Armed with two boiled eggs and half a litre of milk, Pranav Pomane, a post-graduate commerce student from Gokhali village in Satara, begins his journey to Tuljaram Chaturchand college in Baramati each day before sunrise. This game has transformed Pomane’s former wrestler “attitude” and moderated his language as a basketball player. While coarse words and gestures flow freely from the 22-year-old elsewhere, they are consciously filtered on the korfball playing grounds, a Dutch sport that requires an equal number of girls and boys on each team. Pomane recently had his first experience of wearing a seatbelt as a result of his involvement in this sport.

After an 11-year hiatus, India participated in the Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship in November 2022 and finished in fifth place, renewing its connection to the mixed-gender sport invented by a Dutch school teacher in 1902. Korfball is a Dutch word for basket and the sport resembles a combination of basketball and netball, although the basket stands taller at 11.5 feet. It is played with teams of eight, consisting of four boys and four girls. In 1980, India was seen as revolutionary for joining the International Korfball Federation (IKF) and became a contender in every World Korfball Championship since 1987, placing among the top 15 nations.

According to IKF President Jan Fransoo, with a European coach by their side, India might have even reached the global top 10. However, in November 2015, the Korfball Federation of India (KFI) faced “extensive governance problems” that led to its suspension. The suspension was lifted last April after significant reforms at KFI, with help from active korfball athletes like Dev Balhara from Haryana. Atte van Haastrecht, a retired Dutch korfball champion, was appointed as a coach and trained young players in Jalandhar, Solan, and Rohtak leading up to the Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship.

The sport involves dunking a football-like ball into a 11.5-foot backboard-less, moulded fibre ring without dribbling. Baramati-based physical education trainer Gautam Jadhav, who introduced korfball to his basketball and netball students in 2016, explains the challenge of scoring without a backboard. Initially, Jadhav trained boys and girls separately to avoid any issues, but some girls dropped out due to collisions and other challenges. Jadhav emphasized the sibling-like relationship between the players and highlighted the potential for winning medals and government jobs through the sport.

Korfball is gaining popularity in places like Nagpur, Nashik, Satara, and Gondhia. Pomane no longer faces ridicule for calling it a “mixed sport,” and senior player Balhara no longer spends entire train journeys explaining what korfball is. National-level athlete Sharayu Jagtap observes that any conflicts between boys and girls quickly dissolve into friendly exchanges off the court.

Despite receiving more attention and selfie requests from strangers, Sharayu Jagtap, a post-graduate psychology student in Pune, believes that many challenges remain the same. She expresses her weariness of sleeping on the floor of sleeper trains and sharing crowded seats while traveling to korfball tournaments mainly held in North India. However, with India now qualifying for the World Korfball Championship in Taipei, Jagtap suspects that things may improve for the team.

Jan Fransoo, the president of the International Korfball Federation (IKF), is certain that improvements are on the horizon. Encouraged by the appointment of PT Usha as the new president of the Indian Olympics Association, Fransoo hopes that India will follow the example of Morocco by including korfball in the curriculum as a means of promoting gender equality. Meanwhile, Coach Jadhav, who has observed that local authorities are more willing to facilitate sports like cricket and hockey than korfball, seeks a fair competition ground for his team.