Korfball or Korfbal

Korfball, or Korfbal, in Dutch, is a mixed team sport and stands out from all others. This, because it’s made up of 4 men and 4 women. The semantics of the word comes from Korf which means basket in Dutch. Similar to basketball, the method of scoring differs in its rules, team composition and method of play. The sport was created in the Netherlands and it was widespread in it and in Belgium.

The main characteristics of Korfball are:

• Is played with hands;
• Rectangular court;
• Regulated physical contact;
• The goal is to put the ball in the basket;
• Mixed teams;

It’s forbidden:

• Touch the ball with the knee, feet or knees;
• Hit the ball with the fist;
• Take the ball from the opponent’s hands;
• Throw the ball from a defensive position;

Korfball is, above all, an innovative sport that can be played by anyone. Thus, not only does it spread the typological variety of each athlete, but it involves both genders, enhancing their equality and the overall team spirit.

Korfball History

Korfball was invented and developed in the Netherlands by a Physical Education teacher by his name Nico Broekhuysen in 1902. The basis of Nico’s invented sport was Ringball, a sport that also bears a close resemblance to basketball and with which the teacher had contact in Sweden during a summer trip.

Brokhuysen aimed to expand the sport in Dutch schools to fight youth delinquency. This because, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Netherlands was still experiencing the effects of the Industrial Revolution, which forced adults to work 12 to 14 hours a day. Consequently, children were subjected to too much free time and abandonment.

Thus, korfball was born with the dynamics of integration and social cooperation, two essential pillars in sport in general.

From its inception, korfball was gaining fans but it was not until 1920 that it expanded across borders in Belgium.

Given the strong acceptance rate, the sport has been expanding to the present day all over the world. Has already about 200 thousand practitioners including professional and amateur athletes. Mainly in the Netherlands, the country that saw this sport being created and developed.

Korfball in Portugal

The first contact with Korfball is in 1982, in Lamego, under a course on “Traditional Popular and Sports Games”.

It was 3 years later, in 1985, at ISEF Lisbon – now Faculty of Human Motricity -, that the first training course on sport was held. This important training activity led and conducted by the International Korfball Federation (IKF), motivated the creation of the first core of Korfball among ISEF students and teachers.

Some important historical facts in the course of Corfebol in Portugal include:

• 1986 – Year in which Portugal participates for the first time in the Tilburg tournament, in the Netherlands;
• 1986 – Sassoeiros (Cascais) is born the section of Korfebol of the Sassoeiros Football Club;
• 1987 – National Team participates in the 3rd World Championship, having finished in 9th place, in 12 teams involved;
• 1989 – The first National Championship is held;
• 1990 – Portugal debut in the UEFA European Under-23 Championship, finishing in 4th place in 8 teams;
• 1991 – Creation of the Portuguese Federation of Corfebol;

Since the creation of the Portuguese Korfball Federation, the sport has expanded a little all over the country. Consequently, the emergence of official clubs was a reality. Cascais Corfebol Club, International Football Club, Korfbal Lisbon Project, Sports Group São João do Tojal, are some examples.

This modality that differs from the others by its collective characteristics, has been disseminated and developed in Portugal.

At Sports Partner, we develop equipment essential for sport as well as for Korfball itself. We manufacture baskets, poles, balls, infrastructures and offer the best services to make this sport successful!