IOC-recognised ‘Korfball’  striving for recognition in SL

Kids playing Korfball on the beach

By P.D. De Silva

“Korfball is a sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but we have been stumped by red tape and documentation in our endeavour to obtain official recognition in Sri Lanka,” lamented Korfball – Sri Lanka General Secretary Pushpakumara Madurapperuma. 

He said that one official had quipped that there were too many recognised sports in Sri Lanka.

Pushpakumara says that Korfball – Sri Lanka was formed on 4 October 2015 and admitted as an affiliate of the International Korfball Federation (IKF) a month later.

“Even though Korfball has not been duly recognised by the Ministry of Sports as yet, Korfball – Sri Lanka has introduced the sport to schools, universities and at community level, and conducted national championships from 2016 to 2019 and are currently ranked 43rd in the world,” said Pushpakumara.

Korfball is a mixed gender sport with similarities to netball and basketball, and is played by two teams of eight players comprising of four females and four males in each team. The objective is to throw the ball through a bottomless basket that is mounted on a 3.5 m (11.5 feet) high pole. It is a contactless and fast game, as unlike netball or basketball one has to shoot before being defended.

Korfball has been played for over 120 years around the world after a Dutch schoolteacher named Nico Broekhuysen came up with it in 1902. The International Korfball Federation (IKF) was founded in 1933 and Korfball is being played in over 70 countries now. The International Korfball Federation was recognised by the International Olympic Committee in 1993.

Pushpakumara said that Korfball was first introduced to Sri Lanka in 2013 by Netherlands Under-23 National Korfball Team former Physiotherapist Jose Van Nunspeet. In addition to conducting the national championship, teams from Sri Lanka have participated at the Asian Korfball Championship 2016 held in Jaipur India and the Under-16 and Under-19 Korfball Championships held in Taiwan in 2018. A beach korfball championship was conducted in Negombo in 2017.

Pushpakumara revealed that the association was planning to hold ‘KSL Open World Beach Korfball Fiesta’; an international beach korfball tournament in Negombo in early January 2022.

Korfball – Sri Lanka would be looking forward to receiving officially recognition before the tournament gets underway.