What is Floorball?
Floorball is an innovative new sport that is quickly spreading across the world. Floorball is a fast paced indoor sport that blends the greatest elements of ice hockey with some characteristics also found in soccer and basketball.
It started in Sweden in the 1970s as an alternative to the form of hockey, which is played outdoors on a grass playing field, and since then has enjoyed unparalleled growth in Scandinavia and rest of the Europe.
In 1986 the International Floorball Federation was founded in Huskvana Sweden by the floorball associations of Finland, Sweden and Switzerland.
In fact, Floorball players already outnumber ice hockey players in both Finland and Sweden. The 2002 World Championships in Helsinki attracted over 15,000 paying spectators to the final match. Floorball has become so popular that players can make a substantially comfortable living playing for a top club in many European countries.
Floorball is now played in more than 31 countries worldwide and is officially one of the world's fastest growing sports. In 2008 floorball was recognised by the International Olympic Committee.
The Australian Floorball Association was formed in 1996 to oversee development of the sport nation wide.
Floorball is an exceptionally easy game to play even for the first time, whether you are playing socially or competitively. It’s said that floorball takes minutes to learn and years to master.
Floorball is not only fast and exciting, but its great exercise too. This makes floorball an incredible overall workout. It’s suitable for people of all ages and all abilities.
Finally, floorball is an inexpensive sport compared to others. Essentially all that you need to start playing are some gym apparel and a floorball stick.
Floorball can be played in a regular gymnasium/sports centre or even on a basketball court. Floorball differs from floor hockey because it's non-contact, making it a perfect sport for players who love playing but who don't like the excessive physical contact which can result in injury, providing a safer and friendlier playing atmosphere.
To get an idea what floorball is...
Floorball is an indoor sport with five field players and one goalie on each team. Each field player usually has a light carbon graphite stick, which is about 3 feet long. The ball is 3 inches in diameter, white, and made of plastic. The ball is hollow and to make it light there are 26 little holes on the sides and weight only 23 grams.
The Floorball court is similar to an ice-hockey rink but smaller, 120 feet x 60 feet with 20-inch sideboards. There is a goal at each end, which is guarded by a goalie without a stick. The goalie sits on their knees and is able to touch the ball over any part of the court as long as they have one part of their body in the goal area.
The aim of the game is to shoot the ball into the other teams’ goal, but you cannot touch the ball with your head, hand or with your arm. However, you can kick the ball forward onto your own stick. You cannot hit the ball with your stick above knee level. The team structure allows for substitutions and line changes, which are encouraged because of the fast pace of the games. Penalties leading to power play situations are also part of the game. The major difference between Floorball and ice hockey is that players are on foot, as opposed to inline/ice skates and physical contact is not permitted.
Discription Thanks to Floorball Australia
