If you ask someone if they know anything about korfball, there’s a good chance they will just stare and shake their head with an unsure look.
What you can be sure of however is that the sport can be played by any person who is willing to give it a go, regardless of their size or strength.
This can be attributed to korfball’s key aspects as a game – it is a mixed gender sport where four men and four women share the court at the same time with males only allowed to guard males and females matching up against other females.
Combine this with players rotating between playing in attack and defence every two goals and what you get is a dynamic and a fast paced, high octane, entertaining sport to watch.
Such rules are designed so that no one player has an overwhelming physical advantage over their opponent, giving korfball a true sense of on court equality.
This is one of the main reasons players such as Ashley Warner, of Bec Korfball Club, love the game so much.
“Whether you’re a boy, whether you’re a girl. You’re all equal on the pitch and it also happens that whether you’re tall or whether you’re small, still as equal,” said Warner.
“Me being a quite a small person actually makes it just as equal. The rules mean that you’re defended within a close distance.
“I can be as close as I can to a tall person, they may have a bigger stepback but I can still compete with them in some way.
“I may be faster than them, they may be taller than me but that’s what I love about the sport. It’s such an equal all rounder.”
The game’s ethos of equality is very evident at Bec Korfball Club, who have been England’s standout team the past few years.
On May 18, the South London side won their third straight Premier Division Championship after defeating Bristol Thunder 35-14 in the grand final.
For the season, Bec scored a total of 632 goals in the Premier Division and went undefeated throughout the competition and they even made history earlier in the year when they claimed the bronze medal in the European Champions League that was held in Portugal.
Most importantly for Bec Head Coach John Denton, his team and players exhibit the type of culture and unity that makes korfball such a special sporting community where a group of people can achieve so much when working together.
“You have no weaknesses in our team because everybody plays for each other, everyone believes in one another and supports each other,” said Denton.
“And that’s the best thing about being at Bec Korfball Club, everybody works so hard and is so dedicated to being the best that they possibly can be.
“We really hit our stride…coming off the back of a European season where we competed with the best nations in Europe.
“(We competed with) Holland, we competed with Belgium. We nearly won that game which really shows the level where we’re at, which is a really top, top level.
“And all our players are so good and brilliant people as well.”
The success and dominance Bec have achieved in the National League and in Europe is even more impressive when you consider the everyday challenges that exist for korfball as a smaller, niche sport.
One of these difficulties is the sport’s need and reliance on people offering their time to contribute towards the running of the game in England.
“I think there is one person in the UK who is at a paid position to do with korfball,” said Ollie Friston-Fewell, the Chair of the London Korfball Association.
“So we’ve got the England Korfball Association, our national governing body has got one person as a paid position.
“Everyone else involved in korfball does it completely as a volunteer…the strength of the sport is dependent on the time that loads of great people across the country are giving to it.”
In addition to this, there are also certain logistical challenges that exist in terms of holding matches and training sessions and providing equipment.
“Having a sports hall is not easy to find…because korfball is a niche sport in the UK, it’s not like you can turn up to any sports centre and it’s going to have a korfball post,” Friston-Fewell said.
“It’s not everywhere, so we have to be on top of providing the equipment and the places for people to play are probably the biggest challenges.”
While not ideal, such factors have not stopped the sport from fostering a social environment where people can come together and form long lasting connections and for many, this is where korfball’s greatest strength truly lies.
“The biggest positive (of korfball) …it’s the sense of community that you get from it,” said Friston-Fewell.
“You form really good, tight communities…you can quite quickly get to know other players from other teams, other clubs.
“I’ve been to six korfball weddings, believe it or not, including my own.
“The other side of that being a mixed gender sport and that sense of community, you spend a lot of time together…people often end up finding partners through korfball which is really nice as well.”
As for what’s next at a national level, korfball can feel optimistic about the participation the game is experiencing throughout England, with university korfball emerging as a space the sport could especially tap into.
“There’s massive interest within the sport in universities. There’s a real desire to move it forward,” said Steve Rumble, the Director of Commercial Strategy at England Korfball.
“We’re talking to a number of universities and the korfball communities within universities, and both universities and the players are really keen to see what (is possible).”
It should come as no surprise that the game’s strong sense of community and culture of togetherness is seen as a key driver in korfball’s future and potential for growth.
“The wider community, it is growing as well as university korfball,” said Rumble.
“The really interesting thing is how it’s growing in the other regions. Based on recent performances, the North and West have shown that they could become additional powerhouses of the sport.
“Bristol Thunder, they made it to the grand finals for the first time…so they came runners-up this year which is a massive achievement for the West and Bristol.
“You’ve got a growing population and a growing performance improvement across the country. That’s only going to continue, I don’t see any momentum other than growth.
“I just think that not only is the mixed gender (aspect) that’s really interesting…it’s also got a really good social agenda and a family identity which I know is quite hard to quantify, but it just feels like people see it as a family so there’s a real connectivity with people across the country about the sport.”
So, whether you know much about it or not, there is a good chance that korfball could indeed be the game for you.
After all, it is a sport for anyone and everyone. If you do choose to give korfball a try, you can feel quite confident that you won’t regret it.
“If you’re looking for something that you can spend your time on at whatever level of participation you want, at the highest level or a real beginner level…(and) you want to find a sense of community and something that feels like you get back as much as you put in, I think korfball is a brilliant, brilliant place for that,” said Friston-Fewell.
“I’d say that’s it for coming and getting involved.”