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Floorball thread


Doktor Kosmos

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Since the start of the 1997/98 season, I have been coaching floorball. For those of you who know nothing about the sport, it is actually kind of similar to hockey, only you don't wear skates and helmets and all that equipment, and you don't skate around on an ice surface. It's just a regular floor (hence the name).

Both teams have five players and a goalie. The sticks you use are made from different kinds of plastic materials. A stick may be no longer than 950 milimeters. The ball is white (usually), hollow and has got 26 little holes in it. It weighs a lot less than a hockey puck.

The standard playing surface is 20x40 meters. All along the side there is a board, 50 centimeters tall I think. Every team is allowed to use 20 players during a game, one of the players have to be a goalie. Goalies are not allowed to play with sticks by the way, and they have no catching gloves. In junior leagues and men's and women's leagues as well as international competitions, a game consists of 3 periods, 20 minutes each. Youth games are usually 3x15 minutes.

The rules are kinda similar to hockey rules. But since there is no protective gear (other than that the goalie obviously wears a mask to cover his/ger face), you are not alllowed to check an opponent. You also cannot hold an opponent or slash him/her or slash his/her stick etc. You're not allowed to touch the ball with your hands or head (only the goalie can do that). You can't pass the ball to a team mate using your feet. You cannot raise your stick above your knees in order to handle the ball.

Well, that's the basics. If you want to know more about the rules, here's a link to the official rule book (don't worry, it's in English):

http://www.floorball.org/rules1.htm

As for my coaching career, like I said, I started in 1997. I have never played for a team myself, but floorball was always my favourite sport in school, and I have played it a lot with a bunch of pals in our spare time.

The first team I ever coached was a team for girls born in 1986. They were in 5th grade at the time and I coached them for three seasons, until and including the 1999/00 season. It was me and another guy, he's about the same age as my dad, and he had a lot more experience coaching different sports at the time, so it was a learning experience not only for the players but for me as well as I was all new to coaching. During the second season, he started coaching the team for girls born in 1987, and we hleped each other out all the time, with games and practice and such. You might say we coached both teams toghether, but officially, on paper so to speak, we each had our own separate team.

During the beginning of the 1999/00 season, I also started coaching a team for girls born in 1991 (they were in 2nd grade at the time). I coached that team for five years and signed off at the end of last season. After my friend quit his coaching career, I also took over the team for the girls born '87, and I coached them for two seasons (2001/02-2002/03, when they were in 8th and 9th grade).

For two years I was also on the board of the club. I was also part of of starting a youth comittee (sp?). That wasn't my thing though and as soon as I had "done my time", I kept to just coaching.

After last season I was rather tired of it all actually. Towards the end, not even the games felt that exciting anymore. So I decided I would take a leave of absence during this (2004/05) season. But then when all the leagues started again, the weekends got so boring. Therefor I joined the men's team as sort of an assistant/manager. I help out during practice and games and I write reviews of our games for the clubs website. I'm also in charge of reporting results and statistics from our home games to the regional federation.

However, I think that I will go back to coaching kids teams. First of all, the reason why I got into floorball in the first place was becaus I love to work with kids (I am a teacher). Coaching grown-ups (although most of them are not older than 23-24) hasn't been all what I though it would be, it is actually a lot more frustrating. Secondly, I do miss being the one in charge, so to speak. Deciding what should be done during practice, laying out the strategy during games and so on. I feel the desire for that kind of coaching (not just being an assistant) is coming back. This has been a very important thing for a great deal of me life, and I have never regretted that I started doing it. It really is a passion of mine.

I'll see if I can find some pictures on the internet so you guys can get a better image of what floorball is like.

I forgot to mention that floorball is a pretty young sport. The Swedish Floorball Federation was formed in November 1981.

[Edited on 2005/1/9 by Doktor Kosmos]

[Edited on 2005/1/9 by Doktor Kosmos]

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http://hem.passagen.se/ronnbyibk/malarcupen/3.jpg

This is from a tournament we participated in at the start of the season, before the league had started. This was also before I had actually joined the men's team. The guys wearing black jerseys, those are the guys on my team (although we have gotten new jersey now that are a lot cooler).

More photos from that tournament.

http://hem.passagen.se/ronnbyibk/malarcupen/5.jpg In this photo you can see how big the goal is, and what kind of gear the goalie's got. It's basiclaly just the mask, a jersey with extra padding on the fron, and pants with padding, especially on the knees. You need additional knee pads, as the goalie usually stands on his knees and it is a real strain.

http://hem.passagen.se/ronnbyibk/malarcupen/4.jpg In this photo you can see how high the board is.

http://hem.passagen.se/ronnbyibk/vstillber...ga/DSCF0017.JPG Face-off.

[Edited on 2005/1/9 by Doktor Kosmos]

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Here are a couple other pictures. Im not sure the links will work (they're from Imagestation.com) but if all else fails, they usually work if you copy the link and paste it in a new browser window.

link

This is the team for girls born in 1991, I think this is from the 2000/01 season. This is not our usual jerseys but the away jerseys (our colors are black and orange). You can see me at the far left.

link

This is also the girls born in 1991. This is from a very popular tournament called Storvreta Cup. It is played every year during the Christmas holidays, and it is a tournament for youth teams. This photo is from 2002/03, the first time I went there with this particular team. We lost the final of the B-playoffs. We won the semifinal after penelty shots. That is by far the most exciting game I have ever coached and the greatest memory of them all. Those are the jersey the team had until the end of last season btw.

link

This is from the aforementioned semifinal game. We actually tied it 2-2 with less than 30 seconds left or regulation, and then won after a penelty shot shoutout. Our goalie was spectacular, saving all four penelties for the opponents. Meanwhile we scored two goals (in a 5 round shootout). Amazing. To this day I get chills down my spine and tears in my eyes when I think about that game.

link

Our bench during the penelty shot shootout.

link

Face off during a game we played in a tournament managed by our own club. Again, that's us with the black and orange. Taking the face off is the captain of the team.

link

Now this here is after the very last game I ever coached for the girls born in 1987. It is from the playoffs from the 2002/03 season, we finished second after losing the final 4-2. I was still very pleased with our effort. (I am on the far right, the back row.) This is another one of those wonderful memories.

[Edited on 2005/1/9 by Doktor Kosmos]

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No, the links are correct.

What you can do is you place the cursor over the link and then right click. Choose "copy link". Open a new window, and then paste the link in the address field.

At least that's one way of making it work. Then again, I have a Macintosh. I don't know about PC's.

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The plastic material is not as hard as a hockey puck. Some goalies use gloves though. I believe the world record for the hardest slap shot is like 170 km/hour (about 106 miles/hour).

I don't know much about field hockey, so I can't compare the two.

If you're interested, why don't you check out the website of the International Floorball Federation: http://www.floorball.org/ They have plenty of links.

Here's a Canadian link: http://www.canadafloorball.ca/pages/home.php

[Edited on 2005/1/16 by Doktor Kosmos]

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Originally posted by Doktor Kosmos

The plastic material is not as hard as a hockey puck. Some goalies use gloves though. I believe the world record for the hardest slap shot is like 170 km/hour (about 106 miles/hour).

Wow, 170 km/h aren't bad ... your fingers are definetly broken if you want to catch such a ball. *fg*

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Yes, it wouldn't be that pleasant. But then again, it is difficult to get off a shot like that during a game.

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With a little luck, this link might work. It is clips from a Elite League game between AIK and Balrog.

Link

Or why not try to watch it on your RealPlayer:

Link

[Edited on 2005/1/17 by Doktor Kosmos]

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Floorball is Sweden's second biggest team sport. There's about 118 000 licensed floorball players. About 75% of these are 15 or younger.

Soccer is the biggest team sport, with about 200 000 licensed players.

According to the Swedish Hockey Fedaration, there is about 66 000 licensed hockey players.

Licensed player, at least in floorball, means you have to be lincensed in order to be allowed to play in a game sanctioned by the Swedish or a regional Floorball Federation. For youth players (up to the age of 16) the club pays an administrative fee (which also covers insurance) for the particular team in question. For junior teams and mens' and womens' teams you oay a fee for the team and an additional fee for each individual player. You submit the names of the players who are to be licensed, and once the Federation and an the insurance company that supplies the insurance have listed you player, he or she is allowed to play in a league game (or tournament and so on). One major reason why floorball has become so popular is that it is very accessable. It's relatively cheap, which is good especially for the youth players. All you really need to participate is a pair of shoes, a stick, a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. There are protective glasses you can get, but the Federation hasn't made it mandatory to wear these glasses. (They look a lot like those glasses some basketball players use.) Clubs usually supply jerseys for games, as well as equipment for the goalies.

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