Today was yet again a fantastic day, with heaps of opportunities to learn more about korfball. We also officially said goodbye to our billets, despite us not moving on to Belgium until tomorrow.

As the games last night were physically exhausting, and we acquitted ourselves well, we had the morning off to rest and recover before training in the afternoon. I once again headed into the main shopping street of Wageningen, and luckily, the shops were open this time. I took advantage of this situation by buying two pairs of socks, as well as looking in many of the other stores. After a bit of a late lunch, we headed off to training.

Training today was once again special, being guest hosted by Korfballer of the Century Erik Walsink. This was again a reunion of sorts, as Erik had coached Ashlee when she was playing over here. Erik brought lots of new ideas to the squad, while also focusing on the importance of scoring, much as Edwin had previously. These new ideas add another layer of attack to our arsenal, and allow us many more weapons with which to score. I know I look forward to trying these concepts out in our next practice match, as I’m sure my teammates do too.

Following training, we headed back to the cantina, or clubrooms, of KV Wageningen, for a farewell dinner with our billets. It was nice to be able to share a meal as a large group, and to formally thank the billets, and the club, for the efforts they have made. We presented Lammert with a shirt signed by the whole team as a token of our appreciation, which seemed to be greatly appreciated. Lammert spoke about the relationship Korfball Australia and KV Wageningen have now built, and I hope we can continue to build on it, and perhaps even have some players come the other way one day.

Tomorrow promises to be an exciting, if bittersweet day. We leave Wageningen, which has been a welcoming home for us for the last few days, and head to Belgium for the business end of the trip, the World Championships. In the evening we have a practice match against Sikopi, one of the top Belgian clubs, which has been eagerly anticipated by both us and them, judging by their Facebook page.

That’s all from me for today. As always, remember to keep checking the Facebook page and/or the National Teams page to keep updated with everything that’s going on.