Members of Auckland Korfball and Ian Harding of Canterbury turned up at Windmill Park in Epsom to take part in the first ak@play session of the year. Unfortunately the weather wasn't kind with frequent heavy showers turning the court into something of an ice rink. However Auckland soldiered on and a few new players braved the weather to have their first go of Korfball.

Oweing to a social function we were forced to attend Cadrona Speights Ale House instead of the Horse and trap afterwards.

Eight members of Auckland Korfball passed their KNZ refereeing theory exam on the weekend. Congratulations to Fiona Chalmers, Andrew Hamilton, Cameron Wasley, Kerry Wilson, Elise Bergeron, Jim Gardner, Roddy Copeland, and Hilary Osborne for passing the exam.

Well done to Hilary who is KNZ's youngest accredited referee and Jim for acheiving the highest ever pass mark in the exam.

Auckland Korfball would like to thank Ian Harding chairman of the Referees committee for giving up his weekend to instruct the new refs.

Members of Auckland Korfball ran a morning's session for kids aged between 8 - 12 at the Morrin Road Netball centre during the September School Holiday's. Korfball was well received by the kids and parents alike further raising the profile of the game in Auckland.

Many thanks to Scott Bouvaird, Alex Clark and Elise Bergeron for giving up their time to run the session and Kerry Wilson and Christine Clark for helping with equipment and organisation. Also to The Netball centre for providing equipment.

Click Here to read the thank you letter from the Netball Centre

Click Here for some Photos

The second NPC event of the year was hosted by Wellington Korfball at the Wellington Basketball centre. Auckland was able to send two teams thanks largely to the Mt Wellington Trust. For the first time competitive Korfball was played on both days of the tournament.

In the closest national event to date Auckland 1 had a very successful Saturday winning all three of their games - including another 1 goal thriller with Wellington to retain the Taupo Cup. However they couldn't repeat this on the Sunday losing by a single goal to Canterbury 1 finishing second.

Auckland 2 played really well despite losing Carol Eddy early on to a nasty ankle injury. For several players this was their first taste of competitive Korfball and it was very pleasing to see them make excellent progress.

Final Placing:
1. Canterbury 1
2. Auckland 1
3. Wellington Black
4. Canterbury 2
5. Auckland 2
6. Wellington Gold

Well done to everyone from Auckland who played, a special mention to Gibz and Melissa R for winning Male and Female player of the tournament. Thanks to Wellington for running a brilliant tournament. See you all in "The City of Sails" in November.

The Horse and Trap played host to Auckland Korfball's first end of league presentations and Pub Quiz fundraiser. After a speech by Chairman Kerry presentations were made to:

Top Scorer Female: Kirsteen Day
Top Scorer male: Jim Gardner
Winning team: Kerry Wilson for Auckland Korfball
Runners Up: Stephen Jones for Obex Medical

After the presentations 70 odd people in 11 teams entered the pub quiz which was brilliantly put together by Social Secretary Carol Eddy and assistant coach Kirsteen Day. 10 rounds later the final winners were decided by a question off between The Red Team and The Lads, The Lads eventually winning.

Thanks to Carol & Kirsteen for all their hard work, WorldxChange Communications for providing $600 worth of phone calls as first prize and everyone from the club who donated prizes and showed up to make an excellent night.

Click HERE for some classy snaps of the evening.

The final week of the league saw a depleted Fonterra side play WxC for 3rd 4th place while unbeaten Auckland played Obex Medical in the final.

Starting brightly Fonterra immediately went 1 goal up but even fielding another newcomer to the sport - this was one of the best WxC performances of the League. Tammy and Suz were particularly strong in defence which was a big ask against a Fonterra side borrowing heavily from the Auckland team. Andy finally found his shooting boots and Mark on his first ever go at Korfball found the Korf 3 times. Fonterra never a side to roll over kept up the pressure to the end and there was never more than one goal in it. Final score WxC 7 - Fonterra 6

The final saw a pumped AK come out firing on all cylinders. Obex looked a little stunned for the first 10 mins as Auckland ran in a quick succession of goals, Cam dropping in some lovely long shots. However as the half wore on the Manakau Road outfit started to come together and showed why they deserved to make it to the final. The second half was a different matter - some strong defending particularly from Fleur gave Obex a platform to attack from and Obex actually won the second half which bodes well for the future. Final Score AK 15 - Obex 7.

Congratulations to Auckland for taking out the league in style. Looking forward to the next league some time in the spring hopefully with more teams.

Over the last few months, Korfball New Zealand has been working with the International Korfball Federation to create a new web site focussed solely on coaching korfball.

CoachKorfball.com has now been published, and initially contains the full text from Harke van der Wal's book, "1001 Korfball Exercises". This text contains exercises, skills and techniques for the individual korfball player and the team.

It is intended that the site will become a focal point in locating quality korfball skills for use by players, coaches and teachers.

Pool stage this week and WxC were first up against AK while Obex played Fonterra second.

Having witnessed the Fonterra WxC bruising encounter the previous week several of the AK players were a little nervous about the physicality of this game. However WxC were a different side to the last week and - as in the round robin - stepped up their game considerably against the undefeated Auckland side reducing contact levels. At half time only 1 goal split the two teams and both sides were producing some good Korfball. Captain Kerry obviously gave a good team talk at half time as the second half saw AK double the pressure on WxC particularly when the Shortland Street side were working the ball out of defence - this led to several telling steals back and set a platform for AK to go on and win 11 - 5.

Obex were again fielding some new players and missing some of their top shooters, Fonterra were also short - missing Captain Melissa but were able to field a core of players who are becomingly increasingly confident in their game. This was also a much better quality game of korfball than the previous week, with both sides retaining ball and attacking well. It was a very close encounter with the ever accurate Obex captain kirsteen being matched by Hilary & Fiona for Fonterra and the lead changing hands several times. 10 seconds from time a Fonterra shot rollIed round the basket rim which would have meant penalties but Obex rode it out and managed to hold on for the win 8 - 7

Speical mention to Carol who had to play as a boy for WxC Next week sees Auckland play Obex in the final and WxC play Fonterra in the Third Fourth play off. Bring it on.

Week 6 and Obex took on unbeaten AK while WxC were playing Fonterra.

The Obex AK game was a bright display of Korfball, both teams passing the ball well, creating chances and retaining ball. However Obex were missing one of their top shooters Jacinda and with the other players unable to get into a shooting rhythm AK were going unpunished in defence and were putting away several of their chances in attack. So although the game was in reality reasonably balanced this wasn't relected in the final scoreline. Auckland 13 Obex 3.

The Fonterra WxC game had no less than 5 new players on court as both teams were missing regulars either with work or injury. As a result it was a frenetic game at times more akin to rugby than Korfball, referees Kerry and Kirsteen doing an excellent job keeping on top of both team's over exuberance. Fonterra - without a win in the round robin - were fired up and looked to be on path for a first victory with the score going out to 3 - 1 in the first half. WxC didn't give in and as the new players started to pick up on the defending they managed to pull them selves into the game. With 60 seconds to go one of WxC's new players landed a long shot which sealed the win. WxC 5 - Fonterra 4.

It was fantastic to see many new people playing and everyone being passionate about Korfball - although we do need to have a little less contact and a little more calm. Personally I can't wait for next week's pool games when 1st placed AK take on 3rd placed WxC while 2nd placed Obex take on 4th place Fonterra to see who plays in the final !

Skipping Week 4 and straight to week 5. Unbeaten Auckland took on the Shortland Street crew while Fonterra were still looking for their first win playing Obex.

First up was the Fonterra Obex game, Fonterra were fielding several players who were touching a Korfball for the first time while Obex were still suffering from player absence and had a mix of Auckland and new players filling in. The game looked fun however in Korfball terms it was understandably scrappy and there was a lot of congestion under the post. Obex had the run of play however Fonterra have really improved their defensive game in the last few weeks and it was only some excellent long shooting from Jacinda MacKenzie and Kirsteen Day that proved the major difference between the teams. Final score Obex 12 Fonterra 6.

Next up was Auckland taking on the black shirts of WxC. This was a completely different style of game, with some fluid passing, full use of the court and great ball retention at both ends: my god it could have been the Dutch playing korfball - well not quite. WxC's game has progressed well over the 5 weeks particularly in defence with Mark England and Sara Stillwell putting in some solid performances. It wasn't to be their day however and Auckland were able to control more ball with their game experience, Melissa Robinson doing particularly well dropping in 4 goals. WxC pressed all the way and the final score of 10 - 7 to Auckland was probably a fair reflection of that effort.

Week 3 and the teams are really starting to gel in terms of general passing round the court, there is still a tendency for too much contact but both refs laid down the law a little stronger this week.

First up the top of the table clash between Auckland Korfball and the Manakau Road power house of Obex. Obex were in no mood to respect Auckland as a team regularly playing Korfball and went out to 2 goal lead, leaving the Blue team clearly stunned. However Captain Kerry got his hand back on the helm and gradually Auckland pulled themselves back into the game. Truth be told though were it not for two 5 min lapses in both halves by the Obex team there was nothing much between the sides. Final score Auckland 17 - 13 Obex.

Next up WxC took on the team from Fonterra. WxC looked to be the stronger team with a slightly less manic game plan and some good passages of retention in attack. However the Fonterra team can never be written off and even with an ankle injury to one of their star players they kept themselves in the hunt. WxC didn't help themselves with some slack defending but they finally sealed the win with a goal from debutant Emma Stillwell. Final score WxC 10 - 8 Fonterra.

Special mention to Rush Kariyawasam for scoring 7 goals on the evening.

Week 2 saw WxC taking on Auckland Korfball in the first game and Obex playing Fonterra second.

The WxC Vs AK game was quite a physical affair with both teams clearly hyped up for the game. With a weeks experience under their belts WxC was a much improved side from the previous week especially in defence which AK had trouble breaking. Fitness was a telling factor in the end and AK took advantage running in 8 goals in the second half - for a flattering final score 12 - 6

There were personnel changes in both the Obex and Fonterra teams from the previous week and this was apparent in a slightly less structure game. Obex continued from where they left off last week with some periods of excellent ball retention and in the end it was this again which gave them the basis for the win. Fonterra had some good passages of play with some excellent passing of the ball and interceptions however lack of retention in attack didn't allow them to get into a shooting rhythm. Final score Obex 7 - 2 Fonterra.

Next week sees an intriguing bottom and top of the table clash.

The opening night of the Auckland Autumn Korfball League saw The Mighty powerhouse of Obex Medical taking on the team from WorldxChange while Fonterra faced the difficult task of an opener against the Auckland Team - albeit in a cutdown form. Both games were reasonably high scoring 11 - 6 and 12 - 5 repectively.

The Obex side look to be real contenders for the league as they beat off a fairly physical challenege from the Shortland Street based WxC. With experience from their Summer companies Tournament showing Obex made great use of their positioning and height to get some excellent rebounds and ultimately it was that recycling of the ball which was the platform for their victory.

Fonterra had an uphill struggle against a well drilled Auckland side and with several players never having touched a ball before the first half was something of a "baptism of Fire" as they went in at the break 9 goals to nothing down. These people are made of tough stuff though used to the demands of the farming community so they didn't let their heads drop. The second half saw a major comeback and they won the half 5 - 3, too late to win the game but showed this team will be tough to beat.

Special Note goes to Malcom from WxC and Kirsteen from Obex for both bagging 5 goals!! Bring on next week.

Four Auckland korfballers - Shontee Carroll, Rush Kariyawasam, Andy Hamilton and Cam Wasley - will travel to South Australia this weekend, 11/12 March, to participate in the inaugural Oceania Regional Korfball Championships in Adelaide.

The four Aucklanders will put aside their usual rivalries to join forces with six Wellingtonians as the North Island team.

The North Island korfball team will cross the Tasman with a South Island team, consisting of Canterbury players. They will compete against one state team from Victoria and two teams from South Australia – the host being the traditional stronghold of Australian korfball. The weekend will be rounded out by an Australia vs New Zealand international on Sunday afternoon.

Korfball New Zealand gratefully acknowledges the support of The Southern Trust for assistance to the two NZ regional squads.

A Letter from the Chairman

Congratulations to Just Workout for winning the Specialist Computer Services Korfball Companies Tournament Cup. Thank you to all players, officials and spectators for braving the weather and making the inaugural Korfball Companies Tournament a huge success. The standard of play, considering the conditions and that most people had never played Korfball before, was excellent. We hope you enjoyed the experience.

Special thanks to our sponsors, running the event would not be possible without them.
Specialist Computer Services for providing the Cup and Medals.
EAS for the Cookies & Cream snack bars and Body for Life DVD’s. If you did not get a DVD on the night and would like one please contact Auckland Korfball.
The Horse & Trap for the excellent refreshments and food. The bar tabs put up for first and second place were extended generously to cater for most people who attended the after tournament festivities.
The Mad Butcher for providing us discounted sausages for the BBQ.
WorldxChange for their continued support of Auckland Korfball.

Starting this Sunday 12 February, 4pm in the Auckland Domain (By the Grandstand) the Auckland Korfball Summer League starts. This is a six week competition. Individuals or teams are invited to enter and the more players or teams we have the better the competition will be.

On Thursday nights at 7pm Auckland Korfball meets at the Auckland Domain. The format includes drills designed to improve your Korfball skills followed by plenty of game time.

For further information about the Sunday Summer League or Thursday Night Korfball contact Matt Day on 021 355 095

Regards,
Kerry Wilson
Chairman
Auckland Korfball
021 504 521

Photos from the event can be viewed HERE

Final Positions
1st, JustWorkOut
2nd, Fonterra 1
3rd, Auckland District Health Board
4th, WorldxChange Communications
5th, BECA Engineering
6th, Obex Medical Ltd.
7th, Specialist Computer Services
8th, Fonterra 2

Another Fanstastic weekend of Korfball was enjoyed in Taupo by teams from Auckland, Wellington and a couple of visiting Cantabrians. In a similar vein to the 2005 weekend the weather came to the party - big time!!

Auckland travelled down on the Friday night in what can only be decribed as an monolith of a bus, which fortunately had plenty of room for frosty beers. A brief hunt for the Marae keys was the only real incident of the evening.

Saturday AM and the withdrawl of the majority of the Christchurch side, due to a lack of funding, meant that the National squad 'Probables'
Vs 'Possibles' for the Australia trip was cancelled. Instead first up was the Auckland Vs Wellington regional game for the SCS Taupo Cup. Auckland got off to a very bright start racing out to a two goal lead at half time. The second half was a fairly even affair with both sides trading goals, Auckland keeping the upper hand widening the gap to 3 goals at one point. A late charge by Wellington meant that the end was quite tense but Auckland held on to retain the Cup.

At lunchtime a new NZ penalty taking record was set jointly by Rush and Shonte from Auckland and Greig and Caz from Wellington.

Photos from the event can be viewed HERE

Congratulations to Cam Wasley for making the core national Squad in this years build up to AOKC 2006. Cam has worked very hard at Korfball both on and off the pitch and this is a just reward. There are now 3 representatives from Auckland in the core National Squad.

Auckland Korfball has been successful in a funding application for various pieces of equipment required for hosting tournaments and running training sessions - bibs, cones etc. Thank You to the Lion Foundation for getting behind us and also well done to Cam and Andy for putting together the application paperwork.

The Lion Foundation is a charitable trust that exists for the purpose of raising funds for the community.

The Yellow team took out the Beach Korfball section of the Auckland Spring Korfball league. The last game of the season was probably the most hard fought with a hot 4 - 2 being the final score. All players were grateful to the good ladies of RedBull who showed up in their modified Beetle to supply us with cold drinks.

Thursday night Korfball will resume in the Domain on January 12th with some friendly Sunday beach sessions over the Summer if the weather holds. The Autumn league commences Sunday 19th Feb.

The Auckland Korfball website has found a new home and domain. The old http://homepages.xnet.co.nz/~korfball/ which has served us so well over the past 12 months has been redirected to the shiny new home http://www.ak.org.nz. As well as the new address being easier to type and remember the new site allows us database access, php and a variety of other useful tools which were not available on the homepages box. This will enable us to create online sign up forms, chat and ultimately a move away from Email as our main form of communication.

A Big THANK YOU to WorldxChange for once again getting behind Auckland Korfball and supplying us with the Domain and hosting.

This Year's Christmas party saw members of Auckland Korfball donning their finest glad rags for a formal Ball style Cocktail party. Everyone did their best Bryan Brown impression and the shakers/blenders were put to full power as a succession of Long Island Ice Tea's, Illusions, Pink Ladies and other such dubious drinks were produced with near Fordian efficiency.

It was also the farewell to Charly and Cheryl - our own Welsh contingent in Auckland. Sadly they head back to the land of their fathers via Asia and China. We wish them well on their journey and they assure us that Cardiff Korfball will soon be established and come over and kick our arses.

Thanks to everyone for coming and making a special effort with their attire. Special mentions go to
1, Kirsteen "The Voice" Day - for a fine victory on Sing Star. (no-one else was allowed on)
2, Emma Bailey - for fine fine dancing in the institute style.
3, Lucy and Charly - for an exemplary synchronized swimming display.

click Here for some classy snaps

Auckland Korfball AGM was held on the 14th November 2005. Over a chillie and beer the Chairman presented the report for the year 2004-05, the Treasurer reported on the financial situation and a number of resolutions were passed. At the end of the meeting the voting for the 2005-06 executive was held. The full list of positions and personnel is available on the "Club" page - minutes coming soon

Auckland Korfball and friends were in celebratory mood on November the 5th. Not only was it Guy Fawkes, the anniversaries of the UK's first traffic lights (1927) and the formation of pop legends ABBA (1972) but it was also 1 year since Auckland Korfball officially incorporated (well nearly anyway). Celebrations were duly held at Cam and Melissa's 'party central' after it was discovered that global deforestation hadn't had enough impact in South Epsom to prevent certain forest fire in the event of fireworks.

In time honoured fashion costumes were compulsory; Lara Croft, Dracula and Bin Laden making notable guest appearances. The best costume Prizes went to Charley for his innovative "Rocket" outfit and Gillian for her spiders web face big wig combo. Andy meanwhile took out the least dressed, ( hey it was a very chilly night there folks). A heady mix of alcohol and fireworks ensured an adrenalin pumping night was had by all. Thanks to Cam and Melissa for hosting the event at short notice and to everyone who made a great effort with their outfits. There are some snaps here - more photos to follow when people send me some.

It's been a fantastic year lets hope we can push on with more Korfball progress throughout the rest of 2005 and through 2006.

The second National Squad training session was held in Nelson this weekend, Auckland sent 4 representatives - Kirsteen Day, Andrew Hamilton, Cam Wasley and Matt Day to train. The full weekend of Korfball focused on getting players from the three regions to use similar attacking styles and to get used to playing together. There was also a team bonding session on the Saturday night.