USA and the Nordic countries dispute the paternity of floorball, but very similar games are almost as old as man. Let's discover together the origins of this fun sport
To start talking about the origins of floorball it is necessary to start from its closest relatives, namely ice and field hockey. Field hockey, in fact, is a game that has very ancient origins, in fact it is thought that the first to practice it were even the Persians. Other sources, however, trace the practice back to the 8th century Japanese discipline called Dakyui, which was born as a variant of polo and then became very similar to Lacrosse. It must be said, however, that traces of stick and ball games are attested in every civilization: in Greece sculptures, paintings and artefacts decorated with scenes depicting a game called "papego" which involved the use of a stick and a stone disk; the indigenous people of North America also played similar games, using wooden sticks and discs made of bones or stones. In more recent times we can find forms more similar to modern field hockey, especially in the British Isles and in France with games such as Irish Hurling or Scottish Shinty or Kolf played on the frozen fields of the Netherlands.
“Floorball is an indoor version of ice hockey, but played without skates or protection"
Floorhockey, floorball made in USA
Floorball as we know it was born in the United States in the 1950s with the name floorhockey, a name which later became floorball due to the presence of a ball instead of the puck.
Played mainly for recreational purposes in high school gyms, it is considered a useful means of dry training for ice hockey players.
In a short time it landed in Europe and in particular became very popular within Scandinavian universities, a detail which then earned it the alternative name of unihockey (from the contraction of "university hockey"). Hugely popular in Sweden, Switzerland and Finland the basic design of floorball sticks is believed to come from the ice skating team sport of Bandy.
The IFF and the international tournaments
Floorball as we know it today did not become a sport until the Swedes created the first official National Federation on November 7, 1981 in Sala, Sweden.
Then, in September 1983, when the first Official Regulations came into being, which establishes, among other things, that the playing field must be protected by a fence, the sport that we can now play took shape.
Since 1996, the IFF has organized world championships every two years (men in even years and women in odd years). In the 2008 men's World Cup, for the first time after 6 consecutive editions won by Sweden, success went to Finland.
In 1997, floorball participated as a promotional sport in the World Games held in Lahti, Finland, from 7 to 17 August. Four men's teams participate - Finland, Latvia, Sweden and Switzerland - and Sweden wins the gold.
On 28 October 2000 the IFF became a member of the General Association of International Sports Federation (GAISF), now known as SportAccord - a body recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
In December 2008 the IFF and floorball were recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
In January 2009 the IFF and floorball were recognized by Special Olympics.
In 2017, floorball (now also a member of the IWGA) participated as an official sport in the World Games held in Warsaw, from 20 to 30 July..
Many names, one "great" sport
The game of floorball is also known by many other names, such as Saalihoki (in Estonia), Salibandy (in Finland), Innebandy (in Sweden and Norway), Unihockey (in Switzerland and Ireland) and Grindų riedulys (in Lithuania). The names salibandy and innebandy are derived from bandy and translate to “hall bandy” and “indoor bandy” respectively.
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