The United States Floorball Association (USFbA) is the highest governing body for
floorball
Floorball is a type of floor hockey with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. Men and women play indoors with sticks and a plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three twenty-minute periods. The sport of bandy also played a role ...
in the United States of America. The USFbA is a self-governed organization, recognized by both state and federal governments. It is based in Incline Village, NV.
Organization
The USFbA is divided into 14 regional branches.
Each regional branch has a director who is in charge of floorball for that region.
The USFbA has been a member of the
International Floorball Federation (IFF) since 1993. As of June 30, 2008, there are 920 registered floorball players in the US, which is one-and-a-half times the total of registered players in 2007.
Central Board
The current central board consists of a president, vice-president, executive director, event coordinator, a director of referees, and the head of the national teams committee, as well as 14 regional directors.
History
The sport of floorball was initially introduced in the United States by Scandinavian players who brought the game with them when traveling to the United States. In 1991, Swedish players in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
formed a floorball club at
MIT. The sport soon grew in popularity and reached several universities, where it was also played at the club level.
The first step towards membership with the
International Floorball Federation (IFF) was taken in the mid-90s, when floorball found new ground in California. After founding the USFbA, the organization attempted to gather and send a national team to the
1998 World Floorball Championships, but fell short due to a lack of players. In 2002, the USFbA succeeded in gathering a team and the United States was able to field their first national team. This team consisted of players based in various countries, such as Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland but also contained US based players such as current USFbA president
Calle Karlsson.
In 2009, the USFbA moved their central headquarters from
Raleigh
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...
, North Carolina, to
Fresno, California. They later moved to Incline Village, NV
Players
Players in the USA must register with USFbA's
Amateur Athletic Union
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...
(AAU) insurance policy before taking part in any nationally sanctioned tournaments or competitions. Through this partnership, the development of floorball locally is expected to grow much more securely thanks to improved protection.
Floorball Galaxy.com – USFbA Insurance – Press Release
National teams
Although their first appearance was in 2002, the US national team has had considerable success at the World Floorball Championships, finishing as high as third place in the B-Division of the 2008 Men's World Floorball Championships
The 2008 Men's World Floorball Championships were the seventh men's Floorball World Championships. The tournament was held from 6 to 14 December 2008. The tournament took place in the cities of Prague and Ostrava. All group stage matches were p ...
.
The women's first appearance was in 2003.
Adam Troy has served as the team's general manager since 2002.
Citations
External links
Official USFbA page
{{Sports governing bodies of the United States
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
Floo
Floorball in the United States
Floorball governing bodies
2001 establishments in the United States