On Wednesday 7th December we attended the final Korfball Tournament for 2022 which was held at Hillmorton High School. Originally, we were not going to attend as the date that had been set didn’t suit us as a school – we had already finished up training together as a squad when they suddenly announced a new date.
We arrived eager to play our hearts out with just 3 teams, rather than 4 which meant the teams had been changed up somewhat.
We went into pool play with confidence as there were only 3 other school in attendance on the day. The C team, which was mostly year 7s, had a point to prove this tournament – they wanted to show that they will be able to carry the very strong CSKI Korfball legacy. Playing off against the A team in pool play, they were determined. The A team felt as though they had the upper hand and played a little too softly to begin with and ended up with the tough job of chasing the C team’s 2-0 lead. Eventually, the C team came away with the win 2-1 which put them at the top of the leaderboard. It was now that A team realised they had competition on their hands.
The B team played incredibly well but were up against some tough competition. With a 1-1 draw to begin their day, followed by a 2-0 loss, they really upped their game and had some high scoring games to follow. They won one of their games 8-1 which was hugely impressive!
Come play offs, the A team had a harder track to get to the final, the conclusion of the semi final was a draw and unfortunately they lost in a penalty shoot out. We still had hope however, as the C team won their semi-final and were off to represent us in the final against Hillmorton.
They worked hard and battled it out in the final, with everyone supporting from the sidelines. Hillmorton defended our running shots well and we had to resort to shooting from a greater distance which decreased accuracy. Even though we fought hard, it was tough to lose 2-1 in the end.
There were plenty of tears all round – tears of frustration and also tears of pride. Finall, South Karamata’s streak of dominating the Korfball tournaments had come to an end – for the first time since 2019 another school will have their name on the trophy.
We learnt some tough lessons out on the court this tournament but we are sure we have the talent and the drive to rebuild next year, our year 7s really did prove that the amazing leadership of the year 8s over the year wasn’t for nothing.
Back at school the following day, it was clear another lesson had been learnt… Even on cloudy days we should use the sunblock that is available to prevent sunburn! We have some of our squad rocking interesting lines on their faces due to the paint they wore during the tournament.
We live and we learn – we will be back stronger than ever next year! Thank you to everyone who has supported the Korfball squad this year and to all of the amazing students who have been part of the squad!
