Story by Melina. Note from your webmaster: pictures not included on the website, but can be found here.
In a historic first, this May the first ever Swiss Korfball Camp was held in a picturesque setting near lake Konstanze. For this occasion, Swiss Clubs had the chance to get together for a three-day weekend and take part in a unique blend of skill development and team-building activities! On Friday evening participants from all around Switzerland arrived at the venue where the cutest little carriages, re-designed as bedrooms, were waiting to host us. On top of that, we were welcomed by a scoreboard that was going to rank each individual throughout the weekend based on the activities of the day – with many of us surprised to see we were already at negative points before we even set foot on the camp!
The next morning we set up the posts on a nearby field and engaged in a number of creative korfball-inspired games that were set up by our Korfball specialist Daan.
Then in the evening we split up in teams and competed in a very exciting scavenger hunt that included multiple adventures from fraternizing with the local fauna, to exploring sightseeing highlights, to making our own personalized t-shirts and creating invaluable advertising material for Swiss Korfball. And for those of us that were smart enough to use an efficient transportation method there was even enough time for an ice-cream break! Totally worth the penalty points!
To finish off the day we put our minds to the test with a challenging quiz night, which also included korfball trivia, verifying we have some true geniuses among us (you can see the picture below is oozing intellect)!
On Day 2 the plan was to get some outdoor game time, however due to some intense rainfall over the night and to avoid injuries on the slippery grass we coupled up for a post-to-post competition that saw our very own organizers Carra and Lieke get a spectacular win over Inez and Remy. I am a little tempted to also call out Silvie and Joel as the losers of the competition but because I am nice I will refrain from it 😇.
In the afternoon we moved the party by the lake, having a lovely BBQ and a swim (for those brave enough to enter the freezing waters), with Ben assuming the dad-like role and firing up that grill as if it was the last thing he’d ever get to do. Of course the mums of the group were also there to help, but reverted to more “lady-like” tasks such as cutting salad. And maybe this is not the right platform to fight patriarchy, but I have a dream, that one day women will step up and find the courage to take their rightful shirtless and sweaty place by the grill – We can do it ladies 💪!
Finally it was time for the biggest event of the weekend-The Talent Show, whereby everyone got to showcase their talents that extend beyond the korfball field.
At the end of the talent show and after all points for the weekend were calculated using a very special algorithm only known to a few select scientists as well as Carra and Lieke, the winners of Korfball Camp were announced; namely Louise and Fabienne. And what a great surprise it was to find that their award was that they get to organize Korfball Camp 2025!
And of course I forgot to mention that all the aforementioned activities were done under the musical accompaniment of our very own song anthem “We are Swiss Korfball”, which following the talent show, also has an associated dance to it.
Now, I don’t want to be critical of the mathematical prowess of Carra and Lieke but after taking a look at the final scoreboard (and particularly my own placement) I feel obliged to make a call for transparency and a thorough background investigation on what really went down behind the scenes – This is a scandal bigger than Watergate! Just kidding – losing spectacularly is actually one of my most impressive skills 😎 (Man, I should have shown that in the talent show – Oh well, let’s keep something for next year 😉.)
A big thank you to Lieke and Carra who did a truly wonderful job with the organization and best of luck to Fabienne and Louise who will take over next year as they have some big shoes to fill. All pictures and videos from the camp can be found here.