Four girls and four boys. This is a korfball team. They play on a field divided into two courts. In each one, a basket 3.5 m high and half of the team in absolute parity: two girls and two boys. "There are no specialized players here, there are no pivots, or forwards - Kira Menén, president of the Catalan Korfball Federation, tells us. There are only two roles that everyone fulfills equally and in turns: attacking to score and defend the basket". The korfball is parity and avoids individuality. Goodbye differences between men and women. Goodbye war of the sexes. We are going to learn a little more about this sport that has been played in Catalonia since 1982. A sport that will not go unnoticed in 2020, the year of sports tourism in Catalonia.
ARE MEN FROM MARS AND WOMEN FROM VENUS?
Not in the korfball. Jessica Lechuga, a player at the Korfball Vallparadís Club, in Terrassa, and a member of the Catalan Korfball National Team, explains why: "In this game we all have to contribute equally. It is not a sport like basketball or football, in the that you can only approach a basket or a goal and score. If you have the ball, you cannot move, just pass it to a teammate who is unmarked so that he can score. We all need each other and this means that there are no differences between players " .
FAIR PLAY AND FOR ALL
Berta Alomà, a Korbal Club Barcelona player and also a member of the Catalan national team, is 27 years old and has played korfball since she was 11. One of the things that attracted her to this sport was her fairplay. "It is a very clean sport because it penalizes physical contact, and at the same time, it is a sport in which everyone can play: taller, shorter … It breaks stereotypes." Age is not a problem either. The experience of Jessica, 32, confirms this: "Over the years I see the play better, so I don't have to run as much and my movements are of better quality. If you're in shape, at 40 you can be playing perfectly" .
2020 is the year of sports tourism in Catalonia, an ideal context to discover sports such as korfball
A CHALLENGE OF RESISTANCE
In korfball, the movement is continuous and intense. The ideal, according to the players, is to complement team training with gym sessions to strengthen the muscles and increase physical resistance. A resistance that men and women must have alike, and that buries the crude phrase of the "weaker sex." "You have to defend your teammates and attack like them," says Jessica. "You are one more and no one is in the background. In korfball, everyone is important."
A sport with great values: equality, camaraderie, and non-violence
THE ORIGIN
The korfball was born in Holland in 1902. Nico Broekhuysen, a teacher from Amsterdam, created it based on the Swedish game Ringball. In Europe and in the rest of the world, it is a sport with a lot of presence, but in Spain it is still a minority. However, Catalonia is one of the territories where it is most practiced thanks to the schools, which see korfball as a sport with great values: equality, cooperation, camaraderie, non-violence, non-specialization and coeducation.
A GOOD PLACE TO WATCH KORFBALL (AND PLAY)
Luis Rosa, Technical Director of the Catalan Federation of Korfball, tells us that it was in 1985 when this sport arrived in Catalonia "from the hand of a physical education teacher from Terrassa who introduced it to his school and from there they became interested in more centers and Clubs emerged in Barcelona, Badalona, Montcada i Reixach, Vacarisses, Cerdanyola or Platja d'Aro ". Catalonia even has its own national team since 2005, when it received recognition from the International Korfball Federation, which gives it the right to participate in international competitions. His latest great achievement? Bronze at the 2016 European Championship.
PLAYERS, COACHES AND REFEREES
But if women have the same weight on the korfball court as men, as coaches and referees they still have a long way to go. "I am also a coach - Berta tells us - but there are more male coaches than women, and above all there are more referees. Here we only have one referee, who is international: Olga Gandía. Even so, the Federation supports us and encourages us to do so. women climb to these positions. " A future for these players who cannot imagine a life without korfball. "One day I will have to retire, of course - Jessica says - but I want to be linked to this sport. And if I have children, they will have a basket at home!"
The photographs are from a Korfball Super Cup match between the Barcelona and Vallparadís teams. © Lorena Glove
For more information: catalunya.com
