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touchline
First up, can you describe the basic rules of Ringball?
Ringball (also known as Korfball) is played with nine players,
three in each block. One team consists of three goal shooters,
three Middle players and three defenders. The players are not
allowed to move over the whole court, you just play in your own
third. You are not allowed to make a pass through the middle
third and you are not allowed to obstruct a player to pass the ball.
It has a long history in South Africa. Where did the
sport come from?
One hundred and three years ago basketball was introduced
at South African Teachers’ Colleges as a game for ladies. Over
a period of time the rules were adapted to be more suitable for
ladies to compete and a new game was born called Korfball.
During 1907-1916 the games were played under the banner of
the South African Basketball Union after which the then Transvaal
Korfball Board came into existence.
Korfball was introduced as an official school sports at traditional
Afrikaans schools and remained a school sport until the 1980’s.
What kinds of people play the sport?
Every one that loves interaction with other people and making of
friends.
Men were mainly administrators, referees and selectors for the
sport, but could not resist the game and in 1970 at the annual
National Championships in Messina two teams comprised of
referees played the first men’s game in the lunch hour. This paved
the way for men’s teams to partake on a National level for the first
time in 1971.
The sport continued over the years with clubs competing for
various trophies. After club competitions are completed, provincial
teams are selected to partake at National level, to be crowned
as the top South African provincial team. Around 2500 players
represent the 16 different Provinces annually.
Because husbands and wives can play Korfball this has became
a popular family sport with children playing socially whilst their
parents were training. The executive committee realized in
order to keep the children interested a competition must be
introduced. Currently the age groups partaking in Korfball
varies from 0/11 boys and girls to master men’s and ladies.
How is the administration of the sport run in South
Africa?
In SA the sport is run by the Executive Committee that
consists of the following President, Secretary General,
Treasurer, Assistant Vice-President: Associations, Assistant-
Vice President: Development, Vice-President Assistant-Vice-
President: Organisation Players Association, Assistant-Vice
President: Tertiary And Schools Liaison Officer. Each Province
also has a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, and other
Sport Profile:
Ringball
All too often weekend sports divide families along gender lines. One sport that is geared to bring the
family together for fun on the weekend is Ringball, one of South Africa’s lesser known exports.
While comparisons to netball are inevitable, Ringball has its own unique character and a long history. It
attracts people of all types because of its fun and fast-paced action. The sport is beginning to raise its
profile outside of South Africa, and given its enormous appeal, it should only be a matter of time before
there are associations in countries around the globe.
Touchline caught up with spokesperson for Ringball
South Africa, Zonja Labuschagne.
F
Around 2500 players
represent the 16 different
provinces annually.
Pictured here and over page: highlights from Ringball/
Korfball matches at the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung,
Taiwan.
Spotlight on Sport
Images: KOC-CNA