Want to advertise here - contact us for details USA Promotion tour a success The recent IKF Korfball Promotion tour of the USA proved a great success, generating significant interest and enthusiasm for the sport in the areas visited and raising Korfball’s profile by way of a number of positive articles in the US newspapers. The European featured players from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, a British coach along with two Dutch referees and a tour manager. The European team had met only twice before the tour at training sessions in the Netherlands and faced a schedule of clinics and promotion matches over the week. Their first stop was the town of Holland in Michigan the home of Hope College and Professor Karla Wolters, who recently visited the Netherlands as a guest of the IKF on a fact finding tour. Over the first two days the team split into two groups to conduct a number of clinics at both Middle and High Schools in the Holland area and which in total were delivered to over one and a half thousand young players, with as many as a 100 players attending some sessions. At the Middle schools the children were given a demonstration of a half court game and then were taught some basic shooting skills before trying the game themselves.  At the end of each session a number of players were given the chance to play in a full court game with members of the European team. The young players who took part in the clinics proved incredibly enthusiastic and their athletic and movement skills and ability to adapt to Korfball techniques was quite astonishing.  A number of children with disabilities also took part in clinics and one of the highlights of the clinics was a the look on a young deaf boy’s face when he finally sent the ball sailing through the basket after a great many attempts, a moment that by itself made the whole trip worthwhile. A number of athletic and talented youngsters also attended the High School Clinics. The climax of the visit to Holland was a match at the hope College arena played in front of a crowd of nearly 700 hundred spectators.  The atmosphere made for an entertaining game with the young Hope College side making up for their lack of experience with their commitment and top quality athletic skills. Naturally the USA side’s play had a very much of a basketball look to it but their mid range shooting proved very effective and their tough physical defensive style certainly caused problems for the European team, as did their blocking and screening tactics in attack. In the end the match ended with a score of 14 - 7 in favor of the visitors but the USA team had proved tough opponents and the home crowd went home satisfied. The game was highlighted in the newspapers the next day and many of schools visited were asking how they could get hold of equipment with a view to introducing Korfball into their programs. On the next stage of their trip the group faced a 5am meeting and a flight to Boston and then onwards to Salem State College.  Again they faced a busy schedule, which unlike Holland was focused on clinics for Youth leaders and PE teachers, along with a training session for the Salem State college team. On the Friday the European team managed to fit in an NBA game traveling to Boston to watch the Celtics v the Pistons in what turned out to be a highly entertaining night.  When it comes to sports the Americans certainly know how to put on a show and the game proved exciting to the very end with he Celtics leading by one with 0.8 seconds on the clock and the Pistons calling a time out and managing to get away a shot on the restart within the little time left to win by one, much to the dismay of the home crowd. On the Saturday the European team faced another game this time against a team of Salem College students bolstered by some former USA players including Dave Warren.  The match was played in front of a far smaller crowd due to the early start needed as a result of some of the European team flying back home that afternoon. The match proved a far easier one than against Hope College and the European team produced some entertaining and often spectacular Korfball much to the delight of those watching. Dave Warren showed he hadn’t lost his shooting touch as he consistently found the basket from distance and ‘Downtown’ Dirc Sercu’s gave the crowd a long rage shooting display earning him the nickname from the US announcer. As many of the European team headed back to Europe and group of six stayed on play a further match with Salem Students and then made the 3 hour drive to Rockport in Maine to help Rebecca Shields promote the sport in her home town. After a brief rest in the wilds of Maine the European players took part in a match with a local Rockport team as well as a further game involving students and young players.  The spectator’s numbers were not that they had seen in Holland, Michigan but the enthusiasm and interest on the part of those playing and watching as well as media exposure the game generated made the trip worthwhile. The promotion tour helped generate the reforming of the US Korfball Federation with Dave Warren agreeing to take on the role of President.  The general feeling of those involved was that that US development should be approached on a regional basis bearing in mind the size of the country. It is hoped that as US national team will take part in international competition in the near future and the USKF will be applying to take part in the next Senior World Championships. Clearly in the short term Holland, Michigan will likely be the hub of US Korfball and a Hope College team is currently planning to visit the Netherlands in the spring/summer of 2006. The hospitality and friendship offered by the US hosts was second to none and the tour was indeed a great success, not only in terms of it’s aims but in the way the European team bonded together as a team so quickly. The first team reunion was held in Anthem last weekend and no doubt others will follow, with many keen to re-visit the US in the future. The key now will be those running US Korfball to keep the momentum going and if Korfball takes off even half as much ’soccer’ has in the US then it would give Korfball a massive boost worldwide. The European Promotion Team Tour manager Berthold Komduur (NL) Coach Steve Barker (WL Wildcats, GB) The Players Dirc Sercu (Kwik, BEL) Rudo Nijzinc (Achilles, NL) Elmar Hesselink KVZ, NL) Ronald Buis (DVO, NL) Carsten Konieczny (Grun Weiss, GER) Luuc Dahm (Los Angeles CA)  Rabea Cramer (Grun Weiss, GER) Maaike Huisjing (ALO. NL) Nienke Huijsing (ALO, NL) Jitta Mannee (Drachten, NL) Hendrikle Jorissen (Sikopi, BEL) Sascha Versloot (Triaz, NL) Ilse Hens (OJC, NL) The Referees Wietske Jongbloed-Spijkstra (Oerterp, NL) Alberta Boerma-Wiersma (Vitesse, NL) IKF USA Coordinator Maarten Kooijenga (Apollo, NL) KorfballNet 6/12/05 Want to make your views on this or any Korfball news known - then why not visit the discussion forums at Korfball.com or Korfballworld.com Main page | European results menu | Korfballshop.com Want to advertise here ?