Korfball Australia

National Club Championships will be held in the heart of Melbourne and the Melbourne Sports and Acquatic Centre on the October Long Weekend (SA Only), 3rd – 4th Oct.

Korfball Australia is excited about the opportunity to host the tournament in Melbourne and the exposure this can give us in that city.

This will also be the first opportunity for the A grade competition to be played on a full size court for the entire event.

Korfball Australia are going to open up the nominations for the event to include an U19 competition. If we receive 4 or more nominations for U19 teams then we will include this in the program. The inclusion of this youth level will not be a stand alone competition so any clubs considering entering A, B & Youth teams will need to hve sufficient players for all three teams. Once a player participates in a higher grade they will no longer be eligible to parrticipate in the lower team.

We are looking forward to this event and nomination forms will be sent out to all Clubs, States and Regions this week.

Look forward to seeing you all in Melbourne.

Regards
Tim Miller
President

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2009/07/worlds-largest-solar-audio-system-delivers-105db-to-40000-spectators/#more-342503

Earlier this month, Grzebik Design completed work on what they are calling the “world’s largest solar powered loudspeaker system” in the Taiwan National Stadium in Kaohsiung. It is capable of cranking out 105 dB of sound to 40,000 spectators.

The Taiwan National Stadium makes use of 60 distributed Apogee Sound AE-7SX weather-resistant loudspeakers for primary seating area coverage, 12 Apogee Sound ALA-5WSX weather resistant Acoustic Linear Array loudspeakers provides field coverage, and 2 Apogee Sound AFI-205 and two AFI-Point5 loudspeakers provide Control Room audio monitoring. The 76 loudspeakers are powered by 52 Peavey Electronics model PV2600 and 3 model PV1500 power amplifiers. Additional signal processing equipment includes Apogee Sound loudspeaker controllers, Symetrix SymNet Digital Signal Processing equipment, an Altair 48-channel mixing desk, Tascam CD, DVD and cassette players, Peavey Electronics, microphones, and CUE Touch Panel Controllers, all wired together with 9,500 meters (5.5 miles) of Klotz Cable.

Naturally, going 100% solar with an installation like this requires a buttload of green tech:

The ultra-modern $US5 billion Taiwan National Stadium, designed by renowned Japanese architect Toyo Ito, and constructed for the 2009 World Games, features a stunning 14,155 square meter roof incorporating 8,844 solar panels, which emulates the form of a flowing river, and generates 1.14 million KWh annually preventing the release of 660 tons-per-annum of atmospheric carbon dioxide. On days when the Taiwan National Stadium is not in use, the electricity generated from its roof is fed back the city’s electrical grid where it will meet almost 80% of the area’s energy requirements.

Indeed, if you look at the images of the roof, it seems to be completely covered in “a flowing river” of solar panels.

A very disappointing end of tournament for Australia against Great Britain. A slow start, missed penalties, short shots and run-ins and lack of fitness turned what ought to have been a tight match into a romp for the British.. At half time, the Australians had managed to recover from a shocking 2-9 start to be only 3 goals down (8-11) and back in the hunt for a win. But the British were able to extend the lead to 6 in the opening minutes of the second half and retain that 6 goal lead until the 50th minute (14-20).. But the Australians were tiring and the last 10 minutes saw an almost unbelievable 16 goals scored! Final score was 18-31, the highest tally for the tournament and making the British the only non Dutch team to score 30+ goals in a match..

Other finals were less dispiriting. Czech Republic fought back against Portugal to level the scores in the final seconds of regular time through a Penalty shot. Taking the match to their second Golden Goal decider. Clearly the Czech team has a game plan for Golden Goal as they managed to score quickly to seal the win and claim 5th place.

Chinese Taipei played Russia for 3rd place and once again it was a tightly fought contest. The Taiwanese team in front of a sold out stadium and 16 TV cameras broadcasting to local TV overtook the Russians after 18 minutes and took a 5 goal lead into half time 10-15. In the second half, 2 Russian substitutions did nothing to assist them, instead allowing the Taiwanese to break open the match with a 5 goal spurt.. The Taiwanese taking Bronze 18-25.

Neither the Dutch or Belgians had been troubled by opponents in the Pool or Crossover matches. The Belgians had surprised many with the manner in which they’d dispatched the Taiwanese and Russians but now had to prove themselves against the true measuring stick, the Dutch.. Over the past few years, the Dutch have made a mockery of their fiercest rival so it was to some (pleasant) surprise that at half time, the Belgians were still in the game, only 3 goals down 13-10.. It took until the 40th minute for the Dutch to open the distance between the teams and hold the gain and at the 52nd minute with an 8 goal advantage, the match was all but over. The Belgians did themselves proud to fight back to reduce the margin to only 5. The Dutch (as expected) taking the Gold 25-20

Overall, placings in the tournament were to expectations. Perhaps the only surprise being that Chinese Taipei did not challenge the Belgians, but clearly the Belgians have improved and are somewhat of a challenger to the Dutch. Whether the introduction of the Shot-Clock has had an impact on the results will be seen in future tournaments. Certainly, the scores across the tournament are higher than they have recently been demonstrating that the rule has improved the spectacle which was its primary aim. Crowd numbers and the inclusion of Korfball on EuroSport 2 TV throughout Europe is also another small stepping stone to improving the footprint of our sport. So overall a successful tournament for the IKF, if not Australian Korfball .

There is a possibility that we may be able to catch the final day’s competition in video.. I can’t get it to work, and all the instructions are in Chinese but there is a live streaming page here http://hichannel.hinet.net/2009wg/live.html it seems to be suitable for Internet Explorer users only so you need to use the IE Tab plugin if you’re a Firefox user and it tries to install a DRM component which fails on my work PC.

Link comes courtesy of my Ultimate Frisbee colleagues.. Hopefully those of us without Eurosport 2 can now watch some World Games Korfball too! Steve

Australia faced Portugal for an opportunity to play off for 5th place on Tuesday. Hamo led the way for the Australians with 7 goals (including 3 penalties) and the opening 2 goals of the match. It was tight at half time 7-6 in favour of Portugal and “game-on” for the second half…. Unfortunately, no-one told the Australians who seemingly forgot to return to court as the Portuguese put on the opening 4 goals unanswered. The Portuguese females were dominant all match, scoring freely in offence (more than half the Portuguese score) and denying the strong Australian female lineup many opportunities in defence. Only Jess May scored and only once. But the Australian males also struggled to find the basket. Australia adding only 4 goals to 15 in the second half! Going down 22-10, a very disappointing result given the half time figures.

Great Britain squared up against Czech Republic in a tight, exciting (despite very inaccurate shooting) match. After a blazing start, taking the lead out to 2-6, the Czech’s missed consecutive penalties and allowed the British back into the game. Both team’s inaccuracy evident in the half time scoreline 5-6. Despite losing a star player to a nasty knee injury, at the 53rd minute, the Czech’s were up by 3 and looking to finish off the match but the British found a patch of accurate shooting from distance and pegged back the margin to be down one goal at the 56th minute… 3 minutes later the scoreboard had not changed and it seemed the Czech’s would scrape home a win. With seconds remaining however, Britain were awarded a free pass and levelled the score to take the match into the first Golden Goal decider for the tournament. The Czech’s had the first attack in extra time and scored to put the British under extraordinary pressure to re-level the score in their first attack. They failed to do so and Czech were jubilant. 12-13 Golden Goal..

The final 2 matches of the day were to determine who would play off for first place on Tuesday. Belgium faced Russia but unlike the warm up friendly in China, the Belgians totally outclassed the Russians in this match. It was over in the first 12 minutes with Belgium up 7-0 from 6 different scorers! The Russians only managed to score their second goal of the match in the 35th minute! Sharpshooter Bart Cleyman (who plays in the Semi-Pro Dutch Korfballeague) finished with 10 goals (5 Penalties). Final score 24-8. The Belgians have not been challenged as yet in this tournament.. and talk of the Taiwanese being the next big hope to upset the Dutch seem to be premature..

Finally, as expected, the Dutch easily accounted for the Taiwanese. Jos Roseboom with 9 goals (3 penalties) and purportedly worlds best player Andre Kuipers with 5. Final score 29-13..

Tuesdays Finals are as follows. 2pm (Adelaide Time) 7-8th: Australia – Great Britain 4pm 5-6th: Czech Republic – Portugal 6pm 3-4th: Chinese Taipei – Russia 8pm 1-2nd: Netherlands – Belgium

Well, some exciting first halves by the Australian team shook the confidence of both Czech and Russia, but both managed to recompose themselves in the second halves of their matches to easily overcome the Australians. Poor shooting accuracy was the difference between the teams.

CZE-AUS
In the first match of the tournament, one which I predicted could be a surprise win for Australia, our team got off to a poor start. 9-4 down after 22 minutes, it was not the ideal start necessary for demoralising an opponent! To their credit however, the Australians slotted 5 of the next 6 goals to go into half time a very competitive 10-9 down.

After half time however, the Czech team used their distinct height advantage to control the rebound at both ends of the court. The shots were still coming from the Australians but they weren’t falling through the basket.. At the 55th minute with a 20-12, the Czechs relaxed and the Australians managed to catch up and finish a respectable 21-16. Dennis Giles top scored with 7 goals (including 3 penalties and another missed).

RUS-AUS
Another slow start saw Australia behind the Russians and taking a time-out after 16 minutes down 6-2.. But for 2 successive missed Penalties in the 18th minute, the Australians would have been down by one goal again at half time. As it happened though, the team went into the half with a 3 goal deficit, 9-6. The Australians caught up early in the second half, bringing the score to 9-8. The Russians broke the charge however, putting on 4 unanswered goals, then another 3 to expand their lead to 16-9 at the 50th minute. The game ran out 18-12. Top Scorers were Luke (3), Megan (2) and Dusty (5, including 4 Penalties).

Who knows what the effect of those 2 missed penalty opportunities might have had? But missed shots again were the Australian’s downfall.

Hamo star’s in this KOC photo from the match demonstrating his “jumping capability” against the taller Russian opponents

an IKF Slideshow of all the day’s matches including some Australians

NED-AUS
Katrina and Matt played their first senior Internationals starting on court against the best team in the world.. speaking from experience it’s a daunting occasion. Hopefully they enjoyed the experience and wondered at the ability of the players with whom they were sharing the court.

Some thought this match was a foregone conclusion.. But after 9 minutes, a newcomer might have thought otherwise, Australia 0-1 up! and having missed a penalty to boot!! In the 10th minute, the Dutch finally remembered they were supposed to put the ball through the Yellow thing and levelled the score.. The first goal sparked the team and they shared the scoring to be 5-1 with 5 different goal scorers 5 minutes later! At 22 minutes, the scoreline looked more like what was earlier expected, 10-2 and the entire Dutch team on the scoreboard at least once.. At half time, the Dutch were up 12-3 but were forced to run lines as punishment for scoring less than 15 goals against a team the coach clearly had no respect for.. Uncharacteristically for a Dutch team, the second half was more intensive than the first (usually they’re so far in front they relax in the second and allow the underdog to “catch-up”). This time, they pulled out to a 25-4 lead at the 47th minute, then took off the pressure.. The match finishing 37-10. The Australians were happy with the result. It’s one of, if not the, longest times the Dutch have been held scoreless at the start of a match and in this first International tournament under the shot-clock, they managed to run down the Dutch clock twice!

OTHERS
Other highlight matches from the Pools were Taiwan-Belgium.. Expected to determine who will face the Dutch, the Taiwanese were expected to win by many observers following last year’s Youth World Championships performance where they finished second.. The Belgians had everything to prove and came out hard leading 14-9 at half time.. Their defensive pressure increased in the second half and they ran out easy winners 30-16. This result gave Great Britain great confidence, having only lost 25-13 to Belgium, so the following day’s Taiwan-Great Britain became a crucial win for the British. They lead at half time 7-5, but at 45 minutes, scores were level (11-11) and the Taiwanese had the momentum and slowly drew away to win 17-14.

and in Pool A Czech Republic – Russia yesterday would determine who finished in the Top 2 to continue on to the Top 4 playoffs. The Czech’s started well, up 7-5 at half time and increased their lead with the first 3 goals of the second half to 10-5.. But Russia recollected themselves despite a Czech time-out halfway through a spurt of 5 Russian goals and scores were level 11-11 at the 45th minute. The last 10 minutes saw rapidfire scoring of a goal per minute but the Russians were the more effective winning the game and the right to play Belgium for a chance against the Dutch 19-15.

Final pool standings are:

Today’s matches will be:

The starting team for the first match of the World Games 2009 AUS07 Brad MARKS M A AUS12 Dennis GILES M A AUS02 Jessica MAY F D AUS06 Lia MATTHEWS F D AUS09 Luke ROSIE M D AUS11 Mark HAMILTON M D AUS04 Megan O’KEEFE F A AUS01 Vanessa BRAITHWAITE F A

For some reason the old site developed major formatting problems..

In fixing the problem, we took the opportunity to change the back-end of the site..

The site appearance will change over the coming weeks

Korfball Australia is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul ADAMS to the Korfball Australia Board as the National Referees Director. Paul brings a wealth of playing refereeing and administrative expertise to Korfball Australia.

Paul has played, coached and officiated at International level and is currently on the IKF Refereeing panel and the AOKF referees committee.

KAOHSIUNG (08/25/08). Right after the end of the Olympic Games in Beijing attention is already drawn to the next big multi-sport event under the patronage of the IOC. The 8th World Games will take place in Chinese Taipei from 16 to 26 July 2009. They will be hosted by the harbour city Kaohsiung, 400 kilometres from the capital Taipei, in the south of the island near the Chinese mainland coast.
The organizer is the International World Games Association (IWGA). The World Games features the best 3,500 sportsmen and women from 32 sports federations that are currently not on the Olympic programme. The competition programme of The World Games includes, among other sports, Squash, Sumo, Dance Sports, Rugby, Billiards, Tug of War, Gymnastics, Lifesaving and Skydiving. Following their participation in the Beijing Olympic Games, the best Softball nations will also compete in Kaohsiung. Softball will be one of the demonstration sports at the Kaohsiung Games. After Beijing, Softball will no longer be on the Olympic programme and will now present itself under the umbrella of The World Games.
For Chinese Taipei the organization of The World Games is a totally new experience. It is the first time that the island hosts a multi-sport event. The organizers have made a commitment to organize the best World Games ever. The host city Kaohsiung, a city with 1,5 million inhabitants and one of the world’s most important container harbours, is currently building a Main Stadium for 45,000 spectators and an indoor arena for an audience of 15,000. Both sport venues will be ready for the event in July 2009. IOC President Jacques Rogge has appointed the IOC Member from Chinese Taipei, Mr C.K. Wu, as an Observer on behalf of the IOC.
In 2005 The World Games took place in Duisburg/Germany. On that occasion more than 500,000 spectators flocked to the multi-sport event. The 7th World Games received TV coverage in 120 countries across the globe.