Being in England and wanting to get involved on campus, I decided to try something new... I thought it might be fun to experiment with some sort of sport that I tend to ascribe to the Brits, like cricket or badminton. However, when they had the society fair today so that people could sign up for things, both of these teams failed to make an appearance. As we were wandering around the tables, in awe of all of the organizations and sports that UEA has, I came to the Korfball team. Out of pure curiosity I stopped to see what in the world this Korf business was all about. The way they explained it to me was that the game is a combination of basketball and netball (needless to say that was only half helpful because I hadn't a clue what "netball" was). One of the captains coerced me into putting my name on the email list. Then he went further and tried to convince me to come and check it out that night. Being incredibly skeptical of it all, I gave him an indefinite maybe (which in my mind was much closer to an "ummm... I don't think so"). However, as I walked away and began to ponder it some more, I started to think that it wouldn't hurt to go see what Korfball was all about. Well, a couple of hours and much deliberating later, I went to the practice, and watching led to playing. Surprisingly, it was a lot of fun! I met another newcomer and everyone was incredibly nice and patient with us. So, I think that in the span of about 5 hours, I have gone from never hearing about this sport, to becoming an official member of the University of East Anglia's Korfball team. Now, comical as the name may be, these players are incredibly serious about their sport. (Thankfully there are tiers, so beginners can take it as casually as they please.) Despite only practicing/playing once a week, the team travels and every Sunday, they have games against other universities and divisions in the area. The best I can explain this game is that it is similar to basketball, but the nets are much higher and don't have a backboard; and instead of a basketball, you use a soccer ball (excuse me, a "football"). It is played coed and the court is divided into two sides, each with four girls and four boys. One side of the court is the attacking side and the other is the defending side. Hmm... I am not making this sound at all like it actually is so if you are actually interested check out:
2 comments:
That sounds like a cool game! It is awesome you are getting involved with your uni :D
Lauren, Korfball looks so cool/wicked intense, I feel as though you should become incredibly skilled at it and bring it back to UMass to start a team.
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