After the excitement and exertion of yesterday, a chilled out morning was necessary to recharge and recuperate for the tournament ahead.
Coach Mark gave the players the morning off. Most spent it at home relaxing while the rest, who are making our physio Bevan earn his keep, turned up early for their appointed treatment times.
Nico and Lammita Buiten took our training in the afternoon. Nico has been designated by the International Korfball Federation to assist us as part of a coaching programme run in conjunction with the tournament, which is fitting as, without Nico and Lammita visiting New Zealand in 2013 with their daughter Milanne, we would never have made the connection with DOS ’46 and this trip would not have happened. Nico and Lammita worked with us on rebounding, movement and passing into space to set up a shot and free passes: basic skills that will help improve our performance in the upcoming tournament.
After training Bevan, Boris and Rob gave an interview to a reporter from the daily newspaper that serves Leeuwarden, where our tournament will be played, and the wider Friesland region. We talked about how korfball made its way to New Zealand, what this trip means to us and how much we have enjoyed ourselves, and learnt, in Nijeveen so far. It was interesting to reflect on how strong korfball is in many villages in The Netherlands, and how it seems to embody the spirit of the local community in a deep and special way. At the end of the interview we also talked about Christchurch, which the reporter visited in 2007, and how different it would be for him now if he were to go back.
In the evening most of us returned to De Eendracht, where the DOS ’46 first team had a training session ahead of the big play off game on Saturday evening. It was inspiring to see these top players, including those who have befriended us over the past week, displaying their korfball expertise. Many other club members were present, and we had the opportunity to buy club shirts and scarves that will come in useful when we join another 1000 Nijeveeners back in the sports hall on Saturday evening, urging our new family to korfball glory and a return to the top level of our sport.
Nijeveen has a special relationship to korfball and DOS ’46. Some of you may wonder where the club name comes from? DOS stands for “Door Oefening Sterk” which literally translates as “Through Exercise Strong” or through our sport and our club we gain our strength. ’46 is after the name as this is the year the club was officially founded following WWII. During our time here it has been obvious to us the close-knit nature of the club and the village. This is probably why we have felt so welcomed and so at home from the moment a weary team stepped off the train. Kendall and Story both said, “Everyone in the village and the club is so friendly. We feel so happy to be here and are having so much fun”. “We love the Dutch food and we are being so well looked after by our host family. They are amazing!” Kendall and Story are living with the Hoekema-Spoor family but in all honesty one of the biggest arguments in the team is who has the best host family. We are all being looked after better than we could have imagined by the wonderful people of Nijeveen. Story also said, “It’s amazing how everyone knows everyone and all the families seem connected to each other”. This is just a fair reflection on the village as a whole, which reinforces the sense that DOS ’46 is just one big korfball family (who have taken a few English speaking foreign cousins under their wing for a couple of weeks!).
Tomorrow we have our final training session and then we travel to Leeuwarden in the evening for the opening ceremony of the Under 19 World Cup. Boris and Chelsea have been asked to take part in the opening ceremony as part of a Korfball4 demonstration. We will report back tomorrow with a report from the day and some thoughts from Boris and Chelsea on their experience!
Tot morgen,
Rob and Bevan
Coach Mark gave the players the morning off. Most spent it at home relaxing while the rest, who are making our physio Bevan earn his keep, turned up early for their appointed treatment times.
Nico and Lammita Buiten took our training in the afternoon. Nico has been designated by the International Korfball Federation to assist us as part of a coaching programme run in conjunction with the tournament, which is fitting as, without Nico and Lammita visiting New Zealand in 2013 with their daughter Milanne, we would never have made the connection with DOS ’46 and this trip would not have happened. Nico and Lammita worked with us on rebounding, movement and passing into space to set up a shot and free passes: basic skills that will help improve our performance in the upcoming tournament.
After training Bevan, Boris and Rob gave an interview to a reporter from the daily newspaper that serves Leeuwarden, where our tournament will be played, and the wider Friesland region. We talked about how korfball made its way to New Zealand, what this trip means to us and how much we have enjoyed ourselves, and learnt, in Nijeveen so far. It was interesting to reflect on how strong korfball is in many villages in The Netherlands, and how it seems to embody the spirit of the local community in a deep and special way. At the end of the interview we also talked about Christchurch, which the reporter visited in 2007, and how different it would be for him now if he were to go back.
In the evening most of us returned to De Eendracht, where the DOS ’46 first team had a training session ahead of the big play off game on Saturday evening. It was inspiring to see these top players, including those who have befriended us over the past week, displaying their korfball expertise. Many other club members were present, and we had the opportunity to buy club shirts and scarves that will come in useful when we join another 1000 Nijeveeners back in the sports hall on Saturday evening, urging our new family to korfball glory and a return to the top level of our sport.
Nijeveen has a special relationship to korfball and DOS ’46. Some of you may wonder where the club name comes from? DOS stands for “Door Oefening Sterk” which literally translates as “Through Exercise Strong” or through our sport and our club we gain our strength. ’46 is after the name as this is the year the club was officially founded following WWII. During our time here it has been obvious to us the close-knit nature of the club and the village. This is probably why we have felt so welcomed and so at home from the moment a weary team stepped off the train. Kendall and Story both said, “Everyone in the village and the club is so friendly. We feel so happy to be here and are having so much fun”. “We love the Dutch food and we are being so well looked after by our host family. They are amazing!” Kendall and Story are living with the Hoekema-Spoor family but in all honesty one of the biggest arguments in the team is who has the best host family. We are all being looked after better than we could have imagined by the wonderful people of Nijeveen. Story also said, “It’s amazing how everyone knows everyone and all the families seem connected to each other”. This is just a fair reflection on the village as a whole, which reinforces the sense that DOS ’46 is just one big korfball family (who have taken a few English speaking foreign cousins under their wing for a couple of weeks!).
Tomorrow we have our final training session and then we travel to Leeuwarden in the evening for the opening ceremony of the Under 19 World Cup. Boris and Chelsea have been asked to take part in the opening ceremony as part of a Korfball4 demonstration. We will report back tomorrow with a report from the day and some thoughts from Boris and Chelsea on their experience!
Tot morgen,
Rob and Bevan