Floorball gaining popularity in North America

It’s fast, exciting and promotes safety.

Floorball is a sport that was developed in the 60’s and 70’s and originates from Sweden.

It’s a quick transition game that requires both skill and speed with end-to-end plays a common theme.

The rules stress the importance of safety and sportsmanship and is designed to limit injuries without affecting the speed or skill of the game.

Floorball sticks are a lacrosse type hockey stick, that is lightweight, durable and non-marking. The Floorball stick should reach about two centimeters above the belly button of the player. The ball that’s used is a style of whiffle ball that is 72 millimeters in diameter, weighs 23 grams, made with hard plastic and has 26 evenly distributed holes.

A Floorball net is 160 centimeters wide by 115 centimeters high, similar to that of a hockey net. Players do not wear any protective gear, unless you are a goalie.

Goalies typically play the position on their knees.

Here’s a list of some brief rules in the sport of Floorball. Stick must remain below waist, ball is played below knee level at all times, no body contact, no blocking/screening of opposing players, stick-on-body contact or stick-on-stick contact is not permitted, no hitting, lifting or pinning of opponents’ stick, free hits similar to a free kick in soccer are given for minor rule infractions, no offside or icing calls and the game is played with five players and one goalie per team on the court at a time.

Here is a introductory video to the sport.

The sport is gaining traction in North America especially Canada.

Tyler Brush is a forward with Team Canada’s national Floorball team and he tells us it’s a hybrid sport with a mixture of rules.

“There’s some soccer rules involved,” says Brush, “a little bit of field hockey, a little bit of hockey. When you think of European players, they are really finesse and quick when it comes to hockey and it’s definitely something that the Swede’s promote in this sport.”

Locally, Brush is the organizer of a league in Cambridge, where teams play in the fall, winter and a summer 3-on-3 tournament.

He tells us how he was introduced to the game.

” A former high school teacher at the former Temple Baptist Christian Academy in Cambridge introduced me to the sport,” says Brush, “he pulled me aside and just showed me some of the sticks he bought. We started doing drop-ins on Monday nights and I’ve taken over the league and it’s just snowballed from there.”

That was about nine years ago.

Now, his job is to expand the sport throughout Waterloo Region.

“Throughout the years, we’ve gone into schools, whether it be local high schools, public schools, after school programs for youth,” says Brush, “we volunteer our services and we bring a bunch of sticks and balls, introduce the kids to the game, run them through some drills and then have a scrimmage.”

Floorball helps develop your skills not only for the game but it also helps you develop your skills in ice hockey.

“Floorball definitely works on your foot speed, your hand eye coordination,” says Brush, “it gives you a different view of the game. It has soccer tactics and soccer rules so if you watch soccer, they slow the game down, make some passes to create a play.”

There is a number of current NHL players that play Floorball during the off-season to get them ready for the hockey season.

Those players include, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Marian Gaborik, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Lundqvist and Marion Gaborik.