Umeå – Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Japan, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland entered the IKSU Arena, led by traditionally dressed Sami (Swedish indegenous) men and women at the 2010 WUC FLoorball Opening Ceremony yesterday, May 12th.
Johanna S:t Clair Renard, President of the Organizing Committee, said in her speech that this will be a floor breaking tournament, with new game features for the spectators who can use mentometers to vote for things like the best player of the game and who will score the next goal.
Lena Sandlin, Chair of the Committee for Leisure and Sports, opened the tournament by welcoming participants and others to Umeå, the city of sports and The floorball capital of Sweden. She emphasised that there are many winners in this tournament – not only all the teams but also the sponsors, the politicians, Umeå, and definitely also the audience.
The oath of the participating athletes was read by Linn Lundström of the Swedish national team.
The attendants enjoyed a film about Umeå, Capital of Culture 2014, by students from Umeå University, Umeå Vokalensemble singing in Swedish and English, and IKSU Show Group in an energetic dance performance, before the ceremony ended with a classic line: ‘Good luck to you all and may the best teams win!’
Today, the tournament kicks off at 9am with three games in the men’s tournament: Norway vs Finland, Austria vs Czech Republic at IKSU, and Sweden vs Japan at Gammliahallen. Even though Sweden must be seen as an obvious favourite to win, the Japanese team is looking forward to the game. ‘Last time we played against Sweden we lost by 32-2, we hope it will be better this time’, Takanobu Yoshino, Japan’s head of delegation, said with a smile.
Lars-Erik Torp, Norway, plays on his home turf. He has during the season played with the Umeå team IBK Dalen, and is happy to have picked up the last Norwegians on Wednesday afternoon. This morning he will face Finnish ”sisu” on the IKSU floor. ‘This will be great fun! Finland is probably super good. I think they will play Sweden in the final, but we hope they will have some trouble playing us. Umeå is a floorball city, so I hope for and expect much people coming to watch the games!’
The women’s tournament starts at 11.45, and the highlight game of the day is assumed to be Sweden vs Finland at 8pm in IKSU Arena. Keep an extra eye on Sara Helin and Amanda Wendelstig in the Swedish team.
(Source: Jacob Melin, 2010 WUC Floorball OC)
OC President Johanna S:t Clair Renard
(Photos: OC)
