Floorball

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A floorball match between powerhouses Sweden (yellow) and Finland (white)

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 (especially stop) 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 (50 cm tall). 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 (women, 2005) and Sweden (men, 2006) (Floorball World Championships).

[edit] The game

The dimensions of a floorball rink

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 (such as smaller goals and that the keeper is allowed to use a stick and sometimes even a glove hand thus making his behavior more similar to a hockey keeper).

Floorball is usually played on a standard size court (40 x 20 metres) 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 adjustments 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.

A floorball. This is a precision type ball, characterized by 1516 tiny dimples that reduce air resistance, as well as friction on the floor.

The stick used in floorball is strictly regulated. The shaft may be at most 105 cm long, and the whole stick must not weigh more than 350 grams. Its material is composite or carbon and it is hollow. Generally lighter sticks are preferred. The ball is made of plastic and is found in a wide variety of colours, the ball is also 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 (though not commonly used), 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 permitted 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 (red card).

[edit] History

There are a great number of people that think they 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 Bobby Duncan.

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 (2006) 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.

[edit] Associations

[edit] National associations

The following list shows the year in which a national association was founded.

1981 Sweden
1983 Japan
1985 Finland and Switzerland
1986 the International Floorball Federation (IFF) was founded
1989 Denmark, and Hungary
1991 Norway
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 Korea, Ukraine, Liechtenstein, and Iceland
2006 Armenia

[edit] Championships

[edit] World championships

World championships are organised by International Floorball Federation (IFF) and are played in alternate years, with even years for men, and odd years for women.

[edit] Men's world championships

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue	Notice
1996	Sweden	Finland	Norway	Skellefteå/Uppsala/Stockholm
1998	Sweden	Switzerland	Finland	Brno/Prague
2000	Sweden	Finland	Switzerland	Drammen/Oslo/Sarpsborg	HomePage
2002	Sweden	Finland	Switzerland	Helsinki	HomePage
2004	Sweden	Czech Republic	Finland	Zürich/Kloten	HomePage InfoWeb
2006	Sweden	Finland	Switzerland	Malmö/Helsingborg/Stockholm	HomePage
2008				Czech Republic
2010				Finland
2012				Switzerland

[edit] Women's world championships

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue	Notice
1991	Sweden	Finland	Norway	Godby/Mariehamn
1999	Finland	Switzerland	Sweden	Borlänge
2001	Finland	Sweden	Norway	Riga	HomePage
2003	Sweden	Switzerland	Finland	Berne/Gümligen/Wünnewil	HomePage
2005	Switzerland	Finland	Sweden	Singapore	HomePage
2007				Frederikshavn	HomePage
2009				Sweden
2011				Switzerland

[edit] Men's U19 world championships

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue	Notice
2001	Sweden	Switzerland	Finland	Germany
2003	Finland	Sweden	Czech Republic	Prague	HomePage
2005	Sweden	Finland	Switzerland	Cesis and Valmiera	HomePage
2007				Switzerland
2009				Finland
2011				Norway

[edit] Women's U19 world championships

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue	Notice
2004	Sweden	Finland	Switzerland	Tampere	HomePage
2006	Sweden	Finland	Switzerland	Naunhof / Leipzig	HomePage
2008				Switzerland
2010				Czech Republic
2012				Norway

[edit] 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.

[edit] North American Floorball Championship

The North American Floorball Championship, created by the Ontario Floorball/Unihockey Federation in association with the United States Floorball Association, is contested each year, currently based on an aggregate scoring system played over two tournaments - East Coast Tournament (Raleigh, NC) and the Canada Cup Floorball Championship (Toronto, Canada).

2006 Champion - Boston Puukadet
2005 Champion - Boston Puukadet
2004 Champion - Boston Puukadet

[edit] Asia Pacific Floorball Championship

The Asia Pacific Floorball Championships are played every year in Singapore, created by the Singapore Floorball Association together with the Asia and Oceania Floorball Confederation (AOFC).

[edit] Men's APAC championships

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue
2001	Australia	Singapore		Singapore
2004	Japan	Singapore	Australia	Singapore
2005	Japan	Australia	Singapore	Singapore

[edit] Women's APAC championships

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue
2001	Singapore	Australia		Singapore
2004	Singapore	Japan	Malaysia	Singapore
2005	Singapore	Japan	Australia	Singapore

[edit] Tournaments

[edit] 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 originally named European Cup is going to be renamed to EuroFloorball Cup in 2008.

Year	Men champion	Women champion	Venue	Notice
1993	Balrog IK	VK Rasket	Stockholm (men) / Helsinki (women)
1994	Balrog IK	Sjöstad IF	Chur
1995	Kista IBK	Sjöstad IF	Karlstad
1996	Balrog IK	Högdalens AIS	Stockholm
1997	Fornudden IB	Högdalens AIS	Stockholm
1998	Warbergs IC-85	Högdalens AIS	Helsinki / Vantaa
1999	Warbergs IC-85	Tapanilan Erä	Bern / Sarnen / Zuchwil / Winterthur
2001	Helsingin IFK	Balrog IK	Gothenburg
2002	Haninge IBK	Balrog IK	Solna / Botkyrka
2003	Haninge IBK	Balrog IK	Prague	HomePage
2004	Pixbo Wallenstam IBK	SC Classic	Weissenfels / Merseburg / Hohenmölsen	HomePage
2005	SV Wiler-Ersingen	Red Ants Rychenberg	Zurich / Adliswil	HomePage
2006	Warbergs IC-85	IKSU	Ostrava	HomePage
2007	AIK	UHC Dietlikon	Varberg	HomePage
2008			Finland
2009			Switzerland
2010			Denmark
2011			not decided yet
2012			Czech Republic

[edit] Czech Open

The biggest club team tournament Czech Open is traditional summer tournament held in Prague, Czech republic. It's famous not only for its playing part, but also for great out-field activities.

Year	Men	Women	Junior	Men "B"	Women "B"
1993	IKSU IB	Kristineberg AIS
1994	Sjostad IF	Sjostad IF
1995	Fornudden	HC Rychenberg Winterthur		Challengers-93
1996	Pixbo IBK	HC Rychenberg Winterthur		Kirkkonummi Rangers
1997	Fornudden	Tatran Střešovice	Baldersnas IK	IBK Succe
1998	FBC Ostrava	Jona-Uznach Flames	Team 88 Konolfingen	Storvreta IK I.
1999	Tatran Střešovice	VIKA Niznyj Novgorod	Niznyj Novgorod	Kirkkonummi Rangers
2000	Helsinki IFK	SSV	SSK Future	Röke IBK
2001	Pixbo Wallenstam IBK	UHC Bern OST	Frosta IBF	SSK Future
2002	Pixbo Wallenstam IBK	Husqvarma IK	SSK Future Exel	Roke IBK
2003	Pixbo Wallenstam IBK	Balrog Oilers	SSK Future Exel	1. FB Topgrandma
2004	Balrog Oilers	Tatran Techtex Střešovice	Tapanilan Erä	Rubene
2005	IBK Dalen	Galna Finnar	SSK Future	SK Cesis/Lekrings	Koo-Vee
2006	Pixbo Wallenstam IBK	Triggers CON INVEST	Tatran Střešovice	FBC Liberec	Sagene Ladies

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