Cardiff Dragons Korfball Club

Cardiff Korfball tournament a success

Twenty teams competed in Cardiff’s annual korfball tournament at Cardiff Rugby Club last weekend (Saturday 22 August).

South London-based team, Wildcats, won the tournament, beating off teams from all over the UK including seven Cardiff teams, Gloucester, Highbury, Bec, Manchester and Bristol.

Kate Saunders took part in the tournament and organised the event. She said: “This year we had more than 100 people playing korfball outdoors and it was a really succesdful event. The standard was high and we some great support from the side-lines.

“We’ll be hosting the event again next year and want to encourage as many people to come along and find out more about korfball and we’re developing the sport as much as we can.

“The best thing about korfball is that you don’t need to know the rules to start with – you can just join in and learn as you go. It’s a good way to keep fit and meet new people.”

Cardiff Dragons and Cardiff City organised the tournament which is now in its fourth year.

Korfball is a Dutch sport that is growing in Wales. It is played by men and women on mixed teams and combines elements of basketball and netball.

For more information about korfball, contact Sian Hunt on sian_hunt@yahoo.co.uk

Double boost for Welsh korfball

Cardiff Dragons Korfball Club has received a double boost after securing sponsorship from Cardiff-based flooring company, Westco, which has been match-funded by the Sports Council for Wales.

The leading laminate and wood flooring firm has sponsored the club’s kit for the 2009-2010 season for £400, and the club will receive a further £400 from Sportsmatch Cymru to support the club’s drive to attract new players to the club.

Nick Gibbs, managing director of Westco, said, “As a long-established Cardiff firm, Westco is keen to support organisations in the local community.

“We’d not heard of korfball before but we thought it would be a good opportunity to get involved with a sport that’s fast-growing and attracting many new players around Cardiff. We’re going to get some of staff playing too!”

Sian Hunt, chair of Cardiff Dragons Korfball Club, said, “We’re really grateful to Westco for their support of the club and are really pleased this has been match-funded by the Sports Council to help us attract new players to try korfball.

“The funds have given Cardiff Dragons a real boost and will mean we can continue to grow the club and ensure that korfball remains alive and kicking in Wales! We’re always looking for new players who can join us at Howells School on a Tuesday night for outdoor training over the summer.”

Based on Penarth Road in Cardiff, Westco supplies flooring and accessories to large DIY stores and independent flooring retailers. The company currently employs 50 staff in customer and product support, manufacturing, design and sales.

Sportsmatch Cymru is a Welsh Assembly Government business incentive scheme for sport in Wales, managed by the Sports Council for Wales. It is designed to encourage more business backing for grassroots sport by matching new or additional sponsorship pound-for-pound.

Chair of the Sports Council for Wales, Philip Carling, said, “Businesses in Wales play a huge part in the sporting success of our nation and we can only continue to excel if we invest in tomorrow’s champions now.

“In return, sports sponsorship offers businesses the opportunity to achieve commercial marketing objectives by raising brand awareness and increasing customer loyalty.”