Adri Zwaanswijk is one of my heroes. Known to all as Swan, he was among the best korfball players of his generation, then in 1962 became the first coach of the Dutch national team, a role he held for the next 16 years. Following retirement from that, having also established a successful sports equipment retail business, he spent much of his time developing the sport, initially taking a world tour, introducing korfball to several countries where it subsequently took root, including Australia and Taiwan.

 

I first met Swan in 1999 when the World Korfball Championships were hosted in Adelaide. Back then one of his projects was to promote the introduction of a synthetic korf, to replace the traditional rattan or wicker korf used up to that point. While the synthetic korf became standard soon after, the sleek and futuristic model Swan developed and promoted was not the version adopted. Instead we have something a little more prosaic: a look-alike of the traditional shaped basket. I was fortunate to acquire Swan’s original synthetic korf prototype a few years ago, though that’s another story.

 

Earlier on Swan was a strong advocate for taking the middle zone out of korfball, the additional third of the pitch between attack and defence. Swan was made an honorary life member of the International Korfball Federation in 1991 and died in January 2018, aged 88.

 

One of my favourite Swan stories is a comment attributed to him when he was knighted for his services to korfball. He said: ‘We stand between 60,000 children and the street.’

 

That comment lines up with the observation that ‘a child in sport is a child out of court,’ which is also one of the reasons that korfball strikes such a chord with so many teachers. More than one teacher in the past has told me that the only reason some students stay at school is to play sport. Fellow teachers who only see these young people in the classroom, outside their comfort zone and happy place, can’t believe that they are co-operative, engaging and coach-able on the court, in the gym, or on the field.

 

Most research into the subject shows there are three main motivations to play sport: to socialise, to exercise and to compete. Some people enjoy one more or less than the other two. Korfball, of course, provides all three, with the added and unique bonus that you are not just restricted to enjoying those factors with members of your own gender.

 

Giving young people something that brings purpose and meaning to their lives, standing between them and the street, underlines why sport has such power and status in our society.

 

Nelson Mandela made the same point in a little more detail:

 

‘Sports have the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sports can create hope, where there was once only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination. Sports is the game of lovers.’