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Floorball, Floorball

It is a fast paced sport, with limited physical contact allowed. Floorball is most popular in areas where the sport has developed the longest, such as the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland. The game is played indoors on a gym floor, making it a year-round sport at the amateur and professional levels. There are professional leagues, such as Finland's Salibandyliiga and Sweden's Svenska Superligan.

The game is believed to have originated in Gothenburg, Sweden. The sport began as something that was played for fun as a pastime at schools. After a decade or so, floorball began showing up in Scandinavian countries such as Finland, Norway, and Sweden, where the once school pastime was becoming a developed sport. Formal rules soon were developed, and clubs began to form. After some time, several countries developed national associations, and the IFF was founded in 1986.

By 1990, floorball was recognized in 7 countries, and by the time of the first European Floorball Championships in 1994, that number had risen to 14. That number included the United States, who were the first country outside of Europe and Asia to recognize floorball [1] , IFF - History in short . By the time of the first men's world championships in 1996, 20 nations played floorball, with 12 of them participating at the tournament.

With the addition of Sierra Leone, Africa's first floorball nation, the IFF has at least one national association on each continent of the world, with the exception of Antarctica.

In addition to that, the world's two largest floorball leagues, Finland's Salibandyliiga and Sweden's Svenska Superligan were formed, in 1986 and 1995 respectively.

As of 2009, seven men's, as well as six women's, four men's under-19, and three women's under-19 world floorball championships have taken place. The Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland remain the only four countries to have ever captured a medal at a World Championship event. A floorball world championship is awarded twice a year, and bi-annually in each age group.

This format caused much hardship for countries such as Australia, Canada, Slovakia, and Spain, who have all been trying to get to the B-Division from the C-Division since 2004. In 2010, the IFF plans to adopt a FIFA-like continental qualification system, where teams must qualify to play at the world championships. Depending on the number of countries registered per continent or region, the IFF gives spots for the world championships. For example, for the 2010 Men's World Floorball Championships, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and the United States will need to play for one spot at the world championships in a continental qualification tournament for the Americas [5] , WFC new system.

As a stick cannot weigh any more than 350 grams, floorball manufacturers produce sticks that are often made of carbon and composite materials.

Controlled shoulder-to-shoulder contact is allowed, but ice hockey-like checking is forbidden. Pushing players without the ball or competing for a loose ball is also disallowed, and many of these infractions lead to two minute penalties. The best comparison in terms of legal physical contact is soccer, where checking is used to improve one's positioning in relation to the ball rather than to remove an opposing player from the play. In addition to checking, players cannot lift another opponents stick or perform any stick infractions in order to get to the ball. As well, players may not raise their stick or play the ball above their knee level, and a stick cannot be placed in between a player's legs (to avoid tripping). The rules of floorball are based on safety of the players.

This technique is also referred to as 'airhooking' or 'skyhooking'. In freebandy, the rules are very much the same of those of floorball, with the exception of high nets and no infractions for high sticking. As well, the sticks are slightly tweaked from those of a floorball variety to include a 'pocket' where the ball can be placed.

Matches are played 3-on-3 with a goaltender, on a smaller court that measures 20 meters long by 12 meters wide. This form of floorball was developed for the intellectually disabled, and has yet to be played at the Special Olympics. There is a strong possibility that it will be played at the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games [6] , IFF Receives More Recognition!

It is usually played on a smaller court, and may involve players playing from 1-on-1 to 5-on-5. Goaltenders do not play in this type of floorball, as the nets are very small (household garbage cans are sometimes used).

The match is played on a slightly smaller court and often involves only three field players playing on each side, in 3-on-3 floorball. This form of floorball is also slightly shorter, with only two periods of 15 minutes each played.

The event was created by the Singapore Floorball Association together with the cooperation of the Asia Oceania Floorball Confederation (AOFC). Members of the AOFC get together during this tournament to play for the Asia Pacific Floorball Championship every year. The most recent champions are Singapore.

It is the largest floorball club tournament outside of Europe, and attracts 40+ clubs from worldwide, every year. The winners of the 2009 tournament were California's X-Stream IB floorball club.

It has taken place every single year since 1993, and in 2000, it changed its format to a 2-year event (i.e. 2000-01). In 2008, the tournament switched back to its one-year format. Teams qualify for the tournament in three different divisions, two of those being East Europe and West Europe, while the other division consists of runners-up to the champions of the top four countries in the previous year's EuroFloorball Cup. The reigning EuroFloorball Cup Champions are Sweden's AIK Innebandy, capturing the tournament three times in the past three years.

Source: Wikipedia > Floorball