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Whether any of the talked about
changes to the national league
format do ever materialise next
season, the National league
itself will certainly look a
little different in terms of
teams and players at least.
With the usual rumour and gossip
suggesting a number of player
moves might be imminent one or
two developments are at least
clear
Mitcham will most definitely
have a new coach at the helm
next season after the club
announced in a press release
they both they had ‘parted
company with head coach Colin
Boys by mutual consent’. What
that means it appears is that
the club decided they needed a
new coach to take them forward
next season
If
that is true then it is a little
curious that the club then began
advertising the vacancy just two
days later as you would have
thought they would have someone
in mind bearing in mind the
limited number of experienced
coaches on the market.
Peter Teague, the England Junior
coach, is clearly being
considered and has made clear he
is interested in taking what
would be his first Premier
league coaching role, but the
big question is what other
options are there. Mitcham have
set a deadline of the 26th
May for applications so no
decision will likely be made
before then.
Whoever takes on the role is
likely to face a tough task with
the Mitcham squad weakened by
the loss of the influential
Steve Green to Bec and Heather
Ikwuemesi to Nottingham next
season. Green looks set to take
on the player coach role at Bec
next season and will be hoping
to help pull the club out of
their familiar relegation battle
spot. If reports suggesting
that Mitcham captain and England
international Karen Sparrow will
also be moving to Bec with
Green, then the job will be an
even tougher one.
The loss of three players would
leave Mitcham needing to attract
one or two players to retain the
sort of depth they need for
European competition and with a
qualifying round not that far
away the club will be keen
indeed not to become the first
British club to fail to qualify
for the Europa cup finals.
Although she hardly featured in
Mitcham’s Premier league side
last season Ikwuemesi may prove
a significant loss and is one of
the club’s most promising young
players having produced
impressive performances in the
recent Junior World Cup .
Mitcham as a club have certainly
been progressive in their
support of such players, often
subsiding their participation of
SOE courses, but with Ikwuemesi
now heading North to university
it looks as though the club will
have to wait a couple of years
before they are to benefit from
that investment as far their 1st
team is concerned.
The big question for Mitcham is
whether they will lose any other
players this season which in the
absence of any replacements
could prove a major problem next
season, although little will be
known until the new coach
appointment is confirmed.
England Under 23 coach Colin
Boys now looks likely to take on
the coaching job at Trojans
which assuming Trojans do not
lose players during the summer,
should see them go into next
season as favourites.
The BKA cup final showed that
with Dave Brooks back from
injury there was little to
separate the two sides and we
will never know what the outcome
of the Premier league title race
might have been had Brooks not
been injured during the season
Kwiek will also likely have
their eye on the title next
season bearing in mind they have
such a young side and it will be
interesting to see whether Dave
Buckland decides to concentrate
on coaching as he originally
planned to do last season. Sadly
there is a suggestion they may
have lost their recently
acquired new playing and
training venue after complaints
about individuals speeding in
the estate grounds and abusing
the caretaker when challenged
after a fixture between
Kingfishers and Trojans, an
incident the EKA will presumably
be looking into.
If
true it means more NL games back
at the infamous Fort Pitt hall
next season for the Kent sides.
Nottingham look to be losing
coach Beth Lorrimer next season,
courtesy of her moving North of
Hadrian’s Wall, and like Mitcham
they will likely be looking for
a replacement and Invicta have
finally ‘parted company’ with
Robbie McDonald and it is not
clear whether brother James will
be staying at the club.
The Kent side will need to work
hard to improve the reputation
if they are to attract the
players they will need to return
to the glory days of recent
years.
Where Robbie McDonald goes from
here remains to be seen and
England coach Dirk Sercu
certainly raised some eyebrows
when he called up the talented
but volatile young player to the
Senior squad, and it is not
clear whether the fact that he
is not registered to a club will
affect his being part of that
squad.
Newcomers to the Premier league
Croydon look set for a tough
season ahead having not exactly
dominated the lower Division,
with coach Dave Butters doing
well to get the club promoted in
his first season. Butters had
acted in a player coach role for
much of the season but towards
the end it was clear he needed
to be one or the other, and
appeared to decide the club
needed him as a coach more than
they needed him as a player.
Although any changes to the
national league structure seem
unlikely next season there is
some hope that there will at
least be a move towards of cross
semi finals if for no other
reason than to stop the
contrived big end of season
clash being played at the likes
of Fort Pitt.
Kingfishers return back to
Division one after a tough
baptism of fire in the Premier
league which highlighted the
gulf that exists between the
leagues. Kingfishers did manage
a draw with Bec at the end of
the season in what was probably
one of the worst games in the
history of the sport (actually
the 0 – 0 Mitcham v Crystal
Palace Reserve league game years
ago takes the crown), but in
truth they were out of their
depth.
The problem was of course that
Kingfishers were not strong
enough to win the Division one
league in the year they were
promoted and went up only
because the league ‘winners’ had
points deducted under the EKA’s
development points rule.
With a young side and
suggestions that they might be
recruiting additional players
next season coach Ross
Carr-Taylor will be looking to
build a squad strong enough to
not only win promotion but avoid
bouncing straight back down.
Reports suggest that Carr-Taylor
is considering a player coach
role at Kingfishers after an
unhappy season at Kwiek which
seems likely.
Norwich Knights had a strong
season and looked favourites to
win promotion at one stage but
their lack of experience
appeared to be the difference in
the end. With a young side and
the likelihood that England
Under 19 international Charlie
Vogwill will be joining them
from Norwich City means they may
well go into next season as
favourites in.
Cambridge Tigers, with a number
of Under 19 international
players in their ranks, failed
to challenge for the Division 1
title, and with the majority of
their young players likely to be
heading off to universities in
the 2008/2009 season, this will
likely be their last chance of
gaining promotion for some
time. The problem of course
will be that if they do the
likelihood will be that the team
that actually plays in the
Premier league might be somewhat
weaker than the team that was
actually promoted. There was
also bad news for Tigers with
the announcement that England
Under 19 international Carly
Hobday would not be with them
next season.
Cambridge City, presumably still
a composite team of Cambridge
Korfballers other than from
Tigers, finished below their
local rivals as they did in the
Cambridge league, while
Supernova did just enough to
avoid relegation and will be
thankful there is no relegation
play off at the bottom of
Division 1.
Norwich City ended a fairly
miserable season with just one
win, over Supernova, and now
face the prospect of relegation
to the Norfolk league if they
lose their play off game against
Bearsted after the Kent side
lost 20 – 6 to the west London
Wildcats in the early play off
game which saw Wildcats promoted
to Division 1.
Like Norwich Knights the West
London Wildcats have a young
side, with half of the squad
aged 16 and under, and the blend
of the experience of the likes
of former GB international Steve
Jones with young players such as
Ben King and Neala Brennan,
proved far too strong for the
LDKA league and question will be
whether they can repeat the
success in the national league.
There will no doubt be plenty of
other developments and transfer
activity as the summer
progresses.
KorfballNet 15/5/07
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