Starting anything requires not only knowledge, but strategy. Simply getting the Floorball sticks, ball and potentially goalie equipment is not enough.
As with anything, the more expertise you have in your undertaking, the better result you will achieve.
Floorball is starting to catch with communities, who are browsing online, asking questions, and considering starting up their own team or league. Whether you happened to discover the sport online, through a video or blog post, the game of Floorball has many facets you should consider in order to build a team or league correctly.
If you had the opportunity you went out a played a scrimmage, or you watched a video purchased a stick and a ball. You may have even begun to develop a passion for the sport. You see the value of floorball as a viable sport for yourself, your kids, and your community. Now what? Where do you begin?
Fortunately you’re not alone. Like any newer sport the opportunities to play can be somewhat limited. However, the beauty of the sport is that it doesn’t need to be confined to space, facility, people, or organizations. Fortunately the cost to get into the sport is relatively cheap. You can purchase an entry level stick for $30-50, buy a ball and goals and you’re set. If you’re wanting to invest a little more into equipment there are floorball companies like Generation Floorball out of New York that sell packages of sticks for groups, teams, etc. However, in many cases you’ll be the first one with a stick and need to grow your group through your contacts. Initially you’ll spend a large amount of time educating friends, family, coworkers, and anyone who’ll listen about the sport of floorball. My experience has been to focus on small gatherings in order to help teach the rules, game play and ensure a fun experience. For the most I’ve been focused on the informal process to get people coming and playing. Once people get a hang of the rules and how to play the level of play will increase accordingly.
Whether you’re looking to start a weekly pick-up game, or a full-fledged league the biggest challenge will be finding space to play. The beauty of floorball is that you can play almost anywhere. If the weather is not (not raining at least) go outside and find a community basketball court, or tennis court to play in. Thankfully for most cities there are plenty of both to set up shop, and they’re free. If you’re looking to go inside you’ll want to contact your local parks and recreation department to rent, or if you’re able to use them to create a partnership in order to offset the facility rental. Once you have established a consistent space use your contacts and social media to create a club that can be found by anyone. The goal is to get people playing and the more interest for your club or group the easier it will be to determine if you should begin looking at a league. For collegiate intramurals you can use your facility to host one day demo sessions to gain interest and gain feedback from your students. Based on that interest you’ll have a better idea of how to frame your intramural league.
However, you decide to start or grow your group don’t be discouraged. It’ll likely take some time to get people connected and aware of the sport. Keep pushing and talking about what you’re doing. If you’re able to you might want to think about running youth classes as a way to grow the sport in your region. The important thing when starting out is ensuring an inclusive and fun environment for all to partake. Now get out there and start your group.
