An American team at the Storvretacup?

The U.S. Men's U19 team was officially created in the beginning of 2014 as a brand new project that is very exciting for everyone involved. The team is participating in the U19 World Floorball Championships in Helsingborg at the end of the month and that will be the official launch of the team. The idea is to use this experience as promotion for the sport back in the United States since the ultimate goal is to get the sport to grow in the U.S.

The USA Floorball team had representatives on hand for the last Storvretacupen. The floorball tournament, Storvretacupen, is the largest floorball tournament in the world. It hosted close to 700 teams and is played in Uppsala, Sweden.We asked General Manager Daniel Palm what they were up to at the cup.

- Our Head Coach Joel Olofsson and I were present at Storvreta to scout a handful of American players who we were considering for the national team. We also had a few meetings about sponsorship and the future development of the team as well as a short conversation with Storvreta IBK about us possibly participating in Storvretacupen next year.

How did your players do at Storvretacupen?
- They definitely performed well and we are pleased with what we saw. Even though they had some tough games, they still did well so we are satisfied, Daniel Palm continues.

What are your impressions of Storvretacupen?
- I think Storvretacupen is a wonderful floorball tournament. It's always great to see so many teams present and playing at the same time. It's obvious that the organization focuses on expanding and developing the tournament year after year, which is great.

What are the chances of seeing an American team at Storvretacupen next year?
- We're optimistic! There is definitely an interest from our side to participate. It would be a great experience for our players so I think that it's doable.

Besides this tournament, how do you go about finding U.S players for the national team?
- There is definitely a good base of youth players in the U.S. We call it the new generation… players who grow up playing the game. But then we've also have had to focus quite a lot on finding technically skilled hockey players who we have transitioned over to floorball. Then there's also a large group of American players who live in Europe.

What are your goals for the U19 WFC?
- When it comes to the actual results and placement then that's something that we'll have to discuss with the players in order to set a joint goal. From our side, our goal is to develop the players individually and grow as a team. And then we obviously want these players to have a great and memorable experience.

What is your connection to the United States?
- I moved over to the United States several years ago for school and then I more or less got stuck. Now I spend a great deal of my time on floorball and trying to make the sport grow in the New York area.

And what about your Swedish background?
- I was born and raised in Helsingborg where I spent a few years working as a youth coach before moving to the United States. It's great that the 2015 U19 WFC is played in Helsingborg since both Joel and I are from Helsingborg so it definitely adds to the experience for us, Daniel Palm concludes.

Team USA will start their WFC challenge by facing Hungary on the 29th of April.

Source: http://www.teamlr.com/storvretacup

Read more about Storvretacupen here.

Read more about the U19 World Floorball Championships here.