This weekend sees 2 Guildford teams play in the Chris Carter Cup, with the first league korfball games for all teams starting in early October. The club hopes to build on last season's excellent performance and growth - keeping the newly promoted first team in the regional league and moving the second team up into OKA division 1. More focussed outdoor summer training plus competitive korfball tournaments across England (and the Netherlands) should give us a great boost to our skills and fitness at the start of the season.
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Guildford Thunder Korfball Club took to Sutherland Memorial Park in Burpham last week, to demonstrate korfball to health-seeking crowds. A team of 6 displayed our talents with some excellent distance shooting and runners, all done with expert commentary over the festival PA. The demo was part of the annual Burpham Wellfest which showcases local wellbeing, fitness and socially conscious organisations from around Guildford and the wider Surrey area. The club attended the festival as part of its ongoing recruitment drive and community outreach activities as it looks to grow in numbers and reputation in and around Guildford.
Our stand and pitch attracted an array of adults and juniors. These included lots of keen junior basketballers who got quite competitive - as did a number of the dads! Thanks to all members who came out to support our stall and the demo at the festival. Wellfest is run by Burpham Wellbeing and we look forward to returning for Wellfest 2024! Guildford Thunder will be supporting youth community sports this weekend as it demoes korfball to local kids.
Hosted at the Sports Park, the Specsavers Surrey Youth Games lets children from across the county try a new sport for free. From 9 on Saturday, kids will be able to try out more than just korfball: climbing, Soft archery, fencing, skateboarding, martial arts, dance and circus skills will all be on offer. The Games is the biggest multi-sport youth programme of its kind in south-east England. The Games are for beginners who may not get the chance to attend clubs, or are inactive and put off by the thought of competing against others. The focus is on joining in, having a go and having fun, to learn new skills and boost confidence. Check out the video of Surrey Youth Games 2022.
Summer tournaments are always fun and there are plenty of opportunities left to get some match time before next season starts in earnest.
See all the pictures of the day's events in our photo gallery. Guildford's White House pub saw yet another fun-packed Thunder awards ceremony and annual meeting this Thursday (4 May 2023). With nearly all members in attendance, and a 50% increase in membership since last year, it was a night full of cameraderie and team-spirit. With an eye-on next season, members voted in a new club constitution, elected new committee members and heard from the coaches on individual and team amazing progress and challenging ambitions. But most of all, we had some grub, a few drinks, a fun quiz and handed out a bunch of well-deserved medals. A big thank you to everyone for being part of this amazingly successful, growing and inclusive club this year. Those award winners in fullBest all-rounders Simon (1st team), Michael (2nd team), Ben (3rd team) Best supporting players Alec (1st team), Rob D (2nd team), Rob F (3rd team) Best dancers
Hayleigh and Tilly Worst shoe tying Will And of course ... the quiz winners The Outsiders! For all the pictures see the night's image gallery. The stand-out achievement is - of course - our first team's performance in winning Division 1 and reaching the promotion play-offs. This is all the sweeter, given that at the end of the 2021-22 season, Guildford Thunder were a whisker away from relegation. It's all the more incredible given the season-opening Chris Carter Cup saw the team finish only third. And this success for the first team has not affected the second team performance with a creditable fourth place in a highly competitive Division 2.
Of course, the success of our teams is due in no small part to our coaches, and it's been a real strength to be able to have expanded in such a well-supported way.
But what's next?
As the playoffs beckon, we plan for what happens if the first team is promoted, and how we support the second team to promotion and bringing the third team up to a truly competitive level.
All fun problems to have for a successful and expanding club. Roll on the summer friendly tournaments, the cup and the new season! Party! A hundred-and-three years ago - 1920 - war raged in eastern Europe, a pandemic had killed millions and a small island in north-west Europe demanded independence. A turbulent time. But also a time of increasing liberty and social improvement with women recently being able to vote in elections in many countries. Into this maelstrom came hope. Hope in the form of sport: the sixth modern summer Olympics. Peace, hope, sport ... and tug-of-warAntwerp, Belgium’s largest city, had avoided the devastation of the First World War so it was the ideal location for the first post-war Olympics: a Games that exemplified peace with the release of doves at the opening ceremony and the first flying of the iconic, white, multi-ringed flag.
Alongside, this frankly weird inclusion came - as a demonstration sport - the magnificent sport of korfball. A controversially inclusive sport
And at the time, men and women playing together on the same team was seen as…not progressive, but controversial or even offensive. Korfball players had been subject to accusations of immorality. Female players showing bare ankles and knees were more than frowned upon, and their for-the-time risqué outfits drew sharp words. Yet due to the war, fit young male athletes were in short supply and that loosened the strictures that bound society’s values and morals. That meant it was time for progress, but it was an uphill struggle! Getting korfball on the Olympic bill
This did the trick. That wasn’t the end of the shenanigans and wrangling, but basically it was now game on for the korf! One summer Sunday afternoon in AntwerpAt 1pm on Sunday 22 August 1920 with the first Olympic korfball game due to start at 2pm, the players set off from their boarding house for the stadium a few kilometres south of the city centre. Unfortunately, their drivers got confused and headed north towards a fairground that had the copyright-infringing name 'the Olympic Games'. In the end, the korfballers arrived at the Olympic Stadium with just 10 minutes to spare before the game start time!
It finished 2-0 for South Holland which seems like a spectacularly low-scoring game - perhaps everyone was distracted by the marathon.
International korfball since then
Korfball has been a part of every World Games since the 1985 London Games, which included squash, rugby and, inevitably, tug-of-war
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Photo from Tree Leaf Clover