Croydon Korfball Club have had a lot to celebrate recently.

In their 60th anniversary year, they have just claimed the English division one title which sees them make a swift return to the Premier division after they suffered a narrow relegation last campaign.

But despite their achievements and the fact they are the oldest Korfball club in Britain, they and the sport are still relatively unknown on these shores.

Invented at the turn of the 19th century in Holland by a Dutch school teacher, korfball is the only team sport designed to be played by both men and women.

Eight players make up a team, four men and four women, and the 40mx20m court is split into equal halves with two men and two women in each half.

One half of the team attacks (two men and two women) while the remaining four defend, but they switch round after every two goals by either side are scored.

Croydon player Anna Jeanes got into the sport at university after being put off joining the basketball team.

"Basketball looked too scary, so I joined the korfball team as I could play with, and against, men and women and the social aspect of the club looked good too," said Anna.

"It is kind of a mix between basketball and netball, but you can move around a lot more and go behind the posts.

"It has a big university following and we played in a league which included a number of teams from all over the country."

Anna has had to get used to the long journeys as Croydon have travelled as far as Norwich and Cambridge for league matches this term and next year she will have to travel to Nottingham to fulfil a league fixture.

But, it is all part of the fun and winning the division one title has made it all worth while.

"After dropping out of the the Premier division last season, all we wanted to do was go back up and we have worked hard all season just for this", she said.

Croydon's future looks bright, especially with the promise of new talent coming through from their thriving junior set-up. They have teams in the U9, U11, U13 and U16 sections and they are always on the look out for new players.

"We are going around a couple of schools in West Wickham to get children interested," said Anna. "A lot of the children are unaware of the sport so we are showing them how it is played and the rules, and they think it is a fun game."

So if you like basketball or netball and you want to play competitive sport, korfball could be the sport for you.

"It's a competitive sport which you can play with all your family," added Anna.

"If you come along and bring your kids, you may end up playing in the same side."

  • For more information on Croydon Korfball Club and details on how you can join, visit croydon korfballclub.com.