The Philippine women's floorball team winning over Indonesia, 8-1, on Monday not only gave the country its first victory in the 30th Southeast Asian Games, but also shone a spotlight on the relatively obscure European sport.
A closer look at the floor hockey variant reveals that it isn't as simple as running around a rink without ice and hitting a plastic ball with a plastic stick.
What floorball is
In a July PSA forum, Philippine Floorball Association (PFA) President Ralph Ramos described floorball as basically "hockey minus the skates."
If we want to be more technical about it, though, the International Floorball Federation (IFF) defines the sport as "a versatile indoor team sport played on a 40x20 meter surface in a rink."
Ramos explained, "It's very fast-paced, very exciting, and 'yung nature ng sport is easy to play. You just need a stick, a ball, rubber shoes and you're ready to go."
Floorball traces its origins to an earlier type of floor hockey in Minneapolis, USA. A decade later, it was developed in Sweden, before the IFF was founded in 1986. In the Philippines, introduction to the sports is credited to Scandinavian missionary Fredrik Bergren, who taught urban poor children how to play, according to PFA's official website.
The local federation, on the other hand, was established in 2011, then was officially registered as a non-profit organization four years later.
How to play floorball
Just like in most team sports, the floorball squad that scores more goals over the course of three 20-minute periods wins. Players must use their sticks to dribble a plastic ball (around the size of two golf balls) and shoot it into a goal guarded by a goalkeeper. A successful shot counts as one point.
Both teams are composed of five stick-wielding field players (forwards and defenders) and a stickless goalkeeper. They play on a rink much smaller than an ice hockey rink.
Aside from the basic floorball scoring, a squad can also gain a competitive advantage through free hits or when the opposing players are benched because of offenses — depending on the severity.
Unlike in ice hockey, checking is not allowed in floorball. Making direct contact with the opponent's stick is also prohibited, among other simple rules.
Floorball players have to be in tiptop shape to meet the demands of the tempo sport, first and foremost. Athletes also need to develop their decision-making (reaction) and dexterity (stick handling). Utilizing the playing field is a must when strategizing, especially at the elite level.
What are our gold medal chances?
During the same interview, national floorball team manager Peter Eriksson declared, "I think we can win both golds in the SEA Games."
When the sport made its debut in the 2015 SEA Games, the "inexperienced" Filipinos found themselves in last place. Since then, the PH floorball squad participated in several international tournaments (Sweden, Bangkok) to prepare for this edition of the biennial multi-sport event.
Earlier this year, the country even hosted the Asia-Oceania Floorball Confederation Cup, where they finished bronze.
As of writing, the men's and women's floorball teams have equal 1-1 win-loss records, after losing their respective second games against Thailand on Tuesday. Both squads will face Singapore on Thusday in a pair of must-win matches to fulfill the promise of a double gold for the Philippines.
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