The most groundbreaking floorball event ever :WUFC 2010
The World University Floorball Championship 2010 will be held in Umeå May 12th-16th and it will be a unique and groundbreaking floorball event in many different ways.
Floorball was introduced on the World University Championship (WUC) program in 2002 and Sweden was host for the first event. With the fourth event coming up, Sweden is once again the host. Floorball, which is a fast paced, technique-influenced game, is the biggest indoor sport in Sweden with over 120,000 licensed players. Internationally, floorball received IOC recognition in December 2008 and the International Floorball Federation (IFF) recently reached 50 member countries. “We work enthusiastically to grow internationally”, says Tomas Eriksson, IFF President. “We aim to participate in more large international events in the future and the WUC is important for that growing process. It is also important for us to show that studies and sports can go hand in hand”.
Floorball is a relatively new sport. IFF was founded in 1986 and the sport has grown steadily ever since. Floorball has an ambition to be part of the Olympic program in the future, and WUC is an important step in that process. “Inside the floorball family we think it’s going slowly, but actually floorball has taken huge steps forward in a short period of time”, says Tomas Eriksson. “Moreover, floorball attracts young people, which gives us great opportunities for the future”.
The World University Floorball Championships (WUFC) will be held in Umeå, also called “the Swedish Capital of Floorball”. Umeå has been chosen, along with Riga in Latvia, to become the European Capital of Culture 2014 and the city is known for its wide range of education and sport opportunities. Umeå is also well-known for equal treatment in male and female sports considering contributions, hall hours, etc., which is the main reason female sports are strong in Umeå.
Umeå University has a strong international and multicultural presence with students, faculties and researchers from all over the world. One of the meeting places on the main campus with its 33,000 students and 4,000 employees is IKSU Sport – the largest fitness centre in Europe. IKSU, one of the biggest student sport organisations in Sweden with its 17 000 members, is one of the organizers for the WUFC and their aim is to make it a unique and groundbreaking event in many different ways.
“Our ambition is to make an event that has never been done in floorball before”, says Niklas Ekblom, head of marketing in WUFC and also involved in IKSU Sport and their successful female team in the Swedish top division in floorball. “We are interested in modern technology and want to introduce new ideas before, during and after the games. We have introduced a voting system where the audience can vote with voting buttons and answer questions on the big screen. It can be questions like ‘which team scores the next goal’ or ‘who is the player of the game’ and the result is shown in real time on the big screen, which involves the audience in the game and creates interactivity”.
The WUFC in Umeå is set to be a high quality tournament. Eight male and six female teams will participate and the world leading floorball nations Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Czech Republic all have teams registered. Among the high-profiles is national team player Johan Samuelsson who will be part of the Swedish team. He is studying at Umeå University to become a teacher, and speaks well about the city and the university.
“I think it’s great. It’s a beautiful average-sized city that offers a lot of education and sports”, says Johan Samuelsson, who plays for the top division club IBK Dalen. “As an elite athlete it works out well because I get all the support I need from the university to successfully combine studies and floorball. I really look forward to the WUFC because it’s always an honour to wear the national team jersey and I think it’s going to be a great and unique event with a lot of spectators. Floorball is very popular in Umeå”.
Sweden takes WUFC more seriously than ever. For example, the Swedish teams will be coached by the regular national team coaches. “That’s very positive and it’s a statement that the Swedish Floorball Federation wants to make this event special”, says Johanna S:t Clair Renard, president of the Swedish University Sports Federation. “The Swedish University Sports Federation introduced floorball to the WUC program and we want to promote the sport because it’s a fast growing sport both in Sweden and internationally.”
2010 will be a very interesting year for student sports in Sweden. Alongside the WUFC, the World University Orienteering Championship will be held in Borlänge July 19th-23rd. It is unique for Sweden to host two WUC’s in the same year. The Swedish University Sports Federation has a clearly expressed future strategy which includes to regularly hosting bigger events and this year’s two WUC’s are seen as a clear pathfinder for the future. “We work active to host more international events in Sweden and increase the domestic interest to participate in international university sports events”, says Johanna S:t Clair Renard. “This year’s two WUC’s are very important steps in this work”.
The Swedish University Sports Federation, which has been active since 1913 and therefore has an upcoming 100th anniversary to look forward to in 2013, is more active than ever and has no intention to slow down in the future. “We really show that we are a vital centenarian. The fact that Sweden for the first time hosts two WUC’s in one year makes us pleased and proud”, says Stefan Bergh, FISU Vice President.
Alongside this year’s two events in Sweden, the Swedish University Sports Federation looks forward to several other WUC’s during 2010 where Swedish participants will be competing. Both of next year’s Universiades is also getting closer, and the ambition is tosend large delegation with high quality competitors.
The Umea University
