Youth Inter Area 2016

The Inter-Area Youth Competition was held over the weekend of 23 and 24 January at Harrow Leisure Centre and hosted by Harrow Korfball Club.

Once again the very professional organisation, by the large group of volunteers of Harrow Korfball Club, ensured delivery of an outstanding competition that ran with seamless efficiency, a great credit to Zoe Tighe and her team, at what has become the “home” of the Inter-Area Competition at Harrow Leisure Centre.

The England Korfball Referee Sub-Committee appointed Frank van der Wens as lead referee and Frank did an outstanding job, organising referees to cover over 80 matches during the course of the weekend.

This year the England Korfball Competitions Sub-Committee introduced new age groups to align with the Internationally recognised age groups of Under 11, Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17, with a separate event for Under 19s on Sunday, 17 April 2016.

The new age groups proved to be a great success and the Areas significant investment in their youth teams, showed the great strides Areas are making to develop outstanding players for the future.

Sally More, England Korfball Competitions Secretary, who administered the Inter-Area Youth Competition, did a fantastic job including live updates throughout the competition on the England Korfball website.

Standards have risen year on year and this year was no exception, the higher levels of play and coaching are paying great dividends. The hard work all the area associations are putting in, is really paying off, producing outstanding teams playing at a high level across the age groups.

Oxford Korfball Association for the first time entered the competition at the Under 11 age group and their fledgling youth development programme, looks to be well under way, and contact with other areas to support their efforts, showing a great willingness to support their aspirations.

The Competition Sub Committee were extremely impressed by the high standards of competition over the weekend with some very close matches. The last game of the Under 11s could have seen a situation where 3 teams were in contention for the gold medal and a last minute score secured the gold for Norfolk. Throughout the competition close matches and results ensured a very exciting weekend.

Harrow Council recognised the importance of youth involvement in sport and Leader of the Council, David Perry was in attendance on Saturday to watch the matches and to present the medals to the winners and runners-up.

We thank Councillor Perry for his support and that of Harrow Council. On Sunday our guest presenter was Corinne Buckland, England U19 Coach who made the presentations to the Under 11s and Under 15s.

A full listing of results and positions can be found under Competitions > Youth Inter Area.

Thanks to all the parents and referees, without whom, there would be no competition.

The Competition Sub Committee would also like to thank to coaches of the area associations for their hard work, and the raising of standards on a year on year basis, their dedication and passion ensured an outstanding competition this year. Lastly the young players – fantastic play – well done everyone.

Frank Sieber, England Korfball.