Canterbury is emerging as an epicentre for one of the fastest-growing sports in New Zealand.
Canterbury University Korfball president Demi Pearson described Christchurch as "the home and heart of Korfball in New Zealand".
New Zealand's under-21 squad members all reside in Canterbury, showing the strength of the programmes being run in the region.
Under-21 head coach Tom Donaldson said the sport is "fast-paced, strategic, and incredibly inclusive".
The squad recently claimed the country’s highest-ever finish at the U21 IKF Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship, winning a silver medal in Leshan, China.
Christchurch-based player Zara Sadler began her korfball journey nearly a decade ago.
"I wasn’t really interested in trialling for my primary school tournament but (national team captain) Youri (Borrink), who introduced many of us to korfball, encouraged me to give it a go,” she said.
Borrink has been involved with korfball most of his life, playing for one of the top Dutch clubs DOS'46, before moving to Christchurch. He was the New Zealand team manager when they qualified for the world championships at the Asia Oceania championships in Japan in 2018.
Sadler said: "I ended up playing in the school competition, then the under-13 Canterbury team, and later the under-17s. I’ve just continued ever since."
Korfball has similarities to netball, basketball, and ringball. The objective is to throw the ball into a netless basket on a 3.5m pole. Each team has four female and four male players. It was created in 1902 in the Netherlands by schoolteacher Nico Broekhuysen and is now played around the world.
Captain Levi Ferguson, who has been involved in New Zealand's last three under-21 international campaigns, said playing on the world stage was a culmination of years of hard work.
"This time we had a stronger connection, especially with the same core group returning. That really solidified our values and expectations," Ferguson said.
With so much talent concentrated in Canterbury, Donaldson hopes to inspire more kids to give korfball a go.
"The U21 squad’s success is proof of what’s possible when you have a strong community backing the players."
From school competitions to elite national squads, Canterbury's korfball community is in a strong position to develop more top players who can compete on the world stage.
