Keflavík ÍF (Keflavík, íþrótta- og ungmennafélag, ) is an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic sports club, from the town of Reykjanesbær. The club has several divisions for different sports:

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

, and

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

. Its biggest divisions are Knattspyrnudeild Keflavíkur (football) and Körfuknattleiksdeild Keflavíkur (basketball).

Basketball

Keflavík's basketball teams are one of the most successful basketball teams in Iceland with its men's and women's teams winning multiple national championships and cup titles over the years. The club also runs successful youth teams. The total number of titles won by the club is an Icelandic record, with around 200 national titles and cup wins in all age groups. The teams play their games at the TM Arena in Reykjanesbær.

Men's basketball

The Keflavík men's basketball team has won the fourth most Icelandic championships with 9 titles. They currently play in Úrvalsdeild karla.

Women's basketball

Keflavík's women's basketball team is the most successful women's basketball team in Iceland with 17 national championship. They currently play in Úrvalsdeild kvenna.

Football

Men's football

The Keflavík men's football team has played in the Icelandic football league since 1956 and won the national championship four times, in 1964, 1969, 1971, 1973.

Women's football

Keflavík's women's football team has played several seasons in the top-tier Icelandic league over its history. It won the second-tier 1. deild kvenna in 2004.

History

The history of Keflavík ÍF is considered to have begun in 1929. Its history has been convoluted, with several changes in name and status.

Early years

Keflavík Youth Club (Ungmennafélag Keflavíkur, UMFK) was founded on 29 September 1929 by 28 young people in the town of

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavík merged with nearby Njar ...

. The club became a member of The Icelandic Youth Federation which had been established in 1907 as part of Iceland's drive for independence. The Keflavík Youth Club was a typical youth club of the era; forming teams in

and athletics, teaching

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

, putting on theatre productions and supporting various local causes. An important part of the Youth Federation was appreciation for the country and its people and the movement was especially active in rural areas and small towns. On 12 July 1950 a second sports club was founded in

, the Keflavík Football Club (Knattspyrnufélag Keflavíkur, KFK). Despite its name, the club formed teams in

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

and

Sports federation

With two major sports clubs in the small town of

it was felt that resources were being spread too thin. On 18 March 1956 a new club was formed, Keflavík Sports Federation (Íþróttabandalag Keflavíkur, ÍBK). Similar sports federations were formed in towns around

. The idea behind them was that various groups and clubs could come together to represent the town in various sports, often against other towns. Another aim was to enable sportsmen from smaller towns to compete against the bigger clubs from

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, especially in

and other team sports. The town federations also represented the town's clubs within national associations. In Keflavík the existing clubs were not disbanded but their operations were limited. Keflavík Youth Club continued to work within the national youth movement, mainly on social and cultural issues. Sporting activities within the youth club and Keflavík Football Club were virtually non-existent, although the youth club participated in the semi-annual national youth festival. The two clubs also played against each other in team sports like

and

on special occasions in the town, like

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

. 'Íþróttabandalag stofnað í Keflavík', ''Faxi'' 1956 (16:3), p. 31

Modern era

In 1994 the town of

merged with its neighbouring towns of

Njarðvík Njarðvík () is a town in southwestern Iceland, on the peninsula of Reykjanes. As of 2009, its population was 4,400. History In 1995 it merged with the town of Keflavík and the village of Hafnir to form the new municipality of Reykjanesbær. ...

and Hafnir to form a new municipality, Reykjanesbær. A new sports federation was formed for the new town, Reykjanesbær Sports Federation (Íþróttabandalag Reykjanesbæjar, ÍRB). With the Keflavík club no longer a sports federation it was decided to form a new club, Keflavík Sports and Youth Club (Keflavík, íþrótta- og ungmennafélag), which was to be commonly known as Keflavík. The youth in the title was to indicate that the club was a member of The Icelandic Youth Federation. The new club also became a member of The National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland (Íþrótta- og Ólympíusamband Íslands, ÍSÍ) and Reykjanesbær Sports Federation.

References

External links

Keflavík – Official websiteThe National Olympic and Sports Association of IcelandThe Icelandic Youth FederationReykjanesbær Sports Federation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keflavik IF Multi-sport clubs in Iceland Keflavík Sport in Southern Peninsula (Iceland) 1929 establishments in Iceland Sports clubs and teams established in 1929