Grahame & Doreen gifted me to the team so I could travel to China and represent them, reminding the team to use of all the new skills they learned from Grahame & Doreen. Like any new child I didn’t have a name so my minder decided to name me Koru, The Korfball Kiwi. I really like my name and what it represents. Koru is a Maori word that describes the spiral shape of a silver fern frond unfurling. This symbolises new life, growth, strength and peace, which are some of the qualities Grahame & Doreen taught the team about. Any time anyone in the team was feeling pleasantly weary, I was there to give them a boost of energy.
Since my first trip to China, I have become the mascot for all New Zealand Korfball teams and my minder has taken me on a lot of Korfball journeys. In 2011 I went to the Asia Oceania Youth Korfball Championships in Australia and also to the Korfball World Championships in China! In 2013 I traveled with my minder to the Netherlands, the home of Korfball! When I arrived I found out something funny – there is a korfball club in the Netherlands called Koru just like me!
Now it is 2014 and I am super excited to experience as much Korfball as I can while in the Netherlands. I will go back to New Zealand later in the year and join the national team once again for our next exciting adventure together! In August 2014 I will go to Hong Kong for the Asia Oceania Championships, once again representing the teams mentors, Grahame & Doreen Felton.
In 2010 when the New Zealand Korfball team were preparing for the Asia Oceania Championships in China. Grahame & Doreen Felton were mentoring the team and working on their mental skills but unfortunately they were unable to travel to China to be with the team. This was when I was born. Grahame & Doreen gifted me to the team so I could travel to China and represent them, reminding the team to use of all the new skills they learned from Grahame & Doreen. Like any new child I didn’t have a name so my minder decided to name me Koru, The Korfball Kiwi. I really like my name and what it represents. Koru is a Maori word that describes the spiral shape of a silver fern frond unfurling. This symbolises new life, growth, strength and peace, which are some of the qualities Grahame & Doreen taught the team about. Any time anyone in the team was feeling pleasantly weary, I was there to give them a boost of energy.
Since my first trip to China, I have become the mascot for all New Zealand Korfball teams and my minder has taken me on a lot of Korfball journeys. In 2011 I went to the Asia Oceania Youth Korfball Championships in Australia and also to the Korfball World Championships in China! In 2013 I traveled with my minder to the Netherlands, the home of Korfball! When I arrived I found out something funny – there is a korfball club in the Netherlands called Koru just like me!
Now it is 2014 and I am super excited to experience as much Korfball as I can while in the Netherlands. I will go back to New Zealand later in the year and join the national team once again for our next exciting adventure together! In August 2014 I will go to Hong Kong for the Asia Oceania Championships, once again representing the teams mentors, Grahame & Doreen Felton.
2013 Korfball Challenge (Netherlands)
As my last Korfball adventure for 2013 I traveled with my minder to the Korfball Challenge in Rotterdam. For those of you who don’t know anything about the Korfball Challenge, I will explain the best I can.
The tournament is run over four days and there are players from all age groups plus extra coaching courses and training. The best players from each district (Noord, Noord-West, Oost, Zuid, Zuid-West) play against each other at age group level (<12, <14) and there are also some international teams from Germany, Belgium and England (<16, <19). To top this off, in the evenings there is a six team senior competition. The top three club teams from the previous Korfball League compete against the top Belgian club side, the Talents (a Dutch <21 team) and the Tulips (a Dutch senior team minus the national players who are in one of the three club Dutch teams competing). The Korfball Challenge at senior level is also where three new rules are trialed. This year they trialed a 21 second shot clock, new substitution rules and no defended shots if the shot was in motion.
I was only in Rotterdam for the last two days of the tournament but I had a chance to watch the <19 tournament and also the Korfball Challenge finals (3rd/4th playoff and final). The talent of the <19 players was amazing! I guess most of them have played Korfball since they were young and that is why they are so much better in the Netherlands than anywhere else in the world. The five Dutch district teams finished 1st-5th while the international teams were 6th-8th. After the <19 tournament the Dutch national team was named with two players from my home club of DOS ’46, Harjan Visscher and Max Malestein, making the team! It was exciting to see some real future stars playing Korfball.
During the two days we were there, my minder Bevan was busy catching up with a lot of people he knows from all over the world (Hong Kong, Catalonia, Belgium, England and the Netherlands) in between doing his physio work for the Noord <19 team.
The tournament is run over four days and there are players from all age groups plus extra coaching courses and training. The best players from each district (Noord, Noord-West, Oost, Zuid, Zuid-West) play against each other at age group level (<12, <14) and there are also some international teams from Germany, Belgium and England (<16, <19). To top this off, in the evenings there is a six team senior competition. The top three club teams from the previous Korfball League compete against the top Belgian club side, the Talents (a Dutch <21 team) and the Tulips (a Dutch senior team minus the national players who are in one of the three club Dutch teams competing). The Korfball Challenge at senior level is also where three new rules are trialed. This year they trialed a 21 second shot clock, new substitution rules and no defended shots if the shot was in motion.
I was only in Rotterdam for the last two days of the tournament but I had a chance to watch the <19 tournament and also the Korfball Challenge finals (3rd/4th playoff and final). The talent of the <19 players was amazing! I guess most of them have played Korfball since they were young and that is why they are so much better in the Netherlands than anywhere else in the world. The five Dutch district teams finished 1st-5th while the international teams were 6th-8th. After the <19 tournament the Dutch national team was named with two players from my home club of DOS ’46, Harjan Visscher and Max Malestein, making the team! It was exciting to see some real future stars playing Korfball.
During the two days we were there, my minder Bevan was busy catching up with a lot of people he knows from all over the world (Hong Kong, Catalonia, Belgium, England and the Netherlands) in between doing his physio work for the Noord <19 team.
On the last night I watched the Korfball Challenge finals. Firstly was the playoff for 3rd between Blauw-Wit and Fortuna. This was the first time I have seen a game between two Korfball league teams. Immediately I noticed a difference between the level of Korfball here and anything I have seen before. The shooting was amazing and the game just seemed to flow so quickly, not because the players were moving faster but the timing of movement and their ability to see the next play was so much better than the players from lower levels. It was a very close game to watch for the 2000-3000 strong crowd, many who are probably more used to watching this level of korfball than I was.
In the final, Korfball League champions PKC were up against the Tulips. PKC were not at full strength for this game and the Tulips played an amazing first half, notching up 20 goals in 25 minutes! Male player of the tournament Mick Snel, who at 20 is still developing as a player, scored many of those goals in often-spectacular fashion. One of the players from PKC was only 17! While he was very good, he still has a lot to learn before he can play with the control and skill of the top players to be 17 and competing at this level is amazing. As the game wore on the Tulips dominance slowed and the fact they were a team only put together for this tournament showed with a few errant passes. Despite this the win was still a comfortable 35-20 win for the Tulips, taking home the 2500 Euro prize.
After the tournament I traveled back to Nijeveen with Friso Boode, who was one of the players from the Tulips.
It was great to experience such high level Korfball and hopefully in 2014 I get to see more Korfball League games and go to the final in Ahoy!
In the final, Korfball League champions PKC were up against the Tulips. PKC were not at full strength for this game and the Tulips played an amazing first half, notching up 20 goals in 25 minutes! Male player of the tournament Mick Snel, who at 20 is still developing as a player, scored many of those goals in often-spectacular fashion. One of the players from PKC was only 17! While he was very good, he still has a lot to learn before he can play with the control and skill of the top players to be 17 and competing at this level is amazing. As the game wore on the Tulips dominance slowed and the fact they were a team only put together for this tournament showed with a few errant passes. Despite this the win was still a comfortable 35-20 win for the Tulips, taking home the 2500 Euro prize.
After the tournament I traveled back to Nijeveen with Friso Boode, who was one of the players from the Tulips.
It was great to experience such high level Korfball and hopefully in 2014 I get to see more Korfball League games and go to the final in Ahoy!