Floorball Hockey

Floorball Hockey
-About Floorball
-Checking out the shared Floorball gear
-Where to play
 
About Floorball
Floorball hockey,  called Bandy in Sweden and Unihoc in Switzerland, is a simple, safe, fast and FUN hockey variant played in a gym.  It is great dry land training for ice hockey players, and for that reason it is played at more than 150 Hockey Canada Skill Academies. 
 
Sticks are shorter (come up to the belly button), lighter and rounder than traditional “floor hockey” sticks, to reduce the risk of injury.  The ball is a light “whiffle” ball, for the same reason.
 
Rules are slightly different from floor hockey, mostly for safety reasons:

• No “stick checking” – you may not Hit, Kick, Block, Lift or push down opponent's stick
• High sticking #1:  You can’t play the ball above knee level (with stick or foot)
• High sticking #2: You can’t lift your stick above waist level
• No reaching your stick between the legs of your opponent.
• No playing on the ground - you can’t play with any part of your body (except your feet) on the ground.  (The goalie is exempt from this rule.)
• No hand balls (The goalie is exempt from this rule.)
• You can’t kick the ball twice in a row.
• The goalie doesn’t use a stick (but does need a mask).

Here are some videos of floorball in action:
"What is floorball?" video:  http://www.floorballpro.com/shop/pages.php?pageid=17
Promo video:  http://www.floorballpro.com/shop/home.php
Game action videos:  http://www.xfloor.tv/
 
Checking Out The Shared Gear
MCYHA has purchased a set of 12 sticks and 2 balls that can be reserved and signed out from Play It Again Sports during business hours.

• Please do not bend blades of shared sticks.
• Please do not use shared gear on asphalt.

Other gear to consider – goals (standard hockey dimensions) and helmet with cage for goalies, possibly pinnies … that’s it!

Note - Play It Again Sports can order sticks with pre-curved blades and custom lengths.
 
Where To Play:
Location: In addition to gyms, consider  churches, social clubs, hangars, warehouses, etc  … you can assure the owner that the floorball sticks are non-marking.  Please don't play on asphalt with borrowed sticks.

Insurance:  USA Hockey insurance covers registered players and coaches for dry land training but you need a specific certificate of insurance to release the owners of the location(s) at which you will be playing.  You can obtain a certificate of insurance for a location by contacting the USA Hockey district risk manager, Charlie Fouriet, at riskmanager.usah@myfairpoint.net .

For 2009, MCYHA has permission and an  insurance cert to conduct dry-land training at  any SAD 75 (Topsham-Bowdoin-Bowdoinham school district) facility.  Coaches are responsible for scheduling and modest rental fees.

For example, if you would like to play at Williams-Cone elementary school in Topsham, the gym may be rented for $10/hour.  Monday and Friday afternoon and evenings are fairly wide open. LATE evenings on Tuesday-Thursdays may be an option.  There are goals in the storage loft above the stage.  Contact Karen Stevens to schedule at 725-4391 and provide your name for billing purposes – SAD 75 will bill MCYHA once a month, and you will be “on the hook” for your reservations. 

If you have questions about the information on this page, please feel free to contact Greg Sargent , email = sargent99 at gmail dot com