Review: A.D.S.K.V. Slagvaardig

Text: Jasper de Jong

Unlike articles about well-known sports like soccer or running, I should start explaining what knotsbal is. When talking to Dutch people, I usually start by explaining that knotsbal is like hockey, except that the sticks are made of soft foam. At this point they usually say: "Oh, you mean tampon-hockey!", referring to the tampon-like shape of the sticks. However, since this article is also aimed at international students who might not have played tamponhockey in high school (or bouncerball in Germany), I should elaborate a little bit. Also, the name tamponhockey is clearly inappropriate for such a serious activity.

The type of stick makes knotsbal more accessible than hockey: In hockey, if you hit the ball with the wrong side of the stick, it's a foul. In fact, doing something as innocent as lifting your stick too high is a foul. In knotsbal, there is no silly nonsense like that: you just run and hit the ball however you want. You can even smash the ball from the air, as hitting a player with the stick is not the end of the world. In fact, the playing field is even built with volleys in mind, as we have walls instead of lines, so the ball just bounces off them.

Since play is never interrupted by free hits like corners, and since the stick is so hard to wield, the most important qualities to play knotsbal are stamina and ambition: beginners with a little bit of dexterity can quickly beat more experienced players, simply by running faster and longer.

Knotsbal started at the UT when the board of the sports umbrella organization introduced themselves to the board of the other sports associations, by challenging them to a sports no-one knew how to play: knotsbal. Associations liked this so much, that they started challenging each other, and so the knotsbal association Slagvaardig was born. There was a huge internal competition with around 20 teams con- sisting of sports associations, study associations and student houses. We had an Abacus team as well: Abaknots, which won the competition regularly. But then at some point, disaster struck: the union card. Knotsbal was always a fun activity that anyone could participate in with friends at a small cost: We currently don't even have a trainer, so you would only be charged for use of the hall, the sticks and the ball (close to nothing).

However, now you need a yearly 50 euro Union-card to participate. Then, you'll also need to pay 28.50 per association plus the small association fee. While 28.50 per year is still not that much, it is unfortunately too much of a barrier for most students.

Recently, we had an Abacus knotsbal activity, which most people really enjoyed. I think some people might have skipped it to study for exams, but if you are interested feel free to drop by at some other day. Our trainings (which mostly consist of just playing the game) are on Wednesdays at 21:30.

Do send me a message if you want to join: some trainings would be cancelled due to a lack of participants. If we know that you are coming, we can make sure that there are enough people for a training.