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Korfball in Wales has been played since 1991 and is managed by the Welsh Korfball Association/Cymdeithas Pêl-Corff Cymru. The association was established in 2002 and the Welsh Korfball Squad was formed in 2005. In 2007, the International Korfball Federation admitted Wales as a full member. The association organised the inaugural Welsh Korfball League in 2007 but top clubs in Wales have traditionally also played in the English leagues against clubs from the South West of England. Welsh clubs have a greater chance of qualifying for European competitions through the Welsh competitions. There has never been a Welsh club in the top tier of English korfball. The Welsh Korfball Squad has been relatively successful on the international stage, appearing at their first and only World Championship in 2011 after the withdrawal of Hungary. Wales qualified for the European Championships in Portugal, 2014. The squad lost out on a place at the World Championship 2015 in a 16-12 defeat to Poland. Wales' most successful club to date is Cardiff City Korfball Club. The pinnacle of the club's history was their first, and only, Triple Crown in 2013; this was a season which saw them win the Welsh league, the Western Regional league, and the Welsh Cup. Until the Welsh Cup returns the Triple Crown will be unattainable. The oldest, and currently largest, club in Wales is Cardiff University Korfball Club. Cardiff University have won three Welsh League titles and have been placed top four at the BUCS National Championship four times, winning gold in 2001. ==History== Korfball in Wales is currently confined to the Cardiff area, with newly established Aberystwyth University the only club outside of South Wales. For brief periods there have been clubs in Newbridge, Newport University, and Swansea University. The first club in Wales was established in 1991 at Cardiff University by a group of Dutch students. Cardiff University is now one of the most established university clubs in the UK and won BUSA Gold at the BSKA National Championships in Cardiff, 2001. The following year, both the Welsh Korfball Association and Cardiff City KC were established by ex-Cardiff University students becoming the first non-university club in Wales. Cardiff City has gone on to be Wales' most successful club winning one Excalibur league title, four Welsh league titles, and three Western Regional league titles. The club has also competed at the IKF Europa Cup First Round in 2008, 2012, and 2013. In 2005, Cardiff Dragons was formed as a sister club of Cardiff City and started strongly winning divisions 1 and 2 of the EKL in their first two seasons. It took a few years until further clubs arrived but in 2012 Cardiff Raptors was created by students leaving Cardiff University. In 2013 Cardiff Metropolitan University was established in partnership with Cardiff City; in 2014 the first club outside of South Wales, Aberystwyth University, was established with the assistance of the Staffordshire and Cheshire Korfball Association. Aberystwyth are playing their first season in the Staffordshire and Cheshire League with a view to joining the Welsh Korfball League in the future. Cardiff Dragons Korfball Club disbanded at the end of the 2014/15 after ten years of existence. From 2002 to 2007 the Welsh clubs competed in the Excalibur Korfball League (EKL) with teams from the South West of England. When this was disbanded, at the request of the South West Korfball Association, the Welsh Korfball League came into existence and was administered by the WKA. In 2009, the England Korfball Association (EKA) created a Regional League to promote high level competition between the areas of Wales, South West England, and the South of England. There is limited youth korfball within Wales and it is mainly focused in three primary schools: Maendy Primary, Moorland Primary, and Tyn-Y-Wern Primary. In 2012 the WKA organised the first Annual Welsh Primary Schools' Tournament. Youth korfball is slowly gaining popularity in the Cardiff area with many secondary schools running korfball taster sessions and Youth Korflite being offered during the summer. Korfball has been included in 5x60 events across Cardiff, including the Cardiff Games. Currently there are no junior korfball clubs outside of the schools during the winter season but the non-university clubs welcome junior members. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Korfball in Wales」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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