Summer Recreational Tournament – Astro Korf
During summer 2011, the LKA organised a 5 week recreational korfball tournament.
The purpose of the tournament was to give clubs a recruitment opportunity in the
period before indoor training starts. The tournament was very successful with about
20 new recruits. It is recommended that a similar competition takes place in 2012.
This document contains a summary of the organisation
needed and the costs involved.
The Competition
The tournament is a recreational, but competitive, competition. Although we want
beginners to play it is difficult to guarantee that each team will have beginners and
the rules should not be made to require beginners to play. The tournament was
advertised as beginner friendly and clubs kept to the spirit of the rules.
It is important the tournament organisers makes a note of: scores, goal-scorers,
MVP nominations on the night so that updated placings can be quickly sent out.
Ideally, all this information would be recorded on the referees score-card, collated
and published via a website that night.
Venue
Games were held on the astro turf at Chestnut Grove school from 19.00-21.00 on a
Tuesday night. The venue is very close to public transport and next door to a pub.
Ideally future tournaments would be held at the same venue but there may be other
suitable venues. The booking of the venue should be done by the end of March.
The pitch at Chestnut Grove is large (at least 40m x 36m). During 2011 we played
one game of 25 minutes on the pitch at a time, in the future 2 smaller games could
be accommodated. Players are recommended to wear astro type football boots.
The organisers will need to provide a copy of the LKA's insurance document to
secure the booking.
Equipment
During 2011 we transported posts to and from the venue every week. This was
straightforward for one set of equipment but may be more difficult for two sets. There
is an outdoor storage area at the rear of the pitch at Chestnut Grove. Enquiries
should be made about storing equipment (at least the poles and bases) there. A
large pad lock would be needed to keep the area secure.
If two pitches are to be used, pitch tape will be needed to mark out the half way line.
Korfball banners should be hung up from the fences (with printed side facing out so
that passers by can read them).
Referees
The tournament used experienced players who were not practically qualified. The
aim was to give those referees feedback so that they would be better placed to pass
a practical qualification in the future. We used experienced referees on the side-lines
to give the feedback. This takes a little bit of organising and should be done by a
single person going forwards.
Tournament
The 2011 tournament consisted of 8 teams. The structure was 2 pools of 4 teams,
with semi-finals and then finals. The semi-finals were cancelled due to the riots and
the final pool positions led directly to the finals.
If two pitches are used at Chestnut Grove the tournament can either have longer
matches or more matches. It is suggested that more matches are played rather than
longer matches in order to allow the referees to both play and ref. With 8 teams and
two pitches the pool matches can be played on a home and away basis (i.e. three
weeks of playing everyone in your pool twice), with Pool A playing first and third one
week, and pool B playing second and fourth. This would also have the benefit of
people staying around to watch.
Costs
The costs of the tournament were passed onto the participants. The costs were:
Pitch Hire: £650 (£65 per hour)
Trophies: £40
First Aid: £10 (ice packs, bandages, anti-septic wipes)
Flyers: £50
Referees: £5 per game (note total cost would go up if twice as many matches were
played)
Recommended Changes
The following changes are recommended for the 2012 competition.
1. play on smaller pitches and have two games playing at the same time, but retain
25 minute games
2. produce a website for the competition to provide the information that was in the
flyer (fixtures, rules, club contacts etc) instead of producing a flyer
3. have trophies that say “korfball” on them
4. have the referees nominate a single MVP from the match that they refereed
5. have a dedicated referee organiser
6. have a dedicated fixtures/results organisers
7. have a dedicated equipment person to make sure equipment gets there
8. provide other korfball promotional material (e.g. international korfball magazine)
Rules
Tournament Rules
Balham Astro Korf is a competitive, but recreational, korfball competition
Abuse of the referees will not be tolerated
Verbal abuse, or aggressive physical behaviour, towards opponents will not be
tolerated
Games are 25 minutes long with no half time and no time outs
4 substitutions per game, as per usual rules of korfball, are allowed
Clubs are free to move players between teams but please do not abuse the freedom.
If you think that your opponents are artificially strengthening their teams by moving
players around then let the tournament organizer know and it will be reviewed
Games start promptly at advertised times. Teams showing up more than 5 minutes
late will forfeit the game
Please take your rubbish away with you
Players are invited to discuss their goals and interceptions in the Regent after the
games
PLEASE KEEP NOISE DOWN AS IT IS A RESIDENTIAL AREA
Details
Chestnut Grove School
45 Chestnut Grove
Balham
London
SW12 8JZ
Email: info@chestnutgrove.wandsworth.sch.uk
Bookings were negotiated with Steve Wallis:
swallis@chestnutgrove.wandsworth.sch.uk