All great projects begin on Wikipedia. Procrastination. Last-minute essays. The Wikipedia Game. It should come as no surprise, then, that the group of Balliol sportsmen and sportswomen destined to become Korfball Cuppers champions began their journey in a desperate attempt to work out what it was exactly they were destined to win at.
You, lucky readers, will have to do no such research. Korfball, for those who have been living under a rock their whole lives / have no internet access, is a sport similar to netball, in which two teams of eight – four men, four women – face off against each other in an invariably epic clash. The aim, in a stunning departure from ball-game convention, is to launch a ball into a net. In this case, the goal, or ‘korf’, looks very much like a netball basket. But if you’re thinking this game sounds really quite similar – if not identical – to netball itself, think again. Oh, yes, think again. Indeed, according to the South Australian Korfball Association – a steadfast and reliable source of knowledge over the years – there are “dramatic differences” between the two games. “Dramatic differences”, such as the fact that whilst a netball court measures 30.5m x 15.25m, the korfball court measures 40m x 20m. More substantially, whilst netball rings are positioned at the centre of each end of the court, the korfs are situated one third of the way into each half. This, of course, allows for the 360-degree play all korfball fans know and love. Other differences include the lifting of netball’s restriction on shooting distance: whilst netball players may only shoot from within the goal circle, KorfBallers may shoot from anywhere within the attacking zone.
Last Saturday, teams from seven Oxford colleges gathered at the Iffley Road Sports Centre to do KorfBattle. The ordinary scale of the game had been somewhat reduced – teams were to consist of four players as opposed to eight, whilst the court was to be halved. But make no mistake about it: this was going to be massive.
On paper, New College looked strong, with a core of experienced korfball players, including the Oxford captain Sam Sharp. But paper counts for little in sport – with the obvious exception of the World Origami Championships. Indeed, a strong line-up is little help when the many temptations of Corpus Christi ball lure much of your squad away from the court. Magdalen, too, would have been confident of securing the ultimate prize, with Oxford korfball players Ally Glennie and Alice Thomson forming the backbone of their team. At the other end of the spectrum, there was St Hughs, who boasted not a single regular korfball player.
Tensions were high, as is to be expected in a sporting competition this prestigious. Would the experience of Magdalen or New prevail? Or would Hugh’s brave rookies discover a mass of hidden KorfTalent?
In the end, the twists and turns that we have come to expect from korfball produced an unlikely winner in the form of Balliol. The Broad Street outfit fielded just one korfball blue – the highly talented Helen Davies – but what they lacked in experience, they made up for in sheer sporting ability, embodied in Frisbee enthusiast and general Adonis Will McCarthy. Balliol started brightly, with a 1-0 win over Brasenose. Univ, however, presented a stiffer challenge; neither side was able to break the deadlock, with the result a scoreless draw. At this point, Balliol were reinforced by the appearance of James Kavanagh, of Oxford lacrosse fame. The Kavalry had arrived. Balliol dominated their next game, defeating a highly spirited Hughs side 3-0, with a trademark hat-trick from Davies securing the win.
The next match was to be the decider. Balliol were now faced with a formidable Magdalen outfit, who had made their intentions clear by trouncing Hugh’s by a margin of ten goals. Balliol, however, had been strengthened by the appearance of netball blues Libby Stephens and Bethan Nichol. Some observers likened this to the SAS turning up to your Quasar party. The match was a tight affair, with the netball players struggling to get to grips with the subtle – or rather, ‘dramatic’ – differences between the two games. Balliol went one up, before controversy struck in the form of a disallowed goal from Magdalen on the stroke of half time. We knew there was going to be drama – but this was something else.
Balliol ultimately held onto their lead, securing the title, to the jubilation of fans the world over. Korfball enthusiast and Balliol student Tabby Pinto had this to offer: “We got the tactics just right. At the end of the day, we just korfed the most balls. Simple.” Joe Wardropper, meanwhile, was confused by the whole affair – “I thought korfball was a Swedish delicacy”. After a day of unmatched sporting action and drama, Balliol had come out on top. In the words of the great Sir Alex Ferguson: “Korfball – bloody hell.”
This week’s edition has taken a look into two of the more unfamiliar and unreported sports that Oxford has to offer. Korfball and Patball offer two examples of such sports. Korfball remains competitively institutionalised, whereas Patball (Page 31) seemed to be based on sporadic get togethers, much like flash mobs. This is part of Cherwell Sport’s investigation into unusual sports in Oxford: more coverage coming soon, including sports such as quidditch.
