Korfball is commencing a new wave of awareness in the Australian community in particular for making a positive contribution to improving gender relations.

Many of you will be aware of the International Survey we conducted earlier in the year where contributors found that relationships between boys and girls, women and men improved through playing our sport.

We found other positives too in that, especially in Australia, there was a greater degree of equality between the genders in all aspects from elite level play to the sport’s administration and social activities and this is reflected in the high quality of play at all levels. For that we thank everyone in our korfball community for making this possible.

Professional organisations have recognised our potential too and in one way it is seen through our invitation to be involved in the ACHPER International Conference in Canberra next January where Ashlee Othen and Luke Rosie assisted by Alison Othen will be making presentations to teachers and other health professionals highlighting how korfball can contribute to better gender relations.

This is an important step forward to improving our standing as a desirable sport worth promoting in communities at all levels throughout Australia. Consequently this may help us in our expansion to more states.

We want to continue our research next year to highlight the influence of good gender relations in korfball and how we can improve them still further. For this we will want to get every korfballer involved. In the meantime we will keep you informed through the Korfball News of the good job you are doing in making your korfball experiences great whichever your gender.