Floorball

Floorball is a fast-paced indoor sport played with sticks and a hollow plastic ball.

Each team consists of six players on the court. This group includes five field players and one goalkeeper. The game is played on a rink surrounded by high, enclosed boards with rounded corners.

The sport is valued for its speed and the skill required to control the ball. It is a highly organized game with international governing bodies. Many people enjoy it because it combines teamwork with quick, precise movements. It has grown from a schoolyard pastime into a professional global sport.

To play floorball, athletes use specialized sticks to move a lightweight ball. The ball is a precision plastic type with 1,516 holes to make it hollow.

Players use the stick blades to pass, shoot, and dribble the ball. A stick blade is designated as either "right" or "left" depending on the player's grip.

Field players must follow strict rules regarding contact and stick use. For example, they cannot play the ball above knee level. They also cannot lift an opponent's stick or place their own stick between a player's legs. If a player commits a foul, the game restarts with a free hit. This is a way to restart play from where the ball was last unplayable.

Matches are structured into three distinct periods. Each period lasts 20 minutes for adult players.

For junior players, the periods are shorter at 15 minutes each. Between these periods, there is an intermission lasting between 10 and 15 minutes. During this time, teams switch ends of the rink and move to their substitution areas. Each team is also granted one 30-second timeout per match. The clock stops during goals, penalties, or time-outs to ensure accuracy. If a match ends in a tie, ten minutes of extra time is played to find a winner.

Referees oversee the game to ensure fair play and enforce penalties.

There are two referees on the court with equal authority. If a player breaks the rules, they may receive a two-minute penalty. This requires the player to sit in a dedicated penalty area. While they are serving the penalty, their team must play shorthanded. More serious infractions can result in five-minute or even ten-minute personal penalties. The referees use specific codes to record every foul in the official match record. This includes codes for things like "High Stick" or "Holding."

The history of floorball is tied to various hockey-like activities. In the early 20th century, people in Canada played floor hockey in school gymnasiums.

By the 1950s and 1960s, schools in Michigan, USA, also used floorball in gym classes. However, the modern version was invented in Sweden during the late 1960s. The design of the sticks is believed to have come from bandy, an ice skating sport. The first official floorball club, Sala IBK, was founded in Sala, Sweden, in 1979. Official rules for matches were first written down in 1981 to organize the growing sport.

Floorball has seen massive international expansion over recent decades. The International Floorball Federation (IFF) was founded in 1986 to manage the sport globally.

In 1990, only seven countries recognized the sport. By 1996, twenty nations were involved in the first men's world championships. As of 2019, there were approximately 377,000 registered players worldwide. This is a significant increase from the 300,000 players recorded in 2014. The IFF now has 80 members, including Sierra Leone, which is Africa's first floorball nation. This means the IFF has a presence on every continent except Antarctica.

Today, floorball is a recognized international sport with professional leagues.

In Sweden, the Svenska Superligan is a major semi-professional league. Other top leagues include Finland's F-liiga and the Czech Republic's Superliga florbalu. The sport has received recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Special Olympics.

It is also featured in the World Games, which it joined in 2017. While it is most popular in Nordic countries and parts of Europe, it is gaining followers in places like Australia, Japan, and the United States. This global reach shows how much the sport has evolved from its simple beginnings.