Korfball - Dutch Netball
Korfball is a ball sport that is similar to netball and basketball, developed in The Netherlands in the early 1900’s. It was invented by a school teacher named Nico Broekhuysen. Both men and women can play the sport; it has a league for mixed-genders, and an all-women league, but no league for men. There was a Korfball demonstration at the Olympic Games in 1920 and 1928.
Two teams play korfball each with eight players; it can either have an all-female team or mixed with four females and four males. The sport was designed for and is based on full collaboration between the two sexes. While four men and four women team up on each side, only players of the same sex oppose each other directly on the field of play.
action shot from the Olympic Korfball Demonstrationfrom: The Official Report of the Olympic Games 1928
One korfball match consists of two 30-minute periods. The goal of the game is to throw a ball through a bottomless basket, the "korf " (Dutch for basket). Korfball is either played indoors or outdoors. It is played indoors during winter and outdoors during spring or summer. The size of the court is 20 x 40 meters; the outdoor court is 30 by 60 meters.
Korfball is now gaining popularity in Belgium and in Taiwan. It is one of the major sports at the World Games and other popular sports competitions around the world.
Korfball at the World Games
Korfball was first featured at the 1985 London World Games as an indoor event. It has featured in several other World Games in different countries, including the 1989 Karlsruhe World Games, 1993 The Hague World Games, the 1997 Lahti World Games, the 2001 Akita World Games, the 2005 Duisburg World Games, the 2009 Kaohsiung World Games, the 2013 Cali World Games, the 2017 Wroclaw World Games, the 2022 Birmingham World Games, and the 2025 Chengdu World Games.
A korfball match at the World Games consists of four quarters of 10 minutes each. If there is a tie between both teams at the end of the game, there is a short "golden goal" period and if necessary a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner.
Here are the medalists who won gold at the end of the korfball event at the 2025 Chengdu World Games:
| Event | Medal | Name/Gender | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mixed | Gold | LOKHORST Jessica (F) NED CORDUS Esther (F) BOERHOUT Nikki (F) BOADI Danielle (F) HOEK Fleur (F) VERHOEF Sabine (F) VAN WIJNGAARDEN Olav (M) VISSER Marije (F) FABER Ran (M) VISSCHER Harjan (M) DE VRIES Carlo (M) OUT Alwin (M) FRIESWIJK Julian (M) OPPE Bo (M) |
Netherlands |
Similar Sports
- Basketball — a court sport where players attempt to shoot the ball through the hoop on the opponent’s court, moving the ball by throwing and dribbling.
- Netball — a team game with seven players on a side, similar to basketball except that players are restricted to certain sections of the court, and a player receiving the ball must stand still until they have passed it to another player.
- Ringball — a low key South African version of netball
Related Pages
- Korfball demonstration at the Olympic Games
- Korfball is played the World Games
- Sport in the Netherlands
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports — a list of every sport from around the world.
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