History of the USA Floorball

The initial introduction of floorball to the U.S. was through players from Sweden and Finland who didn't want to leave their favorite sport behind when they traveled to the states. One example is when a Swede arrived at M.I.T. in Boston some time during '91. He started a team there, it stuck and has continued to grow at M.I.T.

The first step towards an IFF membership was taken in '94 when floorball found new ground in California, at Caltech to be precise. In an attempt to be able to send a team to the World Championship, Adam Troy lobbied to make Caltech the seat of USA Floorball and this succeeded in '98. Freddy Hansen was namned the first president of the USFbA a.k.a. USA Floorball.

Floorball spread and reached a few of universities where it is played on a club level without competitions between various universities. Other teams also exist, usually stared by people from Scandinavia working in the States or by people from the States who have learned about the game while working and/or living in a Scandinavian country. A list of all floorball groups playing in the USA is currently being compiled and will be updated as more groups and teams register with us.

First Men's World Floorball Championships

Although unable to sign up a team for the 2000 World Floorball Championships Troy did not give up and was slowly able to gather American players from throughout the world. Players came from North Carolina, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, California, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Switzerland. In 2001 this team was finally signed up to participate in their first World Championships, representing the USA.

The members of the team gathered in Helsinki, Finland in 2002 a week prior to the WC, played two friendly games and had several practices to get off to a quick start. The team performed well considering the various backgrounds and differences in floorball experience. Some of the USA based players had never even played on a floorball court, with goals or goalies.

Move to North Carolina

In December of 2001, the USFbA was officially incorporated in the state of North Carolina and became an entity recognized by both state and federal governments. The USA Floorball headquarters where moved to Raleigh, North Carolina and Ollie Rupp was elected new president.

First Women's World Floorball Championships

In 2003 USA Floorball's Womens team made their first appearance at a WFC when they competed in Switzerland and earned a 14th place.

Return to California

In 2008 the USA Floorball headquarters returned to Californa as Jan-Erik Paris, a member of the first Men's National Team, was elected president. He was followed by Calle Karlsson who attempted to join the Men's team in 2008 but was unable to due to a wellknown passport mixed, feel free to ask him about it.

National Team Developement
Since their first appearances at the World Floorball Championships both the Men's and the Women's team have flourished hosting several camps as well as appearing at severel W.F.C. USA Floorball have also started to establish U19 Men and Women's teams. Read more about the national teams here.

General Floorball information

For a comprehensive overview of floorball and the history worldwide, see the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floorball

Detailed (PDF Downloads from IFF) and a quick overview of rules can be found here.