Floorball explained on Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floorball

What is Floorball?

Floorball is a fun, fast-paced hockey game that is played on foot with lightweight sticks and a plastic ball. It has its origins in the United States where it was played in physical education classes during the 1950s. However, the popularity of the sport did not take off until it was introduced to students in Sweden and Finland.

Floorball quickly became popular in schools and youth clubs throughout Scandinavia and parts of Europe where in 1986, the International Floorball Federation was founded by the federations of Sweden, Finland, and Switzerland. The sport is known by many names in many different countries -salibandy, innebandy, unihockey - but it’s all simply floorball.

One of the absolute advantages of Floorball is that it is very easy to become a player. Anyone regardless of age, physical condition, or gender can grab a floorball stick and join in the fun. It certainly has the potential to fill a niche for people who love hockey because it is played very similarly to hockey; however, Floorball does not require the skill of skating and with rules that prohibit hitting and checking, the sport is safe to play coed and with mixed age levels. It is also inexpensive compared to inline or ice hockey because the only equipment requirements for a field player is a stick and a pair of good indoor court shoes. Goalies require helmets and pads but they don’t play with a stick.

Floorball is very similar to ice hockey minus the ice, which is why many professional hockey clubs in Europe use it for off-season training to improve stick skills and foot speed. A floorball game is played between two teams that can use a maximum of 20 players each with lines of 5 players and a goalie. The usual formation is two wings, one center, two defenders, and one goalie. Games consist of three
20-minute periods of play.

Other benefits of playing Floorball include getting to know other players through local games during travel to tournaments, a great cardiovascular
workout, a means of relieving stress, and numerous opportunities to play at different levels from recreational to international with the U.S. men’s and women’s, or U-19 national teams.

Floorball Details

International Floorball Federation (IFF)

The International Floorball Federation is the governing body for the sport of Floorball worldwide. The IFF has 32 member federations and is
a member of General Association of International Sports Federations (AGFIS/GAISF). The IFF has also applied for recognition to the International Olympics Committee.

Floorball is a rapidly growing sport. The largest number of players can be found in Northern Europe; however, it is being played in countries
as diverse as Australia, Canada, India, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, the United States, and Brazil. According to IFF statistics, there
were over 220,009 registered floorball players and 3624 registered clubs worldwide in 2003. These numbers don‚t take into account the
number of people playing recreationally which the IFF estimates to be over 1.5 million.

Brief History of Floorball

1986 -- The International Floorball Federation was founded in Huskvarna, Sweden by the floorball associations of Finland, Sweden and Switzerland.
1993 -- The first European Cup was played in Helsinki for Women and in Stockholm for Men.
1994 --The first European Championships for Men was played in Finland.
1995 -- The first European Championships for Women and the second for Men were played in Switzerland.
1996 -- The first World Championships for Men was played in Sweden. The final was sold out as 15,106 spectators packed into the Stockholm Globe Arena.
1997 -- The first World Championships for Women was played in Åland, Finland.
2000 -- IFF gained provisional membership of GAISF (General Association of International Sports Federations).
2001 -- The first World Championships for Men U19 was played in Germany. Canada joins the IFF family.
2002 -- The first World University Championships in floorball was played in Sweden. The first-ever U.S. men’s national team competed in the Floorball World Championships in Helsinki, Finland and finished 14th overall.
2003 -- IFF applied for IOC recognition. The first-ever U.S. women’s national floorball team competed in the Women’s World Championships in Bern, Switzerland, finishing 14th overall.

IFF Today:
- Provisional member of GAISF
- 32 member Associations
- 3900 + clubs.
- 215,000 + registered players.
- The European Cup is played every year.
- World Championships are played every year, in even years for Men and U19 Women and in odd years for Women and U19 Men.