Six countries battled it out for floorball supremacy in Wrocław, Poland, from July 27 to July 30.
Those countries – Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Czech Republic, the U.S., and Poland – weren’t there by happenstance.
They were participating in the World Games, an international multi-sport event that features sports not usually given a stage at the Olympics.
Missing from that list of floorball contenders was Canada.
But if Greg Beaudin and the people at North Vancouver’s Floorball+ get their shot, that’s all set to change in the coming years.
“We’re on a mission to make this sport thrive in every school that’s ever owned floor hockey sticks and has had floor hockey in their gym class,” Beaudin explains.
“We want to see that transition into floorball. And once we see that, we know that the trajectory will be to have leagues and tournaments and then there’ll be national events.”
For the uninitiated, floorball might look overtly similar to floor hockey, but instead of the requisite orange ball it’s played with a lightweight wiffle-type ball.
For those in the know, however, they’ll argue that the sport is a more modern, creative and safer version of the floor hockey many of us grew up on.
“It’s faster and it’s more creative and you can make way more plays. Traditional floor hockey and ball hockey are mostly about shooting and give-and-goes,” Beaudin says, while floorball emphasizes amazing stickhandling performance and playmaking.
For years now, Beaudin has been emphasizing the need for the North Shore to have its own dedicated facility for floorball training, practice and play.
And now they have one.
The Floorball+ Pavel Barber SportLab on Orwell Street in North Vancouver is a 5,000-square-foot facility that’s up and running and ready to offer floorball programming this fall.
A grand opening party is scheduled for September.
“You can come down here and shoot around or book the facility and have a practice or do lessons,” Beaudin says, in addition to having a gander at the specialized floorball equipment, such as the sticks, available at Floorball+.
Giving credence to Beaudin’s notion that “floorball is a sport for everyone” is the fact that the facility will be offering programming for all age groups, including tots floorball and drop-in sessions for seniors.
“We haven’t had a place to call a room for the training and the education,” he says. “It’s a big step for the community to have this offered to them. It’s a big step for us for growing a business and growing a sport.”
Asked why he thinks people, especially youth, are attracted to floorball after they first try it, he argues it’s simply because of the fun factor.
“They can instantly do things a lot easier, whether it’s shooting from 40 feet and picking the top corner -- it’s way easier. Anyone can do that,” he says.
Beaudin has been advocating on behalf of the floorball community on the North Shore and elsewhere for many years.
Having their own dedicated facility gets them that much closer to substantially increasing floorball’s presence.
“It was actually a massive step for floorball and it just happened in the last five days at the World Games in Poland. Six countries competed for the gold,” he says.
One of the new floorball facility’s secret weapons is stickhandling specialist Pavel Barber, where the facility also gets its namesake.
Barber’s YouTube and Instagram accounts are highly revered by youth and hockey fans alike.
“Pavel Barber is kind of a cultural icon for youth hockey players. He’s like the Tony Hawk of floorball and ice hockey,” Beaudin explains.
For someone like Barber, floorball is not only an impressive sport in its own right, but an excellent means for improving stick and ball handling skills, something he imparts to youth on a daily basis.
Looking forward, Beaudin sees floorball’s future as even brighter.
“It’s happening, the pathway to the Olympics is moving very fast for floorball. We’re the accelerators with this floorball sport lab and facility that we have.
We’re basically accelerating the growth rate of floorball in North America so that it can be an international sport,” he says.
