Encyclopedia
Floorball is an indoor
team sport played using composite sticks with a plastic vented blade where the aim is to put a light plastic ball into the opponent's goal. Floorball is most popular in
Sweden,
Finland and
Switzerland, and is also played in several other countries, such as
Norway and the
Czech Republic. It is gaining popularity in many other places as well, including some countries outside
Europe, such as
Canada,
Singapore,
Japan,
Australia and the
United States.
Floorball is played in a court by six players per side. The objective of the game is to score goals by playing a plastic ball into the opponent's goal net, which is placed at the opposite end of the rink. The players may control and redirect the ball using a stick with a blade that is often curved at one end. Players must not use their hands, arms or head to play the ball on purpose. One may use other body parts. It is also allowed to play the ball once by foot, but not to score goals or pass to teammates.
A floorball team consist of 5 field players and one
goalkeeper, whose primary job is to stop the ball from entering the net, and who is permitted unique gear towards that end. The goalkeeper is not permitted a stick. The playing field is 40 x 20
metres and enclosed by a board with rounded corners . The goal cages are 1.60 x 1.15 m and 65 cm deep. The sticks are made of
plastic or
carbon and a bit over 1 metre long. The shaft is no longer than 99 cm and a blade of a different kind of plastic is attached to its end. The ball is made of plastic, is 72 mm in diameter, has a maximum weight of 23 grams, and has 26 holes in it.
A world championship tournament is played every two years. The current reigning world champions are
Switzerland and
Sweden .
The game
Floorball as a game comes from northern Europe. It is similar to
Bandy, a kind of sport considered the predecessor of
ice hockey. Floorball is sometimes likened to ice hockey without the ice skates, but there are considerable differences in the rules. In
Switzerland, floorball is commonly considered to be a kind of
hockey.
Floorball is a fast and dynamic sport with much of the time played near the goals. The mixture of endurance, power and precision make floorball a popular game in schools, although in that case minor rule changes are not uncommon .
Floorball is usually played on a standard size court or on a smaller court measuring 24 x 14 m. On a smaller court a team consists of three players and one goalie. The rules do not differ, except for some adjustions for the smaller court. In the initial years of floorball, the goalkeeper was permitted to use a special kind of stick, but today no stick is used.
On the standard court, the game is played by five players and one goalie on each side. The team consists of a larger number of players which can be substituted at any time. A floorball game is usually played over 3 periods of 20 minutes. Time is stopped in the case of time penalties, goals and timeouts. There is a break of ten minutes between the thirds. If the game is part of a tournament, the time may be shortened to 2 x 20 minutes and the break to 5 minutes. In tournaments the rules can vary so that in the last three minutes the clock is only running when the ball is in play, otherwise the clock is now stopped for all stoppage in play in regular games. Each team is allowed a timeout of 30 seconds. There are two referees to oversee the game, each with equal authority.
The stick used in floorball is strictly regulated. The shaft may be at most 99 cm long, and the whole stick must not weigh more than 350 grams. Its material is plastic and it is hollow. Generally lighter sticks are preferred. The ball is made of white plastic and hollow. It has a diameter of 72 mm and weighs between 20 and 23 grams. There are 26 holes, each of which measuring 11 mm. The goals are 160 cm wide and 115 cm high; their depth is 65 cm.
The goalie wears special equipment. His trousers are long and padded. The shirt is padded and might be long. The goalie is allowed to wear gloves , but a mitt is not permitted. The goalie wears a helmet to protect his face. All the equipment worn by the goalie has the purpose to protect the goalkeeper and must not augment the area as covered by the goalie without the protective wear. The goalie does not have a stick. The field players on the other hand only wear shorts, a shirt, socks and indoor sport shoes. They are allowed shin guards.
Although floorball is not as physical as
ice hockey, the sport has evolved in recent years to allow increased levels of bodily contact. For example, shoulder to shoulder checking is permited when opposing players are competing for a loose ball. Floorball has also seen a rise in checking when the play is concentrated in the corners or along the boards. The best comparison in terms of legal physical contact is soccer, where checking is used improve one's positioning in relation to the ball rather than to remove an opposing player from the play. The purpose of this is to reward dexterity and skill over physical aggression.
If a player commits a foul, a free shot is awarded to the opposing team. There are time penalties of two and five minutes for harder fouls; ten minutes are reserved for
unsportsmanlike behaviour. For extreme cases there are match penalties .
History
There are a great number of people that think they have
invented floorball. It is commonly considered that the roots of floorball go back to the
1950s in the
USA. At the time young people played indoors with plastic sticks and a plastic puck. The game was called
floor hockey and the first tournament was organized in 1976 in
Michigan.
Floor hockey with a puck is still played in North America. In Canada, it is credited to Sam Jacks.
The new sport with the name
floorball was first played in
Sweden in the early
1970s. It soon gained popularity at schools and in leisure clubs. At that time, the goals were much smaller, but there was no goal keeper.
Floorball soon caught on and in the late
1970s the sport spread across Europe. In the early
1980s many national associations were founded. This created the structures that enabled the young sport to grow faster. At the time of writing only four countries dominate the international game:
Sweden,
Finland,
Switzerland and the
Czech Republic. The gap to other countries, however, is narrowing year by year.
National associations
The following list shows the year in which a national association was founded.
...
- 1992 Russia, the Czech Republic, and Germany
- 1993 USA, Estonia, and Latvia
- 1995 Poland, Belgium, Singapore, and Great Britain
- 1996 Austria and Australia
- 1999 Netherlands, Brazil, Slovakia
- 2001 Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Canada, and New Zealand
- 2002 Malaysia
...
,
India, and
Georgia 2003 France 2004 Pakistan 2005 KoreaOne of the world's oldest civilization [i]s, Korea began with the founding of Gojoseon [i] in 2333 ...
,
Ukraine,
Liechtenstein, and
IcelandThe International Federation
The
International Floorball Federation was founded in 1986 in Sweden. Founding nations were
Sweden,
Finland and
Switzerland. In 1994 the first European championship for men took place in
Zurich. The following year the first European championship for women was organized. The first world championship for men took place in 1996 in
Sweden. The following year the first world championship for women was organized. Since then the world championships for men and women take place in alternating years. As of 2005 there are 36 member countries in the IFF, with over 3,900 clubs and 230,000 registerd players. There is organized floorball in some countries that are not IFF members.
The IFF gained full membership of the GAISF in 2004. Every year the European Cup is organized. World Championships take place every other year, with even years for men, and odd years for women.
Championships
World championships are played in alternate years
Men's world championships
Women's world championships
European championship
Before playing world championships, the European championship was held twice. In 1994 Sweden's men were crowned European champions in Finland; in 1995 Finland's men and Sweden's women were victorious in Switzerland.
North American Floorball Championship
The North American Floorball Championship, created by the in association with the , is contested each year, currently based on an aggreagte scoring system played over two tournaments - and the .
- 2006 Champion -
- 2005 Champion -
- 2004 Champion - Boston Puukadet
Asia Pacific Floorball Championship
The Asis Pacific Floorball Championships are played every year in Singapore, created by the in association with the Asia and Oceania Floorball Confederation .
Men's APAC championships
Women's APAC championships
European Cup
The European Cup is organized every year in order to establish the best team in Europe. The championship was adjusted to the sports year which runs across two calendar years in 2000.
The women's champions so far:
- 1993 VK Rasket, Sweden
- 1994 Sjöstad IF, Sweden
- 1995 Sjöstad IF, Sweden
- 1996 Högdalens AIS, Sweden
- 1997 Högdalens AIS, Sweden
- 1998 Högdalens AIS, Sweden
- 1999 Tapanilan Erä , Finland
- 2000–2001 Balrog IK , Sweden
- 2001–2002 Balrog IK, Sweden
- 2002–2003 Balrog IK, Sweden
- 2003–2004 SC Classic , Finland
- 2004–2005 Red Ants Rychenberg , Switzerland
- 2005–2006 IKSU, Sweden
The men's champions so far:
- 1993 Balrog IK, Sweden
- 1994 Balrog IK, Sweden
- 1995 Kista IBK, Sweden
- 1996 Balrog IK, Sweden
- 1997 Fornudden IB, Sweden
- 1998 Warbergs IC-85 , Sweden
- 1999 Warbergs IC-85, Sweden
- 2000–2001 Helsingfors IFK, Finland
- 2001–2002 Haninge IBK, Sweden
- 2002–2003 Haninge IBK, Sweden
- 2003–2004 Pixbo Wallenstam IBK , Sweden
- 2004–2005 SV Wiler-Ersingen , Switzerland
- 2005–2006 Warbergs IC-85, Sweden
External links
Federations
Equipment manufacturers
Others
