It was an ordinary day. I have just parked the car in our garage after visiting our Welcome Center where there are two pool tables and where I just finishing playing about a half-dozen games of pool...oh yeah, billiards. Luckily I won four games....and I'll let you guess how many I lost. After enjoying a glass of lemonade, I headed to the guest bed-room to write a few new stories to share with you in the future. Had to clear off my desk before I could find my keyboard and in the process found my September/October copy of "The Saturday Evening Post." Decided to page through it once again before I filed it and in the process found a story titled GLOBAL GAMES. The game that was featured was one that I had never heard of before...and that's a lot of years and a lot of games. Game called KORFBALL, which after reading about it seems to be a Dutch game. So, what is Korfball? In korfball you use teamwork to get the ball in the basket, but with no dribbling and no backboard. In this fast-paced game, two teams of four woman and four men compete to toss the ball through their kore (Dutch for "basket"). Unlike basketball, there is no backboard, and the basket sits atop a pole almost 22 feet in from the endline. My guess is they don't want anyone slam-dunking the koreball. There's also no dribbling: a player who receives the ball can pivot on one foot, but must stay in place and either shoot or pass. Within each of the two zones are four attackers and four defenders, evenly split between genders. A player may defend only against someone of the same gender, and players must stay within their zones. Sound like too many rules for you? A basket is worth 1 point, and the players switch zones every two baskets, so the defenders become attackers and vice versa. Lost yet?? After seeing a similar game in Sweden, Dutch schoolteacher Nico Broekhuysen invented korfball in 1902 by simplifying the rules for kids. It was a demonstration game at the Olympics in 1920 and 1928 and has been a competition at the World Games since 1985. Now...I've been around for many, many years and have never heard of it in the past. Never knew it was part of the Olympics or World Games. I never knew the United States participated in this sport...or maybe we don't! The accompanying picture I found in my latest Saturday Evening Post. Not sure if I would enjoy the game or not. As of now, there are so many sports to compete in during the Olympics that I don't see a need for a new one. But...then again...maybe it isn't a new game and I've only heard of it for the first time. That's totally possible! It was another extraordinary day on the life of an ordinary guy.
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| The sport known as KORFBALL! Ever hear of it? |
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