BC Floorball is proud to announce an equipment/sponsorship agreement with Salming Floorball.

As the official supplier of equipment, Salming will provide a Floorball Equipment Kit that will roam the Province along with the BC Floorball Demo Team in support of our school programs, summer camps, hockey schools, and community organizations who wish to learn about Floorball, the fastest growing team sport in the World.

As part of the agreement, BC Floorball will direct interested parties to the companies that supply Salming Floorball equipment in BC.

• Modern Hockey
• Team Skyline
• Big Kahuna
• Source for Sports

To learn more about Salming Floorball, please visit their award winning website

Salming School Kits start at $240 for 10 sticks.

The Capilano Coho Floorball Club were in fine form this past weekend at the PlayOn- Hockey Night in Canada sponsored street hockey event in Vancouver.

The weekend tournament featured 46 Teams in the Adult Elite Division, The Coho finished in the top ten and could have done better with a little practice.  Half of the players played with Floorball sticks, and they held up surprisingly well. It was strange to stickhandle with Hockey sticks on pavement, Floorball sticks give you far better ball control and whip/snap shots in the 125-135mph range,  The hockey stick slapshots were clocking speeds of 140mph plus, so in a game where taking big windup slappers is the main form of scoring, it’s probably better to have a longer hockey stick for poke checking and slapshots.  If everyone had a Floorball stick, I believe the hockey plays would have been cleaner and more pure…the street hockey style has a lot of hacking and whacking, at least at the Elite level.

The scale of this years event was massive! Over 300 teams took part, and fence partitioned rinks were all over the place, starting at GM place and working their way over to Chinatown.  The sponsor pavillion was buzzing all weekend, with interactive hockey booths and our own BC Floorball booth was hopping with young hockey players, and parents, who were seeing Floorball sticks for the very first time.

The guys and gals at Blackwool, Carlo, John, Chris, Zac, Erica… did an amazing job bringing it all together as the organizing team of the Vancouver edition of Playon.  On Friday night, together we built the main showcase rink with our Floorball boards, and they were quite the hit during the whole weekend especially during the celebrity game featuring The mayor of Vancouver- Gregor Roberston, tons of local media celebs, and NHLer Eric Brewer.

On the Sunday, BC Floorball took to the main rink for a Floorball Demo, where we saw dozens of kids try out the Floorball sticks and hundreds more looked on as the movie Zorro Academy looped on the big Sony TV Screen.  The interest level was very high and we look forward to the day when we can have outdoor floorball hockey festivals, like they have in Sweden, Switzerland, and Finland with the same levels of participation and competition as PlayOn, maybe we can even see a Floorball division for next years PlayOn events!

BC Floorball

Come check out the action at Vancouver’s largest outdoor street hockey event. Local Media, The Mayor of Vancouver and other celebs are taking to the outdoor rinks.

Thousands of people are lining the streets in this festival like atmosphere at GM Place.

It’s quite the experience!

PlayOn.ca

Canadian Women’s Floorball Team Information

Eligibility

All players must:

1. Possess a valid Canadian Passport, to expire on or after May 13^th, 2010. (International Travel Regulation)
   1. Have been born before January 1^st, 1993. (Must be at least 16 years old by the end of 2009.)
   2. Be a registered Elite member of their Provincial Federation for the 2009-10 season. (International Players need not be members of any Provincial Federation, but must be registered FC members)
   3. Be a registered member of Floorball Canada (FC) for the 2009-10 season
   4. Complete the attached registration form and return to Floorball Canada by the deadline.

Team Member Requirements

1. Each player must be able to cover the cost of travel to and from Vasteras, Sweden as well as room and board.  Team Canada will be responsible for accommodation and food arrangements while at the World Championships while players will be responsible for securing their own means of travel. (The current estimate of costs is approx. $2,000.00 CAD.)
2. Team Members must be available to participate in Vasteras from:  December 3, 2009 - December 13, 2009
3. Games and/or practices will be scheduled for each day throughout this period.
4. Each player must submit a tryout fee and deposit by June 30, 2009.   This includes:
   1. A $200.00 refundable deposit.  This will only be cashed if the eligible player is offered a position on the team roster and will be contributed toward the cost of participation.
   2. A $50.00 non-refundable tryout fee.
   3. Please provide 2 separate cheques for the payments - one for $200.00 and one for $50.00.  The deposit fee will be held until final team is announced.

Team Selection

1. Only players who provide deposit and registration fees by the start of the tryout and meet all eligibility requirements will be considered.
2. There are 20 roster positions for the team, including 2 goaltender positions.  Players will be selected based on skill, experience and commitment.
3. If there are more eligible players than available roster positions, tryouts will be held, with selections to be finalized by the FC National Team Selection Committee.
4. The final team selection will be announced in early August 2009.

Floorball Canada Responsibilities

1. The FC National Team Selection Committee will recruit and appoint all team staff members including:  1 Head Coach, up to 2 Assistant Coaches, up to 2 Trainers / Physiotherapists, 1 Media and Communications representative and 1 General Manager. Team staff is limited to 7 official positions as per IFF regulations.
2. FC will coordinate accommodations, team meals, transportation to and from playing venues and all practices and exhibition matches while in Finland.
3. FC, through its Title Sponsor (TBD), will provide Team Canada game uniforms.  Other clothing and equipment provided will depend on the nature of the sponsorship agreement secured.
4. FC will provide Doping Control Training to all players prior to the World Floorball Championships.

For more information, please contact Paul Charbonneau, Chair of the National Teams Committee at paul@floorballcanada.ca or 647-588-8008.

Please complete the Online Player Information Sheet.

REFEREES NEEDED FOR PLAY ON! VANCOUVER!!
SONY STYLE AND UNWINE’D RESTAURANT PRIZE PACKS AVAILABLE!

Referees WANTED for North America’s largest Street Hockey tournament coming to the streets of Vancouver and General Motors Place Saturday June 13 & Sunday June 14!
Play On! Vancouver – The National Street Hockey Tournament Presented By CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada only a week away and needs your help! We are calling on all Certified hockey referees or experienced hockey players to help officiate this tournament!
We will have 200+ teams registered to play and over 20 street hockey rinks that will need referees. With 30 minute games scheduled per rink throughout the event hours of 8am – 8pm Saturday and Sunday June 13 -14, this will require a high level of participation from the hockey community.
To encourage you to get involved, we are able to offer a special promotion

FOR THE NEXT WEEK LEADING UP TO THE EVENT:
EACH CERTIFIED OFFICAL OR EXPERIENCED HOCKEY PLAYER WHO REFEREES AT PLAY ON! VANCOUVER WILL RECEIVE EITHER A $50 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO THE SONY STORE OR A $50 GIFT CERTIFICATE UNWINE’D RESTAURANT IN AS WELL REFEREES WILL BE PROVIDED:
Food & Water Bottle with unlimited water or Gatorade $25 Honorarium per 6 hour shift worked
SATURDAY, JUNE 13 - 8:00am – 2:00pm - OR - 2:00pm – 8:00pm (9 x 30 min. games with breaks per shift) - 8:00am – 2:00pm - OR - 2:00pm – 8:00pm (9 x 30 min. games with breaks per shift)

REFEREES MEETING - THURSDAY, JUNE 11 from 7pm – 9pm at the Westin Grand Hotel Vancouver
CONFIRM YOUR PARTICIPATION NOW AND MENTION THIS PROMOTION!
EVENT TIMES: 8:00am - 8:00pm daily

LOCATION: Directly in front of General Motors Place @ Gate 16 - 800 Block Abbott Street Downtown Vancouver
For more information, please email vancouver@playon.ca or call 604 688 7584

BC Floorball News

BC Floorball is proud to announce Bryan Ducharme, Owner/Operator of the Sunplex Arena in downtown Kelowna as the Regional Coordinator of BC Floorball for the Okanagan Branch.

Bryan Ducharme has already begun to recruit players for their upcoming Fall Floorball League and you can visit www.sunplex.ca to register today.

“At the Sunplex Arena, we are dedicated to building a successful Floorball program, in Kelowna, serving the Okanagan that will complement the efforts of BC Floorball.  Our Hockey staff, including myself, are all looking forward to getting certified as proper Floorball Referees, Coaches and Administrators by the BCFF.  We conducted our due diligence on Floorball Hockey and discovered that Floorball is the fastest growing area of non-ice hockey worldwide, and decided to dig deeper.  What we found was amazing and thrilling.  Just go online and see for yourselves…the Floorball videos online say it all,  You go to a site like www.xfloor.tv and it becomes obvious how big this sport really is internationally.  We also understand the International Olympic Committee has recently approved Floorball as a provisional team sport for inclusion in the Summer Olympics.” says Bryan.

He continues to add, “The exciting parts of Floorball Hockey are the speed and skill. It does not allow a player to hack and whack another players stick, because of this and the light-weight stick and ball, Floorball is a very safe and low injury sport that neither requires helmets or gloves to play. This also adds to the low cost of participating. Kids can start Floorball at a very young age, Parents can return to their love of the good old street hockey game with their children in a hockey format that is clean and fast.  It’s the ultimate elementary, middle and high school sport which we anticipate will feed our league programs, here at the Sunplex. We plan on launching a demo program at schools in Kelowna, that will teach the teachers about Floorball and introduce the sport to the students.”

About Floorball:

Floorball is a sport for Everyone.  It has a MASSIVE opportunity to be a leading team sport option at the recreational level through schools, youth groups, community centers, adult sport and social clubs, hockey associations, seniors activity groups, disabled sports communities and just about any group in Canada that is trying to be active in sports.

• The Equipment:
  • The Sticks are brilliant, engineered for safety and performance. They look slick, feel super light, yet can handle the flex power of an NHLer, they are totally ergonomic for gym play, unlike the floorhockey sticks that have been around our schools for the past 30 years.  A Floorball stick is the perfect balance between power, creativity and control, a stickhandlers dream!
  • The Ball is like a whiffle ball at first glance. Take a closer look and you will discover that the dimple pattern, and design allow for harder shots, true ball flight and when you block a 100km/hr shot, it doesn’t hurt or leave a welt.  A Floorball is the perfect balance between power, creativity and control, a stickhandlers dream!

• Simplicity- see above…all you need to play is a stick and a ball.
• Accessibility & Affordability- Floorball is the “soccer of hockey’s”, no expensive equipment to prevent you from playing hockey and super easy to just start playing.  Sticks are very light, yet strong meaning that they work for young and old, girls, boys and wheelchair athletes can really enjoy Floorball too.
• Speed- Floorball moves really fast, the ball moves faster than a hockey puck and it keeps the body moving at all times.
• Fitness- The speed, movement and flow of Floorball is very cardiovascular and it’s the main reason why many NHL players play Floorball regularly in the Off-season.
• Spirit-  Ice Hockey, Inline Hockey, Ball-Hockey, Street Hockey, Pond Hockey, FloorHockey players and players of just about every other brand of Hockey out there, can say that the Spirit of Floorball truly promotes sportsmanship and fairness like no other, It’s built right in to the culture of the game, like Ultimate Frisbee.  It keeps the goonery out of the sport so that everyone can enjoy, have fun and remain highly competitive at the same time.
• Rules- The rules are very smart and well written to increase offense, and game flow while promoting speed and skill.  A well refereed game will completely eliminate Hacking and Whacking and encourage smart plays, rewarding both well played offensive attacks and super-smart defensive positioning.
• International Growth- Floorball is the fastest growing team sport in the World!  Now that Floorball is recognized by the International Olympic Committee, Floorball growth will quickly accelerate.
• FUN, FUN, FUN!- scoring goals, making plays, great saves, creative dangles, and all the greatness of Hockey rolled up in to a brand of Hockey that is affordable, accessible, safe and wicked Fun!

To learn more about Floorball, visit the following links:
FloorballCanada.ca
Floorball.org
PlayFloorball.com

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BC Floorball Federation

102-118 East Second Street
North Vancouver, BC
V7L 1C3

Greg Beaudin-778 385 7825

………………………………………………………………………………

Sunplex Arena
250 469 4330
Bryan Ducharme

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On Saturday, we saw an energetic group of 40 kids, ages 8-12, including both boys and girls, participate in the 2nd annual Fair Play Tournament at the Roundhouse Community Center.  With BCFF’s newly acquired boards, the stage was set for kids to try playing on a longer court, 5 on 5 with goalies.  Throughout the day, it was clear that there has been a lot of growth and improvement in this group showing much better positioning, play making and over all individual skill.

At the end of 3 round robin games, Penguins were matched against Hurricanes for gold and Black Hawks were set to face off against Red
Wings for Bronze.  With a full crowd  on hand, both final matches had an extra level of electricity in the air.   Black Hawks and Red Wings exchanged goals throughout, keeping the game tight, adding to the level of drama.  As the game ended in a tie, 3 minutes of sudden death overtime were required  till the Black Hawks made a well executed free hit in front of the Red Wings net for yet another Simon/William brother combination goal to decide the game winner.

The gold medal match had much of the same suspense in a tight 3-2 Penguin victory over the Hurricanes, giving coach Har her second gold
medal win.

There were many fine examples of the tournament theme, fair play, on the court.  Despite a couple of matches being rather lopsided, no one gave up, nor did their excitement go down.  My favorite example was Liam unselfishly awarding a goal to his team mate when it was unclear to all, including refs, whether Liam or his team mate tipped the ball into the back of the net.

Luka Kojima made a very successful debut as referee.  He took on this new risk with poise and composure, showing real care for the game.

Thanks to all volunteers for making the day a huge success.  Extra special thanks to tournament sponsors Modern Hockey, Elfsar Comics and Toys, Reckless Bike Stores and McNeill Nakamoto for their kind prize packages, making sure every player went home with a reward.

Thanks to the following SPONSORS for their contributions and Prize Packs:

Please check back for results and photos

bcfloorball.com

One of the biggest success stories coming from the Canadian Nationals was the fact that we had a group of referees completely separate from players to handle all of the officiating duties.  Vince Faso and Calle Karlsson from California as well as Sotaro Yamaguchi from Toronto made the trip to Vancouver, whistle in hand, to cover all of the Men’s and Women’s matches.

Thank you to Vince, Calle and Sotaro for taking on the most difficult position on the court, a role that is immensely important yet comes with little praise nor glory and receives more criticism than is necessary.

Refereeing is really a fine art, a real skill at finding the balance of enforcing rules, allowing for flow of game and figuring out those grey areas in a split second.

We need to follow the commitment of Vince, Calle and Sotaro and put more emphasis and resources into the Development of Referees in Floorball.  We can’t just worry about being better players.  Players must realize the importance of the ref to be better overall.

Here is an INTERVIEW with Vince Faso of Fresno, California.

BCFF:What is your role as a referee?
VF:I am currently the Director of Referees for the USFbA.  I have been mostly involved with organizing the Referees in the US but have mostly been working small scale on the West Coast.

Another responsibility of mine is the training of more referees because I feel that this is a necessary step to raising the overall level of floorball in the US.  Calle and I have both taken responsibility of holding training sessions, and have received material from the IFF.

BCFF:What are the different levels of referees?
VF:There are currently two levels of Referees in the States: To become a level 1 referee, one must complete at least a basic referee course taught by a trained instructor and have a comfortable, working knowledge with the rules and game leadership.

Level 2 Referees have participated in several training courses and officiated at least 20 games in at least 3 tournament settings, and have been approved by the USFbA.  It is the goal of the USFbA to have every game at a sanctioned tournament officiated by at least one Level 2 Referee. We currently have about 12 Level 2 Referees, with that number increasing at every tournament and training session.

BCFF:Are you able to referee at an International level?
VF:As far as Calle and I are concerned, we have become the first Referee pair from the US to be recognized by the IFF, and are thus available to officiate International Friendly matches.

BCFF:Do you have plans to referee at the WFC one day?
VF:Hard to say.  We both are still inexperienced on the international scene, and I am currently still a member of the US National Team.

BCFF:What are the next steps for you and Calle?
VF:We are hoping to have the opportunity to travel to Europe to officiate a few games over a week or so to: 1) Gain experience officiating at a higher level, and 2) to get feedback from IFF Observers so we can continue to grow as a pair.

Right now we just want to soak up all of the experience we can, and work closely with clubs on the East coast and in Canada to compare, trade resources and materials, get support, ideas, etc. so that officiating grows stronger not only in the US, but in North America as a whole.

Last week, at the World Floorball Championships in Turku, Finland, I had the great pleasure of meeting their star forward- Marc Oliver Gerber, tournament all-star goalie- Pascal Meier, and renowned coach- Thomas Berger for the U19 National Floorball Swiss Team.

Former BC Floorball swiss players, Adrian Zimmerman and Stefan Siegenthaler had told me to make sure that I go meet these guys while at the World Championships, so after the bronze medal press conference in the Media Hall, I approached them with some questions and greetings from our Vancouver Floorball community.

Mostly, i wanted to know how they felt after beating Team Czech and finishing third overall.  It seems that Sweden and Finland are always battling for first and second, while Switzerland and Czech battle for third. Sweden usually beats Finland, and Switzerland usually beats the Czech team.

They were disappointed, but still remained friendly and satisfied with their Bronze medal.  Of course, they had nothing but good words to say about our Floorball friends Stefan and Adrian, and I even got some inside information on where they were going to be playing next season.  I will post about that later…

I told them that if they came to Vancouver and Whistler to train before the next worlds, that we could help them get in to the winning form that will propel them into the Gold Medal Game.  They said sure, as long as we would sponsor their airfare!!

Needless to say, they would love to come here, and we would be honored to learn from them. Well BC Floorballers, I guess it’s time to get to work!

Thomas Berger questions a call…

Marc Oliver Gerber from Langnau Tigers Floorball was the best player for Switzerland

Pascal Meier made some saves that were other-worldly. This is the most acrobatic goaltender that I have ever seen, in any variety of Hockey.

Team Canada has returned from the recent Under 19 World Floorball Championships in Turku & Raisio, Finland.

Team Canada, a newcomer to the sport of Floorball, competed in the B-Division with the following countries:

• Germany
• Poland
• Russia
• Estonia
• Japan
• Hungary
• Austria

The A-Division, featured the best 8 Floorball countries in the World:

• Sweden
• Finland
• Switzerland
• Czech Republic
• Latvia
• Slovakia
• Denmark
• Norway

Team Canada was made up from a mixture of players from the Provincial federations of Alberta, BC, Quebec and Ontario.  Tryouts were held last fall and the influence of Major Midget Hockey players on this inaugural U19 National Team was truly evident as more than half of the team had just completed their championship seasons with teams from Ontario & BC; Sherwood Saints & Hamilton Reps were victorious in their respective leagues in Ontario, while the Hollyburn Huskies and the NW Giants were also Provincial Champions.  It was from these hockey teams that the scoring punch for the U19 National Floorball Team would come.

So, to say that this U19 team had some young hockey talent would be an understatement, Andrew Radjenovic, Joel Inouye, Malcolm Mckinney, and Lyndon Stanwood, who are making names for themselves in the elite hockey circles, can now add Team Canada Floorball to their resumes.

Hockey Canada Skills Academies from across the country are churning out some exceptional hockey talent, and it is no coincidence that these hockey academies are utilizing Floorball as a skills development system to improve: a) footspeed b) stickhandling c) body position d) hand-eye finesse e) agility

It is this cross-development technique that made Canada so competitive in Floorball with so little experience at the International Level.  Canada has always produced top-tier ball hockey teams, but it will be at least ten years before we will be able to challenge the top 5 Floorball nations, who have been playing Floorball for nearly 25 years.

Floorball is a unique brand of ball hockey.  Its focus is speed, skill, and superior stickhandling.   Canada is clearly a force to reckoned with on the floor when playing their intense hockey style in the B-Division.  However, the top floorball nations in the A-Division have so much ball-control that their style of play resembles basketball or soccer in how they set-up their tactical systems.  Canada simply does not have the agility, footspeed, or the necessary ball control at this time to compete at that A-Division level, and we have many years of training to look forward to, so that we can make the adjustments to play them without being embarrassed on the scoreboard.

The Tournament for Team Canada commenced in Helsinki, with a couple of exhibition games against some Junior teams from Finland, the results were two losses:

• Team Canada vs M-Team 2-9
• Team Canada vs Kerava Bandy 8-9

The Team would then travel to WFC host city, Turku Finland to play FBC Turku in their third and final exhibition match.  They would compete hard, but come up short with a 5-7 loss.

Many valuable lessons were learned in these exhibition games, and it was thrilling to see Team Canada come together, as a Team for the first time since Floorball Canada had selected this group of players, separated by vast distances, who had a common link of ice hockey, but had not been able to meet and play together in the Floorball arena.

Coaches Anthony Herrington (Sherwood Hockey Academy) and Kevin Bathurst (Hockey Canada) had prepared their Team as well as possible in advance of their trip to Finland by using technology, facebook, email, and youtube.  To see the guys finally suit up in their Team Canada uniforms in these exhibition games proved, ultimately, to be the best possible method to bring it all together.  The Team Canada spirit was instilled amongst these 20 young men and the first game against Germany showed that all the preparations were about to pay off.

Game 1 -  Team Canada vs Team Germany 5-5- TIE

The Fighting Spirit of the Canadian team shocked the entire German nation with a near win against a Team that clearly had more experience in Floorball than we did.  In the Final 2 minutes of the game, Canada would take the lead 5-4.  A big celebration ensued. It was with 11 seconds left on the clock that Germany would stun the Canadian Goaltender Mike Hayward with a screened blast, top shelf.  The game ended in a tie.  It was nearly a major upset, but surely a minor one in the eyes of the German Floorball community as they expected to beat Canada with relative ease.

Game 2- Team Canada vs Team Russia 3-4- Loss

Building upon their tie and tapping in to the tradition and mystique of the Canada vs Russia hockey battles, Team Canada, led by standout forwards Joel Inouye and Andrew Radjenovic, looked very competitive.  Joel scored two goals.  Roger Sherwood scored a late goal to get within 1, however, it was the Russian goaltender that stood tall in the nets facing 14 shots in third period alone.  Team Canada, not for a lack of total effort, lost the game 3-4.

Of note, there were nearly 400 screaming young Finnish school students in attendance to cheer on the Canadian Team.  It was truly heartwarming and the entire Canadian Team were exceptionally grateful for the act of support.

Game 3- Team Canada vs Team Estonia 6-13

After a tough tie and tough close loss, It was fair to say that Canada felt very good about their play and yet not so good about their position in the standings.  The game against Estonia became a must-win.  A sluggish start to the game was very penalizing, and the goals kept piling up for Estonia. After 2 periods of play, Canada was down 9-0.

Again the fighting spirit kicked in and the Canadians finally started to click.  It was too little too late, and although they scored 6 goals in the third, Estonia would score 4 more to make the final score 13-6.  

With only 1 point to show for their efforts, Canada was relegated to play Japan in the 15th place game.

Game 4- Team Canada vs Team Japan 16-2

The story of this game was the sportsmanship that Team Canada displayed.  Team Japan, playing with an injured goaltender, could not put up any real opposition to the goal hungry Canadian team.  All the Canadian players were getting in on the scoring action, but it was the final play of the game that proved to be the best.  Canadian goaltender and team leader Mike Hayward, had all of Team Canada sign his game jersey and presented it to Kota Yagyu, the ailing Japanese goalie in a gesture of goodwill and sportsmanship.

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The final results for the B- Division group were:

• 1st Place Winners- Team Estonia
• 2nd Place- Team Poland
• 3rd Place- Team Germany
• 4th Place- Team Hungary
• 5th Place- Team Russia
• 6th Place- Team Austria
• 7th Place- Team Canada
• 8th Place- Team Japan

In the A-Division, the Final results were quite predictable:

• 1st Place Winners- Team Sweden
• 2nd Place- Team Finland
• 3rd Place- Team Switzerland
• 4th Place- Team Czech
• 5th Place- Team Latvia
• 6th Place- Team Norway
• 7th Place- Team Slovakia
• 8th Place- Team Denmark

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Overall, the experience for Team Canada was awesome.  It was an incredible learning experience in this emerging sport that will sweep across Canada like wildfire, with a little push from the Canadian school system and a continued push from Hockey Canada Skills Academies.

For more information on Floorball, visit FloorballCanada.ca

Congratulations to the Canadian Men’s U19 National Floorball Team and Staff!

TeamCanadaFloorball.com

Greg Beaudin