Author: shpoo2

FREE Korfball Beginner Session

Edinburgh City Korfball are hosting a FREE Beginner Session to introduce new players to korfball.
Korfball is a mixed sex ball sport, designed to be more cooperative than basketball and faster paced than netball. It’s Dutch in origin, which is where the name comes from: ‘korf’ is the Dutch word for basket.

There are two sections, an attack and defence. Every two goals that are scored players swap between the sections so you aren’t stuck doing one role for the whole match.

You can view a great breakdown of the rules here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUtJB5jBOis

There will be a prize draw for beginners attending the event and the winner will receive free membership to the club for the season!

 

You can keep up to date with announcements by signing up to the Facebook event which can be found here!

Edinburgh City 1 top the early season table

The 1st team was at home this weekend taking on newly promoted Strathclyde and a tricky test against Mavericks 2. With the opportunity to spend some time at the top of the table with two wins, our Citizens performed well in attack and defence to make sure that they maintain their perfect start to the season’s campaign.

 

Edinburgh City 1 (21) v (10) Strathclyde 1

The match started out with City finding the basket with regularity, this was Strathclyde’s first match of the season and City took advantage to get off to a blistering start. Goals from David Ewing and a couple from the penalty spot from Dan Pratt saw the hosts go up by 4 and it was a lead that City never looked like letting slip. Some sharp shooting from Dave and Ella Paul really helped to pace the attack and defensively we were causing lots of problems for Strathclyde.

Half time saw the introduction of Heather Mackintosh who overpowered her opposition on both ends of the court, winning lots of interceptions and scoring 4 goals herself. City’s girls looked like the danger players all game and their constant drives at the basket brought goals and penalties to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

A slight lack of focus towards the end of the game saw Strathclyde get into their stride and the visitors showed flashes of the goal scoring instincts that saw them promoted last year. But it was too little too late as City ran out comfortable winners in this clash.

 

Scorers: David Ewing (5), Ella Paul (4), Heather Mackintosh (4), Dan Pratt (3), Katrina Caldwell (2), Andrea Kinver (1), Andrew Goode (1), Emma Cottell (1)

MVP: Ella Paul

 

Edinburgh City 1 (20) v (10) Edinburgh Mavericks 2

The second match of the day saw City take on cross-town rivals Mavericks in a battle that would see the winner go top of the early season table, although both teams have played more matches than those who are on their tails.

The matchup was similar to the last time these two teams met, with the teams going toe to toe before City settled into a rhythm and pulled away before half time. In his season debut, Dave made sure he was putting himself in the golden-korf contest once again, grabbing himself 13 goals on his own personal ‘Super Saturday’.

The match saw an intriguing matchup between Dan Pratt and Ross McGuinness in what promised to be a battle of the big-men. Walking off with 5 goals and the MVP nod, the wily experience of Dan overcame his athletic disadvantages to take this one but there looks to be many closely fought battles between these two in the season ahead.

Another great defensive display really underpinned an all-round performance that will give City some confidence for tougher weekends ahead. But they can go into the international break top of the table and in very fine spirits!

Scorers: David Ewing (8), Dan Pratt (5), Andrea Kinver (2), Ella Paul (2), Heather Mackintosh (1), Katrina Caldwell (1), Michael Garbutt (1)

MVP: Dan Pratt

A busy weekend for our Citizens!

Edinburgh City have had a jam packed weekend and we’ll try and give you all of the details that saw the club travel to Glasgow for a beginner’s tournament, training hard across the weekend with the Scotland squad and also having our big bowling social on Saturday evening.

 

Beginner Tournament

Ella Paul took a group of players to Glasgow’s beginner tournament and, except for the help of Laura Powell, all of the squad had been playing korfball for a year or less! A fantastic achievement for the club to be able to field a squad full of newbies.

The format of the tournament was two pool groups and short 10 minute matches. The team played 5 group matches, winning 3 of them but finishing 4th in the group after the top 3 in the group all took wins from each other. A placing game against Dundee saw a narrow 2-1 defeat before facing Glasgow to play off for 7/8th position. An exciting game ended with Glasgow equalising late on to force a penalty shootout but City stayed calm and Adam Hardy scored the winning penalty to leave the team finishing 7th out of 11 teams competing and winning 4 out of their 7 matches on the day!

Ella said of the day “The team showed real improvement throughout the day and were asking lots of great questions, making the most of an opportunity to learn in a less competitive environment. John McDowell scored a great runner, Jiayi Liu showed fantastic hustle and Alex and Adam really fought hard in the rebound position.”

Ella also thanked Adam and Laura who stepped up to referee some matches at the tournament too.

The day say playing debuts for Anj Gopalan and Matthew Walker and we look forward to seeing how all of our fantastic beginners get on this season!

Full squad: Adam Hardy, Alex Foster, Anj Gopalan, Anna Thomas, Dimitris Kalentakis, Emma Steel, Jiayi Liu, John McDowell, Laura Kitchen, Laura Powell, Matthew Cook, Matthew Walker.

 

Bowling Social

A great event put on by our social secretaries Christie Smillie and Laura de Nooij saw the club travel out to World of Bowling for some fun, and not at all competitive bowling action!

As well as strikes, spares and plenty of gutter balls, there was also competitions for the highest team and individual scores as well as the most coveted “best socks” award. Matthew Walker got an honourable mention for wearing his lipstick socks over his trousers all evening, but the judging panel decided that they couldn’t choose between Jacky Mo’s Christmas Darth Vader ensemble or Kitty Dutton’s artistic Mona Lisa socks. So it was put to a public vote and whoever got the loudest cheers would be crowned. Causing quite the commotion, the club voted Kitty as the winner of the inaugural sock award whilst Matthew Cook picked up the best individual score with a massive 149 points.

After the bowling, many of the club headed on to Adam Hardy’s housewarming party where we helped him discover his very own Darth Vader merchandise and hopefully helped to warm his lovely new flat appropriately!

 

Scotland Training

New Scotland coach Colin Boys was up this weekend to take charge of his first Scotland training sessions and it was a great chance for our Citizens to receive some top level coaching as well as try to impress Colin ahead of next year’s European Championships. It was great to have so many representing the club at the training weekend with Dan Pratt, Laura de Nooij, Dave Ewing, Michael Garbutt, Katrina Caldwell, Jacky Mo, Heather Mackintosh, Andrew Goode and Kitty Dutton all joining in.

 

Edinburgh City 1s and 3s both pick up points this weekend!

Edinburgh City 3 had the short trip to Oriam on Sunday where they faced off against Glasgow 2 who will surely be in the mix for the title this year, and a fresh faced Edinburgh University 3 side full of new players. Laura Kitchen was making her debut and Rich Allan was pulling on the red and black again for the first time since 2014.

 

Edinburgh City 3 (6) v Glasgow 2 (12)

In the first match against Glasgow 2, City managed to stay with the visiting side for the first half. Going goal for goal, making it difficult for the opposition to get the ball into their attack and Rebecca Cheape was dominating the rebound for the hosts.

The 3s couldn’t quite sustain the pressure in the second half though, and despite a couple of great goals from Lee Goossens, the home side just couldn’t keep up with Glasgow, with the full time score not quite reflecting how hard City had pushed the visitors.

Especially tough one to take, as ex-Citizen Nina Murdoch led all scorers with 5 goals against her former team!

Goals: Lee Goossens (2), Matthew Cook (1), Vivek Santayana (1), Alex Johnston (1), Emma Steel (1)

MVP: Emma Steel

 

Edinburgh City 3 (13) v Edinburgh University 3 (6)

The second match saw Edinburgh City put in a more complete performance. They started a little slowly but the experiences heads of Rich Allan and Lee Goosens soon got City ticking with a couple of goals each.

Coach Kashif Irshad was quick to praise Alex Foster for his hard work in the rebound which allowed City to have multiple possessions in attack and it paid dividends with Vivek Santayana also grabbing a brace.

The game saw some stellar attacking from Alex Johnston who got a couple of goals too, plus an incredible long range shot from Jeremy Lau, but the defence were also showing their strength with Laura Kitchen impressing, as she managed to win interceptions and cause the Edinburgh University team problems.

City have now played 4 games and have picked up wins in half of those, an incredible effort for a team that has featured four brand new players making their competitive debuts over the past week!

Goals: Vivek Santayana (2), Alex Johnston (2), Rich Allan (2), Lee Goossens (2), Rebecca Cheape (1), Matthew Cook (1), Lauren Halkerton (1), Jeremy Lau (1), Emma Steel (1)

MVP: Alex Johnston

 

As the final whistle blew at Oriam, the 1s were warming up in Saint Andrews ready to take on Edinburgh Mavericks 2. It’s always a tough game to prepare for as there could be many strong players from Mavericks dropping down. The side were also taking on Saint Andrews University 1s and we’re pleased to say that our Citizens managed to bring home all of the points in two comfortable wins!

 

Edinburgh City 1 (18) v Edinburgh Mavericks 2 (9)

The first match was a good test for the 1s, playing against a number of Mavericks who will surely feature for their 1st team when the title rivals go head to head in December. The first of 5 goals from top-scorer Laura de Nooij got our Citizens off to a great start, but despite scoring again, we were pegged back to 2-2 shortly afterwards.

Some patient play meant that Edinburgh City were slowly able to grind their way to a lead at halftime, heading into the break up 6-3.

The second half saw a greater confidence from City and numerous interceptions meant that our attack had more time on the ball and made it pay, with Laura continuing to score freely and Clive Minshull and Dan Pratt bagging hat-tricks too.

Every player for City worked fantastically together to make sure defensively we were causing many issues for Mavericks and the confidence in attack grew as the match went on. A good start to the season and the first hurdle was passed.

Goals: Laura de Nooij (5), Clive Minshull (3), Dan Pratt (3), Heather Mackintosh (2), Rob Stone (2), Ella Paul (1), Michael Garbutt (1), Andrea Kinver (1)

MVP: Dan Pratt

 

Edinburgh City 1 (26) v Saint Andrews University 1 (4)

The final match of the day saw City take on Saints and it was a really slow start for the Citizens. It took 4 minutes before the first goal went on the scoreboard but once the drought ended, the goals really started to flow.

The defence on show was superb from City, really frustrating the home side and it carried over into out attack. Christie Smillie, Michael Garbutt and Ella Paul all finished the game with 4 goals each and with a couple of minutes to go, Rob Stone managed to score a couple of great goals to ensure that all of the travelling Citizens ended up on the scoresheet in this match.

It really was a complete team performance, both on and off the pitch, as the victorious City team stuck together for some ice cream and some of Anstruther’s famous fish and chips after the games!

Goals: Michael Garbutt (4), Ella Paul (4), Christie Smillie (4), Clive Minshull (3), Dan Pratt (3), Andrea Kinver (2), Rob Stone (2), Laura de Nooij (2), Jacky Mo (1), Heather Mackintosh (1)

MVP: Michael Garbutt

Edinburgh City 3 kick off the 2019/20 season with a win!

Edinburgh City got their season underway at the weekend, with our 3rd team taking on teams from Dundee and Edinburgh University.

The weekend’s matches saw competitive debuts for 3 of our new recruits with Dimitris Kalentakis, Emma Steel and Matthew Cook all featuring in the league for the first time!

 

Dundee Dolphins (5) v Edinburgh City 3 (8)

The first of two matches was against Dundee, who lined up with a mix of young and old and put up a feisty effort. Our Citizens got off to a great start with Emma scoring the first goal of the game and in the opening stages it was a tight matchup with the scores 2-2 after 10 minutes gone.

Approaching the break City were able to squeeze into a lead at 5-3 going into half time, with an important goal from Craig Salkeld pushing the team on during a pivotal period of the match.

After half-time City were a little more relaxed and were able to score at the right moments whilst making sure their defensive work remained strong. Lauren Kelly in particular was effective at both ends of the court, scoring and getting some defended calls and interceptions.

The team managed to cruise to a victory in the end and it was a great start to the season, both for the team and for everyone getting their first games of the new campaign under their belt.

Scorers: Craig Salkeld (2), Emma Steel (1), Lauren Kelly (1), Graham Robertson (1), Sam Stevenson (1), Alex Johnston (1)

 

Edinburgh City 3 (5) v Edinburgh University 2 (7)

The second match of the day was against a university side featuring lots of fresh recruits who were full of energy! Comparatively, City got off to a bit of a slow start and found themselves 4-1 down quite quickly.

They soon started to click though, with Alex Johnston and Sam Stevenson providing a strong rebounding presence and debutant Dimitris was very effective in the assist role. This provided Lauren Halkerston with the chance to attack against her defender and she looked in confident mood, eventually scoring to get the scoreboard ticking for City.

Laura Powell helped out with a goal and Lauren Kelly scored her 2nd in two matches before Dimitris scored his first goal! The team was building into the game nicely but unfortunately time was against them, a couple of missed penalties may have changed the game but it was a solid effort across both matches and the team can be rightfully proud of a great start to the new season!

Scorers: Lauren Kelly (1), Laura Powell (1), Lauren Halkerston (1), Alex Johnston (1), Dimitris Kalentakis (1)

Emma Steel becomes a Citizen!

We are continuing our series of interviews with our newest members by sitting down with Emma Steel to find out how she’s getting on as a Citizen.

 

We caught up with Emma after training this week to find out how she’s getting on now that we’ve had some friendly matches and a few training sessions.

 

Hi Emma, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us. Our readers are always keen to find out more from our Citizens! Firstly, how did you find out about korfball and what tempted you to give it a try?

Having recently moved to Edinburgh, I had planned on joining a netball club at the beginning of the new season as I was keen to get more active. I was chatting to an ECKC Citizen about my plan, and that’s when I heard all about Korfball. I thought it would be fun to try out something new, and here I am!

 

Well we’ll make sure that Citizen gets a nice reward! You mentioned you were looking for a netball club, have you tried many sports before korfball?

I’ve always loved playing team sports and I’m a little (very) competitive – I played netball for 5 years at Aberdeen Uni. Having graduated in 2016 it was about time to get back into being sporty!

 

What have your first impressions of korfball and of Edinburgh City been?

Everyone was really welcoming and helpful at the beginner session, which gave a really good first impression of the ethos of the club.

I first thought korfball was really similar to netball. Having played for a few weeks now, I realise they are actually really different, and korfball feels a bit more technical.

 

It’s great to hear that your first impressions were so positive. Is there anything in particular that got you coming back to training?

Everyone probably says this, but I’m going to say it anyway – the people. Why wouldn’t you want to spend your evening running around with a fun, friendly, sweaty bunch? Training sessions are well organised and very productive with the coaches always keen to give you individual pointers – being a total beginner I find this really helpful & encouraging.

 

We’re glad to hear you’ve been made to feel welcome! Is there anything that you are looking forward to as an individual this year?

I’m really looking forward to playing competitively – I had my first taste of this at the friendly matches last week and loved it. Also looking forward to the socials because… who doesn’t?

 

We can’t wait to get the season started either, thanks for your time Emma and we’ll see you soon at training and for our weekly socials at 56 North!

 

If you would like to join Emma in trying out korfball with Edinburgh City we are always happy to welcome new players throughout the season and you can find all the information on our training schedule here!

Matthew Cook becomes our latest Citizen!

We are continuing our series of interviews with our newest members by sitting down with Matthew Cook to find out how he’s getting on as a Citizen.

 

We caught up with him after the preseason matches this weekend and Matthew was in great spirits after playing his first set of matches for the club.

 

Hi Matthew, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us. Our readers are always keen to find out more from our Citizens! Firstly, how did you find out about korfball and what tempted you to give it a try?

“A friend of a friend had mentioned it in conversation and I was intrigued enough to Google korfball later to find out more, having never previously heard of it. It looked like good fun and I saw there was a beginner session coming up – the rest is history!”

Other search engines are available…

 

Well we are delighted that you managed to find us and it’s been great to have you along, have you played many sports before or is korfball your first go at a team sport?

I do a lot of cycling, particularly mountain biking but I enjoy road cycling too. I used to run cross country and take part in athletics events, although I still occasionally dabble in long(ish) distance running.

 

Well it sounds like you’re fit and ready for the season to start! What have your first impressions of korfball and of Edinburgh City been?

My first impressions of korfball were that it’s a fast paced sport with many tactics to be mindful of. Everyone at Edinburgh City is very friendly and I could immediately see that it was a club I wanted to be a part of. The coaches know their stuff and the club is organised and well run.

 

It’s great to hear that your first impressions were so positive. Is there anything in particular that got you coming back to training?

I had a great time at the Beginner Session and was keen to learn more and develop my skills. The warm welcome I had received helped too!

 

We’re glad to hear you’ve been made to feel welcome! Is there anything that you are looking forward to as an individual this year?

I’m looking forward to putting the skills I am learning at training to work during league matches. I’m also looking forward to the social events and getting to know everyone better over the coming season.

 

We can’t wait to get the season started either, thanks for your time Matthew and we’ll see you soon at training!

 

If you would like to join Matthew in trying out korfball with Edinburgh City we are always happy to welcome new players throughout the season and you can find all the information on our training schedule here!

Dimitrios becomes the latest Citizen!

After hosting our Beginner Session at the start of the month, we have had some new members joining the ranks and we will be catching up with them over the coming weeks to introduce them!

 

Our first new member is Dimitrios Kalentakis who has dived right in to korfball and, having turned up to his first training session last week, has already played in his first korfball matches!

Dimitrios has settled right in to the club already and brings a great deal of enthusiasm with him to training sessions.

 

We caught up with him this week to find out how he was finding things and how he found his way to korfball…

 

Hi Dimitrios, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us. Our readers are always keen to find out more from our Citizens! Firstly, how did you find out about korfball and what tempted you to give it a try?

“I was looking for an activity to keep me fit and I was basically really bored with going to the gym. So one day I decided to have a look on the web to see what kind of sports activities you can do in Edinburgh.

I found a taster session for Korfball at Eventbrite and that’s how everything began. I have to admit that I had to Google it to find out what Korfball is! I found Korfball on YouTube and from watching some videos I was really excited about the sport.

I really enjoyed the fact that is mixed gender and that it has many similarities with basketball (one of my favourite sports). Unfortunately I couldn’t make the taster session but Dan (Head Coach of Edinburgh City) got in touch with me and let me know about the training sessions and I wanted to give it a go.”

 

Well we are delighted you managed to find us! You mentioned that basketball is one of your favourite sports, have you tried out many other sports before?

“I used to play football and basketball with my friends when I was back in Greece but that was many years ago.”

 

What have your first impressions of korfball and of Edinburgh City been?

Everyone in the club is very welcome, supportive and helpful. Edinburgh City is a very organised korfball club and one of the favourites to win the Scottish league. (We promise we didn’t prompt this answer!)

From the few training sessions I have attended so far, I see the team has a lot of quality players and experienced coaches and it’s always a pleasure for me to train alongside these people.

(Clearly Dimitrios knows that flattery will get you everywhere!)

 

It’s great to hear that your first impressions were so positive. Is there anything in particular that got you coming back to training?

I’m very competitive as a person and I want to improve my korfball skills, take part in league games and help the team to achieve our goals for this season.

 

Well we certainly can’t wait for the season to start either! Is there anything that you are looking forward to as an individual this year?

I’m definitely looking forward to our first matches. I had the chance to take part in the Mavericks tournament at the weekend and I really enjoyed it. Getting fitter is always the plan but I think I would definitely achieve that as I already see a lot of progress from the few training sessions I had so far.

 

Well thank you very much for your time Dimitrios, we’ll let you get off and look forward to seeing you at training again tomorrow!

 

If you would like to join Dimitrios in trying out korfball with Edinburgh City we are always happy to welcome new players throughout the season and you can find all the information on our training schedule here!