Wales national korfball team

Wales
AssociationWelsh Korfball Association/Cymdeithas Pêl-Corff Cymru
IKF membership2007
IKF codeWAL Wales
IKF rank23 (Nov. 2014)
World Championships
Appearances 1 (First in 2011)
Best result 15th, 2011
European Championships
Appearances 2 (First in 2010)
Best result 11th place, 2010
European Bowl
Appearances 3 (First in 2007)
Best result West div. Champions, 2007 & 2009
website

The Wales National Korfball Team often referred to as the Welsh Korfball Squad (WKS) is managed by the Welsh Korfball Association/Cymdeithas Pêl-Corff Cymru, and represents Wales in international korfball competition. The Welsh Korfball Squad entered its first IKF ranking competition in 2007, after the Great Britain national korfball team was disbanded to produce three teams: England, Wales and Scotland. Wales is a fully recognised member of the International Korfball Federation and is currently ranked 23rd in the world.

They played the World Championships for the first and only time in 2011, after the withdrawal of Hungary.[1] In 2006 they reached the 3rd place in the Korfball Commonwealth Games.[2] In 2014, Wales lost 12-16 to Poland in a match that would have seen them qualify for the 2015 World Championship.

Tournament results

World Championships[3]
Year Championship Host Classification
2011 9th World Championship China Shaoxing, China 15th place
World Games
Year Championship Host Classification
European Championships[4]
Year Championship Host Classification
2010 4th European Championships Netherlands The Netherlands 11th place
2014 5th European Championships Portugal Portugal 16th place
European Bowl
Year Championship Host Classification
2007 2nd European Bowl Luxembourg Luxembourg Champions (West)
2009 3rd European Bowl Luxembourg Luxembourg Champions (West)
2013 4th European Bowl Netherlands Netherlands 2nd place (East)
Commonwealth Championship
Year Championship Host Classification
2006 1st Korfball Commonwealth Championship England London, England 3rd place

Squad

The Welsh Korfball Squad is normally selected through trials arranged by the coach. The coach is appointed by the WKA.

Current Squad

Caps and goals updated as of October 2014.

# Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 Laura Pacey 28 September 1991 7 2 Wales Cardiff City
2 Carla Bennett 15 August 1979 29 37 England Norwich Knights
3 Bethan Phillips 2 September 1989 14 9 England Birmingham City
4 Catherine Davies 25 February 1985 3 0 England Bristol City
5 Julie Prosser 7 January 1983 20 7 Wales Cardiff City
6 Ruth Campbell 14 September 1983 40 32 England Bristol Thunder
7 Hannah Ager 17 March 1985 25 7 England Birmingham City
8 Jo Nash 14 October 1988 7 1 Wales Raptors
9 James Wilcox 8 June 1993 14 20 Wales Cardiff City
10 Ramzi Barbir 21 January 1981 45 83 England Bristol Thunder
11 John Williams 21 June 1975 51 67 England Nomads
12 Kevin Jones 12 October 1983 41 49 England Manchester Warriors
13 Rick Snowcroft 11 December 1984 12 8 England Birmingham City
14 Nick Wilkins 11 August 1981 50 91 England Birmingham City
15 Tom Robinson 8 February 1989 5 1 England Cambridge Tigers
16 Luke James 8 February 1996 0 0 England Croydon

Previous Squads

History

Since 2002 the Welsh Korfball Association has existed to develop and promote the sport of Korfball in Wales. The WKS competed at non-IKF affiliated events before they made their debut at an IKF Ranking Tournament in 2007. Wales was officially recognised on the IKF World Rankings in 2007, entering a 51 strong list of nations at 24.

2005
Wales competed at the Home Nations Championship. They lost to GB Students and England but won against Scotland and Ireland putting them in third place.

Wales at the 2006 Commonwealth Korfball Championship, London.

2006
A Four Nations Tournament took place between Wales, Scotland, Greece, and the hosts Luxembourg. Wales won two of the three matches, suffering a narrow 12–13 defeat to Scotland. Wales later participated in the first Korfball Commonwealth Championship (London) with England, Scotland, Australia and South Africa. They were placed third above Australia on goal difference. Additional matches were played against Ireland and North America (United States & Canada) during the tournament.

2007
In 2007, Wales participated in their first official IKF ranking event: the European Bowl West. Wales won every match against the other participants to be crowned champions. Later that year Wales played a friendly against Sweden in preparation for the European Bowl final, against Slovakia. Wales lost the final against Slovakia, who were winners of the European Bowl East.

2008
The WKS attended the Stadskanal International Tournament and played matches against KVWSS, Slovakia and Luxembourg. They were able to take revenge on Slovakia, for the defeat the previous year at the European Bowl Final, with a 14–12 victory.

Wales at the 2011 IKF World Championship, China.

2009
Wales returned to the European Bowl West and were once again crowned champions after winning every game; in the process they qualified for the European Championships in 2010. Wales competed against France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Scotland, and Sweden; it was the same six participants as the 2007 European Bowl West. Prior to the competition Wales lost to Germany in a warm-up match at Stadskanaal.

2010
In preparation for the European Championships Wales competed in the Home Nations. They went on to take silver, losing out in the final to England. In the opening matches of the European Championships Wales suffered some of their worst defeats, one at the hands of the Czech Republic and another to Portugal. However, they managed to secure 11th place, just outside of the top ten which qualified for the World Championship. Following the tournament Wales rose to 18th in the IKF World Rankings.

2011
After the withdrawal of Hungary, Wales was invited to the World Championship in China; this was another major tournament debut for Wales. The schedule saw Wales opening the competition in a thrilling encounter with hosts China, ending 13–17 in favour of the Chinese. Wales went on to lose all of their games except the last match against South Africa. The game was decided in the last minutes with Wales emerging victorious by the slimmest of margins. After this performance on the world scene, Wales rose another place, to 17th, in the IKF World Rankings.

2012
Leon Simons first came to Wales early in 2012, holding a clinic for the Wales senior and development squads.

Wales at the 2013 European Bowl East, held in the Netherlands.

2013
In 2013, Wales participated for the third time at the European Bowl, this time in the Eastern division. Wales' new coach was Dutch international cap record holder, Leon Simons. Wales secured their place at the European Championships, in Portugal, after a golden goal victory over Ireland. [5]

2014
The WKA appointed Graham Box, an ex-Great Britain player (1979–85), who also went on the coach the Great Britain team to 5th at the 2002 European Championships. In September, Wales competed at a Four Nation international tournament between England, Catalonia, Scotland, and Wales. At the European Championships Wales ended up second in their group; following a golden goal defeat to Serbia, and a close victory over Turkey, Wales faced Poland to determine who would win the group and claim a place at the World Championship. The match turned out to be Wales' heaviest defeat as they succumbed 16-12. Wales narrowly lost their next three matches against Ireland, and playing again against Serbia and Turkey. In the whole competition they did not lose a single match by more than 4 goals but finished last in 16th place. A great achievement for the squad was that it is the first tournament in which each person in the 14 strong squad scored at least one goal. In the wake of the competition Wales plummeted from 17th in the IKF World Ranking to 23rd.

Most capped players

Players with an equal number of caps are ranked in chronological order of reaching the milestone.

# Name Career Caps Goals Position
1 John Williams 2006- 51 67
2 Nick Wilkins 2005- 50 91
3 Ramzi Barbir 2005- 45 83
4 Kevin Jones 2005– 41 49
5 Ruth Campbell 2008- 40 32
6 Zoe Rose 2006-2013 38 10
7 Dave Buckland 2005-2013 37 64
8 Carla Bennett 2010- 29 37
9 Susan Jones 2005-2010 28 10
10 Hannah Ager 2008-2014 25 7

Top goalscorers

Goalscorers with an equal number of goals are ranked with the highest to lowest goals per game ratio.

# Name Career Goals Caps Position Average
1 Nick Wilkins 2005– 91 50 1.82
2 Ramzi Barbir 2005– 83 45 1.82
3 John Williams 2006- 67 51 1.31
4 Dave Buckland 2005–2013 64 37 1.73
5 Kevin Jones 2005– 49 41 1.19
6 Carla Bennett 2010– 37 29 1.28
7 Ruth Campbell 2008- 32 40 0.80
8 Steve Jones 2005-2007 25 10 2.50
9 Ceri Jones 2005-2010 21 19 1.11
10 James Wilcox 2013- 20 14 1.43

Welsh International Records

Individual

Team

Competition

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Wales Make Korfball World Championship Debut in China". BBC. 27 October 2011.
  2. ↑ "Korfball Commonwealth Games". BBC. 24 August 2006.
  3. ↑ "The history of the IKF and the IKF World Championship" (PDF). IKF.
  4. ↑ "The history of the IKF European Championship" (PDF). IKF.
  5. ↑ "Wales Qualify for EC2014". Welsh Korfball Association. 25 October 2013.

External links