When? 28th 29th Jan 2012.

Where? This year we are again at Crown Park Football club Taharepa Road, Taupo

What? The 8th Taupo Korfball extravaganza: Camping, Korfball, BBQ, Beers, Swimming

There is a Facebook event here for your convienience www.facebook.com/events/246290722101837/

Get yourself along - you'd be crazy to miss out :) Lifts available, camping is $10 per night or you can stay in the club house for $10 a night.

Any questions to korfball@ak.org.nz

One of the founding members of Auckland Korfball - Kerry Wilson is in Shaoxing, China for the 9th International Korfball Federation World Championships. Congratulations to Kerry on this achievement as he is there at the invitation of the IKF to sit on the Jury. He has experience running korfball Jurys both in NZ and overseas.   

Event – National Provincial Championships, Wellington.

Date –  26 & 27^th November,  2011.

Venue – ASB Sports Centre, Wellington (thats the new giant indoor stadium, with full size courts and in-ground posts).

Location – 72 Kemp Street, Kilbirnie.

Host – Wellington Korfball.

If you are interested in playing please let one of the committee know by email ASAP

8PM @ Horse and Trap

10th Feb 2011

It’s that time of year again please make every effort to attend we will hold the AGM at the Horse and Trap after training.

Taupo outdoor Tournament is on  12th 13th February 2011. All welcome especially beginners!

Taupo Soccer Club,

Taharepa Road,

The End of League Social will be held at the Flying Moa on the 23rd November.

Dinner will be from 6pm and a quiz will be starting at 7:30pm with teams to be formed on the night.

Check out the Facebook event for more details :

Facebook - End of League Social

Don't forget NPC training every Thursday night 7:00 - 8:30PM at St Cuthberts school until 18th November.

The IFK have just released a new promotional video which can be viewed on Youtube in HD here.

www.youtube.com/watch

The IKF have finally released pictures of the new ball to be used in Korfball competitions. It has been designed to be a ball specific to korfballand represents the first major change in design in 50 years.

Tonight we kick off our social league at the: AMI Auckland Netball Centre, 7 Allison Ferguson Drive, Saint Johns

For tonight, 14th September we have:

Game 1: BECA vs ThinkIT Referee: Rush (AISS)

Game 2: AISS vs Team 4 Referee: Roddy (BECA)

Full draw will be up on the website later this week! Thank you all for your patience and look forward to seeing you tonight!

Please note Auckland Korfball is on mid year holiday. Beginners sessions start again 7PM @ St Cuthberts School Epsom on 12th August 2010. All welcome.

COST:
$15.50 for adults, $11.00 for under 12s, $8 for 3-4 year olds!


Sooo bring the whole family! Bring whoever - friends, colleagues we don't mind!

Please let me know if you are or are not able to make it and how many people in your crew. social@ak.org.nz

Looking forward to falling over with you all!

P.S. Elise has promised to teach us how to backward skate and stop like a pro, if you are like me you'll be able to tick off a life goal!

Word out!

Hella :)

Auckland Korfball are running a series of beginners sessions starting Thursday 27th May. They will be taking place at St Cuthberts 7:00 - 8:30 PM. All welcome no experience required.

New Zealand's second match of the championship was against cross Tasman rivals Australia.

The first half belonged to the Australian girls - who put in 12 of the 13 goals scored by their team in a powerful display of attac. New Zealand tried to stay in touch with the Aussies again with Ryan Lawerence contributing well in the post area, but found themselves 7 goals down at half timek.

The second half began with a long period of no scoring but eventually Australia broke the drought to go to a 14-6 lead before New Zealand scored a couple in quick succession. The Australian girls again dominated the score sheet scoring 18 goals for the match.

Final score NZ 10 - Autralia 23.

New Zealand are currently in China competing in a qualifying tournament for the 2011 World Championships, Aucklander Jim Gardner is part of the squad. In their first game of the tournamnet New Zealand came up against Korea.

This was to be New Zealand’s first game under coach Mark Garrett so many eyes were on what form the Kiwis could produce. The game was played at a much slower pace than many of the other games on the first day with both teams having some difficulty in capitalising on some good play in attack. The shot clock came into play on many occasions as shooting accuracy was lacking even though the build up in the attack deserved better. The half time score was therefore low at 7-2.

In the second half Bevan Grant found range on several occasions with some beautiful long distance shots and New Zealand moved to a 14 –3 lead. Anna Teen proved to be valuable to the side after playing in England last year and she fitted in well with the Kiwi game plan.

Korea had difficulty scoring in the second half and finally broke through with 3 in a row with a few minutes remaining in the half. New Zealand won the encounter 16-7.

This years Companies tournament will be held on field 1 in the Domain by the Winter Gardens. One night only from 5PM - 8PM no experience is required or expected as Auckland Korfball will supply a 'coach' for the evening. Cost is $40 per side and late entries are accepted until the 15th - please email korfball@ak.org.nz for further details.

Prizes for first place and runners up afterwards at the Horse and Trap Mt Eden.

Crown park Football Club hosted another hugely successful outdoor tournament over the weekend. Numbers were slightly down on previous years owing to an unavoidable last minute date change but a good time was enjoyed by all.

The traditional opener -the Auckland Wellington game for the Taupo Trophy this year was Auckland Vs a combined Wellington Palmerston North  and bodes well for Korfball in that city. The conditions were also a sight wetter / colder than in previous years turning the usual fantastic playing surface into a bit of an ice rink.

We did manage to finish the game and some patches of good korf were played by both teams - final score Auckland 12 Wellington 8.

After lunch a beach tournament was held, the rain stopped and the sun came out to nicely burn everyone. In the evening the clubhouse was the venue for the social with some local Tauponians joining in the games late into the night.

See you all back next year for Taupo 2011.

Auckland Korfball are holding a fundraising sausage sizzle on 16th January at Bunnings, Carr Road, Mt Roskill. Please feel free to come and help out for an hour or two or just to buy a snag :)

http://www.zenbu.co.nz/entry/1133771-bunnings-warehouse-mt-roskill

Hi There. Owing to a problem with the venue please note the date for the Taupo Outdoor Tournament has moved to 23/24th Jan. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Tuesday 8th December is Finals night for the 2010 Spring League at the Teachers Training college in Epsom.

Fixtures are:

7pm Gym 2 (5th/6th playoff) - Wednesday's Lunch Vs Heineken Cougar - (Referee : AISS)
7pm Gym 1 (3rd/4th playoff) - Counties Manukau Vs Kamikaze Korf - (Referee : ThinkIT)
8pm Gym 1 (1st/2nd playoff) - AISS Vs ThinkIT (Referee : Kamikaze Korf)
 

All spectators welcome 

The End of Spring League Social is being held on Tuesday 15th December at Onehunga Bowling Club, 146 Selwyn Street  Onehunga from 6:30PM. barefootbowls.co.nz

As well as presentation of the wining team trophy there are also prizes for top scorer male and female and most improved player. The cost is $20 per head and includes a game of bowls and food.

Please confirm your attendance to our social secretary social@ak.org.nz friends and family welcome.

The new Committee for 2009 / 2010 was elected last night at the Auckland AGM. Positions are as follows:

Chairman: Kirsteen Day

Treasurer: Dave Edwards

Secretary: Roddy Copland

Coach: Matt Day

Development: Jim Gardner

Competitions Coordinator: Elise Copland

Social Secretary: Helen Cranney

Team Manager: Carol Eddy

Thanks to the outgoing committee for all their hard work over the last 12 months. Handover will be finished by the end of the year.

Auckland Korfball celebrates it's 5th Birthday as a formally incorporated society today. A brief check of the records reveal that over that period we have had over 100 club members, around 250 people playing in the various Leagues & Companies Tournaments and well over 1000 at least have one go at Korfball in Auckland!!

Here's to another successful 5 years.

The Auckland Korfball AGM will run from 7PM on 12th November at St Cuthberts, all interested parties are invited to attend. Following the anual report we will be voting in the 2009 / 2010 comittee.  Positions that are available to be filled;

Chairman

Treasurer

Secretary

Coach

Development Officer

Social Secretary

Competitions Coordinator

Team Manager

Referees Coordinator

A job description for any of these positionsis available on request.

Auckland Korfball won the November 2009 NPC at Takapuna over the weekend. The team was unbeaten in six matches against opposition from Counties Manukau, Wellington and Christchurch.

The Auckland NPC will be held at AUT in Takapuna on 7th 8th November. Spectators are welcome - and entry is free.

Korfball New Zealand Annual General Meeting will be held on 30th September 2009. Interested parties can join via conference call. In Auckland we are getting together at;

Think-IT

279 Neilson Street

Onehunga

Please join us if you are interested in helping shape the future of Korfball in New Zealand.

The end of league social 'Glow in the dark mini golf' photos are now in the gallery along with some more recent photos from last weeks social 'Clip N Korf'.

Auckland Korfball's next social is July 30th at the Indoor Climbing Centre on Dominion Rd. (Parking is on Rocklands Avenue). Please be there by 6:45 for a start time of 7:00PM. Cost is a bargin $10.

C U There.

Auckland sent a team down to compete in a social tournament down in Wellington over the weekend. A thoroughly enjoyable event was had by all and while it was great that Auckland won the event by a single point it was more pleasing to see several new players developing their skills over the weekend – notably Pennie Ball and Julie “pixie” Heynen. A grand day of Korf was followed up with a Chinese, several toasts and a visit to sample Wellington’s fine nightlife.

The finals of the 2009 Auckland Autumn Korfball League take place on Tuesday 9th June at the Teachers Training college in Epsom.

Final 9PM in the Big Gym    -    AISS Vs CMK

3rd 4th Play off 8PM in the big Gym    -    ThinkIT Vs BECA

5th 6th Play off 8PM in Small Gym    -    Wicked Westies Vs Heineken Cougar

Spectators Welcome!!

In a well contested game Auckland managed a narrow win over Counties Manukau in the second regional clash of the year. Auckland dominated much of the possession but had trouble converting particularly with their close range shots. Counties on the other hand made the most of their medium shots with some excellent intercepts.

Special thanks to Roddy Copland, Paul Garwood and Ryan Gibson for stepping in for Counties after their boys had gone AWOL and Andy Hamilton for refing. Congrats to Julie Heynen and Julie Marshall on their Auckland first team debuts.

The next clash will be on Tuesday 23rd June with Counties hosting - venue TBA.

The second of this years Counties Auckland games will take place on Friday 22nd May 6:30PM at the teacher Training college in Epsom. Spectators welcome.

Auckland finished runners up to the Canterbury A team at the Christchurch NPC over the weekend. The final day of competition saw the team beat Wellington in the Semi finals in a closely contested game that neither side could dominate. Auckland played a much better game in the final, going behind 4 - 2 at the break but bringing the scores level with 20 mins to go. Canterbury were able to make a higher % of their shots in the final period and closed out the game 8 - 5.

Thanks to all the players for making this a great tournament, Jim Gardener for his work in organising the logistics, Rush for coaching on the weekend and Paul Garwood for stepping into the managers role.

Auckland Korfball will be running six weeks of FREE beginners Korfball sessions.

Who? Anyone & everyone aged 16 - 64
When? starting Thursday 7th May 7pm - 8:30PM
Where? @ St Cuthberts School in Epsom off Manukau Rd.
Why? Its fun, social and active.
What? Korfball - a mixed gender sport originally from the Netherlands - similar to Netball or Basketball.
How Much? Cost is free - and you can come to 1, 2 or all of the sessions.

Come and give it a go.

Cheers
Matt
021 228 9632

First regional friendly of the year coming up:

When: Tuesday 17^th Starting at 7.15pm (probably need to be there kitted and warmed up no later than 7pm)

Where: Clendon Rec centre which is on Palmers Road off Roscommon – behind the shopping centre at the round about.

What: Full length game vs. CMK

Spectators welcome.

Taupo 2009 Outdoor tournament - NZ's premier outdoor tournament - will now be held on the weeknd of 31st January 1st February.

A beautiful day out in the Waitakeres saw a sizzling day of Korfball action at the Trusts Stadium. The tournamnet saw a number of spectators turning up to see the action - some interest being generated by an article in NZ's largest newspaper The Herald http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10541734

The first game was a match up between the hosts and the Counties 'Y' team - coached by Yvonne Willering and comprised several high level Netballers. Auckland ran out winners 11-8 in a physical contest on the other court Auckland B beat the Counties 'G' team.

Wellington Canterbury was close affair with the side from the capital closing to within three goals by full time after Canterbury had run out to a 6 - 0 start.

So after day 1 Wellington have lost 1 won 2, Auckland B and Counties 'y' have won 1 lost 2, Counties 'G' and Canterbury U19 have lost 3 while both Auckland and Canterbury remain unbeaten setting up a very interesting second day.

This weekend (8th 9th November) sees the third Korfball New Zealand (KNZ) National Provincial Tournament (NPC) event of the year come to Auckland. Teams from Auckland, Canterbury, Counties and Wellington will be battling it out to secure the NPC trophy over the summer break.

While Auckland and Canterbury are tipped to be playing off for the top spot in the last game on Sunday there is also a lot of focus on the Counties team which has been boosted by the recent addition of several high profile ex Silver Ferns. Wellington always field a strong team in the city of sails, so it promises to be an exciting weekend of Korfball.

The games are being played at the Waitakere Trust Stadium on Lincoln Road in Henderson - http://www.thetrustsstadium.co.nz/ there is a flyer available in the club gallery and of course spectators are most welcome.

  Auckland Korfball 2008 AGM will be held at St Cuthberts School Gym before training on Thursday 13th November. All members of the club and interested parties are invited to attend. Please email korfball@ak.org.nz if you wish to stand for the 2008/09 Committee or get a job description. Available positions are:

• Chairman
• Treasurer
• Secretary
• Manager
• Coach
• Development
• Social Secretary
• Competitions Co-Ordinator
• Referee Co-Ordinator 

A selection of action shots from the recent Wellington NPC have just been uploaded to the Gallery page courtesy of Mel. Check them out to see the boys and girls in blue in action.

Auckland fielded two strong teams at a most enjoyable Wellington NPC over the weekend. The teams were a little short of subs so when the B team lost marksman Paul Garwood to an ankle injury late in their first fixture there were no more subs to be had.

Auckland A went through Saturday undefeated while the B side drew one and only lost by a goal in an excellent game against Canterbury B. On the Sunday the B team beat an inexperienced Counties side while the A team retained the Taupo Cup for the third time this year against Wellington.

As in the Christchurch NPC the final game on the Sunday was the decider. In a game of two halves a very physical Canterbury won the first whilst Auckland won the second - the later half not quite being enough to match the first Canterbury winning 10 - 13.

Congratulations to Jamie Osbourne and Matt Day for winning the female and male MVP awards respectively and we'll see everyone in Auckland for the final event of the year.

Final Standings
1. Canterbury A
2. Auckland A
3. Wellington A
4. Canterbury B
5. equal. Wellington B & Auckland B
7. Counties Manukau

Auckland Korfball will be running a "have a shot" stand in One Tree Hill Domain this Sunday 10th August to help increase the awareness of Korfball in the community. This coincides with the Vocanoes Challenge so hopefully there will be lots of people around interested in sport.

Tell your friends, colleagues and anyone who might be interested in trying korfball. Over the break we have lost Hazel, Kristi, Ronald and Hayley so it's very important that we keep on recruiting. We have a Spring 2008 development plan which will be shortly rolling into action, more to follow on this over the next few weeks.

Auckland lifted their first ever NPC title in Christchurch over the weekend. The tournament was a round robin format with two teams entered by Canterbury and Auckland as well as sides from Wellington, Counties Manukau and (in their first tournament) Otago. Both Canterbury A and Auckland A won all their games on Sat and first games on Sun leaving the outcome of the tournament to be decided on the last game.

The first half was very close fought with the sides coming off at half time 3 a piece. In the second half Auckland began to exert a little more authority on the game and as they converted more of their chances pushed out to a 7 - 3 lead. Canterbury started to pull back with two good long shots but it wasn't enough final score 7 - 5 to Auckland much to the pleasure of Auckland's vocal B team and supporters.

For the B team it was a development weekend with several players attending their first NPC event. While they didn't manage to win any games everyone made huge improvements to their game over the weekend and quality between their first and last game was much improved.

Well done to Andy Hamilton for winning the MVP this is decided by the opposition team players.

Thanks to Canterbury for hosting a great weekend and we'll see everyone in Wellington in Sept.

Unfortunately our secretary Kristi Lee has had to resign as she has moved North with work. Therefore the position of secretary is open for nominations - vote to be taken on 7th April at the next committee meeting. If you wish to be considered please email korfball@ak.org.nz

On 8th 9th March Auckland Korfball is hosting the 2008 Regional Finals at the Mt Wellington Netball Centre on Morin road. Time table below.

Hello Korfers,

Happy New Year!

Here are the details for the Taupo tournament on the weekend of the 26th/27th January. We will be playing at Crown Park sports fields in Taupo and will have use of the soccer clubrooms and bar. The following link shows the location of Crown Park (just select Crown Park from the list)
http://www.jcsmaps.co.nz/Taupo/Tauponull.html

People are able to stay at the clubrooms on both Friday and Saturday night.

The social on the Saturday night will be a BBQ and drinks at the venue.

The exact format of the games has not yet been finalised as we need to know numbers but we are aiming to start around 10am on Saturday morning for the Auckland Vs Wellington match.

The costs will be $20 for those who wish to stay at the clubrooms and an additional $10 for the social.

Can you please let me know the following :
1) You are coming to Taupo.
2) You will be staying at the clubhouse.
3) You will be attending the social.
4) If you are willing to drive / need a lift down.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Christine/Loralee/Rae/Alice/Tim - can you let me know the details of who will be coming from your respective clubs/regions please?

Regards,
Jim.

Auckland Korfball hosted their third NPC event at the Mt Wellington Netball Centre over the weekend of the 11th/12th November. The best attended NPC to date saw two teams from the newly formed Counties Manukau region join more experienced teams from Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington teams. The game format was a round robin over Saturday and Sunday with finals on Sunday afternoon.

Saturday saw Wellington get off to a fantastic start with both teams unbeaten on the day. Conversely Auckland 1 were in trouble with the injury prone team losing out to Canterbury and Wellington 1 and struggling to overcome Counties 1.

After a good social at the Kingslander Day 2 saw Wellington suffer a double defeat as the first team went down to Canterbury and the 2nd team to Auckland 1 - although not after giving them a good hard game. Both Counties continued to develop throughout the tournament, the first team coming from behind to beat Auckland 2 to 5th Place. In rematches of the days earlier games Auckland 1 were given an even bigger scare by Wellington 2 but managed to pull ahead after being behind by several goals at half time to finish 3rd. In the final Canterbury's finishing and some sloppy play by Wellington saw the southern team lead 5 - 1 before a well called timeout by Wellington saw them stabilise the game. Wellington couldn't quite find the extra required to pull the game back and eventually lost 12 - 10.

Final Placings
1st,     Korfball Canterbury
2nd,     Wellington Korfball 1,
3rd,     Auckland Korfball 1
4th,     Wellington Korfball 2,
5th,     Counties Manukau Korfball 1,
6th,     Auckland Korfball 2,
7th,     Counties Manukau Korfball 2


Thanks to Carol for doing an excellent job of managing the event/jury duties, Jim for sorting out the venue etc. Elise for sorting the Social and to Kirsteen & Melissa for stepping into the Auckland team managerial roles at the last minute.

Auckland Korfball has given birth to the latest Korfball playing region in NZ - Counties Manukau and welcomes them into the New Zealand regional competition.

The initial ground work for the new region was laid down by members of the Auckland region at the end of last summer at the MaxOut sporting event. Since then Counties has evolved and now counts some ex Auckland players, some new to NZ Korfball players now living in the Manukau region and some players totally new to the game amongst their number. Under the guidance of Auckland's Manager Christine Clark and U23 National Player Scott Bouvaird the first session was held on with an attendence of over 30 players.

Since then Counties has found a coach in Sanet Krige, entered a team into the Auckland Korfball Spring league and finally developed into it's own region in it's own right on

Counties first competitive outing as a region will be at the upcoming Auckland NPC being held at the Mt Wellington Indoor Netball centre on the 10th & 11th of November.

Counties Manukau train on Wednesday evenings @ 7PM - 8:30PM
Alfirston College
Porchester Road Alfristion
All Welcome.

For more information please contact:
Scott Bouvaird s.bovaird@gmail.com or
Christine Christine@corpgroup.co.nz

Morning All

Apologies for the lack of weekly updates - life has been a bit hectic. Internationally it's World Championship time in the Czech Republic http://www.worldkorfball.org/games.html there's also a live streaming service too. FYI NZ missed out on qualification in Hong Kong last year, it looks like The Netherlands and Belgium will once again be the teams to beat. And so on to more local matters...

1, NPC Thursday training sessions.
It's the last one this week so please make every effort to be there.

2, Auckland NPC Sat 10th Sun 11th
It's almost here and should be a doozy. Please email Jim if you can help out with billets and organisation.

3, Spring league
The league is hotting up!! this week is the last of the round robin. The draw then moves into two pools playing for the prestigious Shield and (some might argue) even more prestigious chipped plate.

4, AGM 15th November St Cuthberts School 6:30 for 7PM
Want to get involved? Fancy helping run Auckland Korfball/ maybe you want to help develop korfball in the region. Well the AGM is happening on the 15th if you wish to stand for a position please let our current chairman Kerry know by the 7th Nov chairman@ak.org.nz We will start at 7PM sharp and hope to be done for a game of korfball afterwards.

5, Korfball new Zealand AGM 24th November
Being held in Christchurch this is your chance to become involved with the National body

6, 9th December Head2Head Race Event
Another fundraising event this time we are supplying marshals & BBQ manning people to help with this multisport event and it promises to be quite lucrative for the club. We require a minimum of 18 people so please let myself know ASAP if you are able to help out.

7, Taupo Outdoor Tournament 26th 27th January
This year we are hoping to change the format slightly. As in the past we'll play a Wellington Auckland first team fixture on Sat AM. The rest of the weekend will be a tournament comprised of the teams from the leagues in Wellington & Auckland. If you play in the social league get you side together and down to Taupo for what promises to be one heck of a weekend of Korfball.

That's it for now - I'm going to publish this email on Facebook & the AK website. If you see it there and are not receiving emails please let me know we have had a problem with our email database.

Cheers
Matt
http://ak.org.nz

The latest round of the NPC was hosted by Wellington KC in the capital. The tournament was contested by two Auckland teams, two Wellington teams and a mixed Canterbury side in a fiesta of good quality korfball. The format consisted of a round robin and finals on the Sunday. Both Auckland teams played very well with Auckland 1 losing to Wellington 1 by a single goal, drawing with Canterbury and beating Wellington 2 and Auckland 2. While Auckland 2 lost to Wellington 1, Canterbury and Auckland 1 and beat Wellington 2.

All of which meant that via some calculations Auckland 1 just missed out on the final setting up a 1 Vs 2 showdown in the 3rd/4th playoff. The more experienced side taking the game out to come 3rd but not before the 2nd team had scored a considerable number of goals.

The placings and results didn't quite tell the whole story however with the inexperienced Auckland 2 side making unbelievable progress over the course of the weekend easily beating Wellington 2 and making wellington 1 work really hard for their victory on Sunday. For the 1st team this was only the third time they had played together and the combinations really started to come on over the weekend. All of which bodes very well for the future.

Many thanks to the Kerry Wilson and the injured Cam for doing a superb job with the coaching. Well done to Dave Edwards for picking up MVP and special mentions to Anna, Jenny, Kristi, Jaqui, Katie and Larni for making such great progress on their regional debuts.

Finally our thanks to Wellington - top notch job on the tournament organisation and well done on winning the cup. See you all in Auckland for the next round.

Auckland Korfball's latest social saw the club enjoy a night of bowling at Newmarket's 10 Pin bowling Alley. Several members suprised us with their talents - most notably Mr Jim "Eight Strikes" Gardner while others cleansed the gutters of dust and others managed to send the ball in the wrong direction with hilarious consequences.....

For the stop ups a few refreshments were enjoyed at the Cock and Bull where Melissa, Julie and Monia busted a few moves on the dancefloor before the ABs narrowly beat Italy.

On the second day of the third Asia Oceania Youth Championship, games again followed tournament rankings and matched expectations as the region's two foremost korfball nations secured impressive victories against their less experienced opponents. The current regional youth champion Chinese Taipei was outstanding against Hong Kong in the first game. Although Hong Kong fought defiantly and played good korfball, Chinese Taipei maintained high shooting accuracy throughout the match and showed continual grace in their movement around the court.

Game 3: Hong Kong China vs Chinese Taipei 
Hong Kong's attack started with a stutter, but quickly found rhythm, though missed shots and some ball handling errors let them down. The Hong Kong defence played well, but was left in awe by the inability of Chinese Taipei to miss their shots. The vast majority of Chinese Taipei's points were found from long range, particularly from Shih-Ju Kuo and Chih-Yi Chiu. The Chinese Taipei defence stuck tight to the Hong Kong attack, making it difficult for them to complete passes and effecting numerous intercepts throughout the half. On the other hand, the female Hong Kong players showed impressive switching defence and were able to shut Chinese Taipei down on several occasions. While Hong Kong continued to fight defiantly in defence, Chinese Taipei's shooting accuracy did not relent. Although Hong Kong showed lovely controlled play at times and was able to score four superb long shots of their own, by half time Chinese Taipei had amassed a 19-4 lead. The beginning of the second half saw Hong Kong's ball handling again letting them down. Chinese Taipei continued to force Hong Kong to shoot long and made it difficult for them to secure effective rebounding positions. Hong Kong was able to run some good attacks, but struggled to convert their shots into points. Chinese Taipei continuously retained ball possession for long attacks and in response the Hong Kong defence became more physical. They kept the pressure on, making sure Chinese Taipei worked for their goals. Chinese Taipei read the Hong Kong attack well, collecting good intercepts throughout. Hin Tung Sum for Hong Kong made nice run ins, but could not get the ball in the korf. Hong Kong also struggled to retrieve their own rebound, their attacks therefore rarely lasting more than one or two shots. Defensively Hong Kong learned from the first half and played closer on their opponent in an attempt to shut out a continual succession of accurate long shots. Unfortunately for Hong Kong however, the Chinese Taipei players maintained their composure, sinking numerous running in shots, including four to Chih-Yi Chiu. Although the score line may not imply it, Hong Kong's technique and ball play was not excessively flawed: it was more that Chinese Taipei's poetry-in-motion classic korfball, simply could not be defeated. Hong Kong fought valiantly for the most part of the game, but Chinese Taipei was awe-inspiring with a shooting game that was close to faultless. Final score was an impressive 42-8 to Chinese Taipei.

Game 4: China vs Australia

China began the second game of the day with some confusion on attack against great defensive pressure from Australia showed. Australia effectively read China's strategy, making it impossible to implement. While China's defence also applied strong pressure, Australia always found unconventional ways to outsmart its foe and come up with points. At 23 minutes China called for a time out and returned to the game by scoring three lovely long shots using organised attacks. Australia's fast pace continued to muddle China's defence throughout the half, allowing them back door running in shots and pop shots under the post when China lost their positioning. Australia's captain Matthew Kleeman played outstanding korfball and led his team well. Towards the end of the half the China defence did well to confuse Australia's attempts to gain rebound position, causing a temporary drought in Australia's shooting spree. China, however, was also unable to score due to high pressure defence. Half time score saw Australia in the lead 11-4. The Chinese players started the second half with vigorous defence and a willingness to put their bodies on the line. The match became physical with both teams giving it all. China's defence held out Australia until the 35th minute when Kia Rogers scored the first long shot of the half, which was quickly answered by China's Haoran Wang, whose long shot was equally good-looking. Australia continued their fast paced impromptu korfball, which left China fatigued and frustrated. China did well to keep up with Australia for a long stretch of game time where China's attack was equally impressive. However due to China's frantic desperation on defence; Australia was awarded numerous free pass opportunities and penalty shots. China struggled to organise in attack and kept missing shots while Australia continued to outpace their opponent for run ins and close range shots. Overall, Australia's fast paced original style of play proved too much for the younger korfball nation, giving the Oceania champion a win by 28-8.

On the first day of the 2007 Asia Oceania Youth Championships, two games resulted in victories to the more experienced korfball nations. In the first game, China and Hong Kong's similar fast-paced styles made for a close game, eventually taken by a slim margin by the more experienced Hong Kong. In the second game, Australia outplayed the host, shutting their rival out in the second half and showing, yet again, they are a strong medal contender in an Asia Oceania korfball tournament.

Game 1: China vs Hong Kong China
Hong Kong looked in trouble early on in the first game, as China scored quickly and easily making it 5-0 in the first five minutes. Hong Kong called an early time-out hoping to settle the nerves and add some spark in attack. The Hong Kong defence stepped up a notch, utilising the mistakes made by China, but their attack still struggled to sink shots. Hong Kong managed to maintain a long attack, regaining possession after each shot and eventually Hiu Tung Sum was able to break free for a lovely run in. China, trying to hard to compensate, made a series of reckless mistakes that Hong Kong was able to take advantage of, Hiu Tung Sum scoring two points in a row. China received a free pass when up 6-5, but took a poor option and gave away another turn over. Simple mistakes haunted both teams for a period, until the Hong Kong players asserted themselves to take advantage of China's mistakes using controlled, organised attack and scoring three consecutive points. China asked for a time-out to regain composure and was able to score another point before the half time buzzer, while Hong Kong failed to score from another of several missed free pass opportunities during the half. The second half was an even battle with the teams scoring goal for goal throughout. The beginning of the half saw long controlled attacks from both teams; however, both teams also struggled to obtain points. China's Haoran Wang did his team proud, scoring two good long shots and bringing the score to 9-9. At 18 minutes, Hong Kong gained a crucial intercept on defence and their attack was able to secure a penalty. At this point, China's control in attack became muddled and panicky. At 14 minutes China used an injury break to calm the team and regain composure. More penalties were awarded to both teams, however, silly mistakes made by China and their reversion to a frantic attack allowed Hong Kong to calmly score their winning point in the last minute. China, desperate to obtain another goal, lacked control and organisation in the remaining seconds allowing Hong Kong to clinch the match 14-13. After a lively tournament opening ceremony, New Zealand took on Australia in the tournament's second match.

Game 2: New Zealand vs Australia
The game began with Australia gaining two quick points due to defensive mistakes. Australia used good speed on attack and managed to score a run in when the New Zealand defenders had their backs turned. New Zealand struggled to maintain controlled attacks, their inexperience, particularly in the rebound, letting them down. Estelle Uren was first to score for New Zealand with a short shot after retrieving a rebound. New Zealand's defence continued to make mistakes, however Australia went through a dry patch and was unable to convert. New Zealand made an early substitution, bringing on Bevan Lawson for Dennis Tuisamoa, which seemed added some structure in their attack, however, their shots still were not sinking and the mistakes made by their defence was hurting the team. Although Australia was having trouble sinking their shots, they were retaining the ball for long attacks and repeated opportunities. Despite good athleticism on defence by Shontee Caroll and Estelle Uren, and New Zealand managing to gain some momentum in attack late in the half, they still found it difficult to convert and the Australian defence was relentless. Half time score was 7-2 to Australia. New Zealand started the second half well with their sharp shooter Reuben Fitzgerald scoring a lovely long shot. However, Australia out played the host's defence allowing David Scroggs to score an effortless run in and Daniel Phillips an easy short shot. New Zealand's attack reverted to the pattern of the early stages of the match, lacking structure and purpose. Fitzgerald managed to score another great long shot for New Zealand and brought the score to 9-4. However, Australia continued to score stress-free points due to a naivety in the New Zealand defence. The game began to get rough with pushing and contact from the frustrated New Zealand defence giving Australia a penalty goal. Australia was able to relax at this stage, reading the lack of control of their opposition and making substitutions to rest their starting players. Good ball retention by Australia and hesitation by New Zealand made it easy for Australia to strangle any hopes of a kiwi comeback. Apart from a pop shot under the post from New Zealand's captain Stacey Mason, Australia's defence made it difficult for New Zealand to move the ball through the court and forced New Zealand to shoot long. New Zealand's attack ran out of ideas and was unable to recuperate. Final score was 14-5 to Australia.

Auckland Korfball will be running a stand at the Max Out Counties Manukau Sport, Recreation and Leisure Expo in Bruce Pulman Park in Papakura.

Auckland Korfball held it's second annual Comapnies korfball tournament in the Domain on Thursday the 15th of Feb. This year the weather held out and a great time was had by all.

Well done to SCS computers for winning the Trophy and $100 bar tab from The Horse and trap in a close final beating runners up Dominion Breweries 2 -0.

Final positions:

1 SCS Computers
2 Dominion Breweries
3 Fonterra
4 Argent / WxC
5 BECA Engineering
6 CAG 2
7 NZ Post / Ergowise
8 CAG1

Special mention to BECA for easily "winning" the social.

Thanks to everyone who helped out setting up, refing, selling drinks etc. and to the Horse and Trap for providing the prizes. Next year will be even better.

Visit Here for some snaps.

The players and coaches of the New Zealand U23 Korfball squad attended their first training camp of the year over the weekend at Camp Adair in Hanua Ranges south of Auckland. Led by the senior Coach Daniel DeRudder the players had an intensive two days of team building, fitness and korfball skills. The team took on the Auckland regional side on both days and despite losing both games showed definite improvement between matches.

Thanks to the Auckland team and supporters for showing up to give opposition, Kirsteen Day and team Manager Christine Clark for their tireless work with the players and behind the scenes and of course to Daniel for giving up his time to come over and coach.

Well in 500BC (approx) wise man Confucius say "2006 be year of the Korf" and he was right - well in Auckland at least!! I thought I'd run over a couple of main points of the year.

On the Pitch - AK 1st team played three official tournaments (Taupo, Christchurch and Wellington) this year and only lost two games, unfortunately both to Canterbury. At the later two tournaments we fielded strong second teams for the first time ever which gave many new players their first taste of competitive Korfball. We hosted a mixed tournament of our own which included an international Coaching course delivered by our National squad coach Daniel De Rudder. We played two leagues in Auckland - Autumn at AGGS and Spring in the Teachers College Epsom. We hosted a rather damp but hugely successful companies tournament where many corporate teams heard about the game for the first time. We ran a couple of AK@Play events albeit with mixed results - something we look to run again in the future. We did a session for SENZ, ran a school holiday program at the Netball centre and did a demo for Manakau City council sports program.

International - In July KNZ's national squad played in Tournaments in Taipei and Hong Kong - five players from Auckland Cam Wasley, Melissa Robinson, Rush Kariyawasam, Andy Hamilton and Shontee Carroll all went to represent their country. Unfortunately the outcome of that tournament wasn't quite as expected and the national focus has switched to the U23's, Auckland is well represented in the build up to AOYKC 2007 which is being held in Christchurch in July. Congratulations to Dennis, Aaron, Kelly, Gibz, Melissa, Scotty, Alex C, Alex V, Ryan and Shontee for being involved in the build up thus far. Also congratulations to our team manager Christine for being appointed U23 team manager.

Off The pitch - We have continued with our weekly patronage of The Horse and Trap to enjoy their lovely lovely beer as well as numerous other pub trips / BBQ's parties etc. We did a flyer drop around Epsom to recruit new players, we have increased our equipment register with enough balls and posts to run 6 concurrent games :) and other equipment courtesy of Lion.

The People - Including both leagues, the companies tournament and a variety of people coming through training over 250 people have played at least some Korfball in Auckland this year. For members of the club we said goodbye to Lucy, Charly and Cheryl earlier in the year and now say goodbye to Shontee. However we've said hello to Aaron, Dennis, Gibz, Jim, Rush, Scott, Tony, Alex V, Ryan, Alex C, Fiona, Hilary, Ben, Kelly, Melanie and Melissa R so things are positive.

The Future - 2007 looks like it will be a year of challenges and opportunity. With several key players due to leave early on in the New Year we'll have to continue to train/recruit to stay competitive. As numbers grow there is the possibility of organising ourselves into one or more clubs under a wider Auckland banner. Waikato Korfball will hopefully come into being sometime in early 2007 - this will require help from us as a region if it is to succeed. All in all though we've made terrific progress in the two years since we started, thanks to everyone for all your hard work hopefully next year will be even better.

Have a great Christmas / New year break and we'll see you back in the Domain on 18th Jan.

Cheers
Matt
Auckland Korfball Coach & Development
+64 (0)21 444 204
http://ak.org.nz

The first spring league held in Auckland was an excellent success with over 70 players on six teams scoring 309 goals in 10 weeks of fast paced korfball. The standard of play and refereeing was definitely much improved on the Autumn league earlier in the year. The venue was also much improved with a near full sized pitch providing much greater freedom of movement.

Just Workout were the eventual winners but were pushed all the way to the last game by a depleted Auckland side. Obex continued with their rich vein of form from last season but were unable to keep up their momentum with some issues with player numbers. Similar problems for newcomers Argent and SCS however with 7 and 8 new players to the sport respectively this was a building season for them and we expect to see good things from both sides in the future. Finally DB who had the biggest squad in the league, after a promising start they faultered a bit mid season but had a come back in the final game. It all bodes well for the future.

Thank you to Bridge Climb who supplied a free bridgeclimb to Rush Kariyawasam and Melanie Ryan for being the top male and female scorer respectively, I'd also like to congratulate Joseph Windsor who scored 4 goals over the league despite being the youngest player and this being his first go at Korfball. Presentations to be made at The Cock and Bull in Newmarket on 12th December. Finally many Thanks to the injured Carol Eddy for coming along and doing the scoring - it's certainly made my life much easier for processing the results.

This years AGM was held at Belfast Street in Hillsborough. Well attended this reflects the growth in numbers Auckland has had this year. The committee for 2006 - 2007 was voted on as follows:

Chairman - Kerry Wilson
Treasuere - Melissa Ho
Secretary - Andy Hamilton
Development - Matt Day & Cam Wasley
Tournament Co-ordinator - Jim Gardener
Social Secretary - Elise Bergeron
Team Manager - Christine Clark
Head Coach - Matt Day

Thanks to the outgoing committee for all their hard work over the last year.