United States Floorball Association

United States Floorball Association
Founded 1993
IFF affiliation 1993
Website www.usafloorball.org
President
Calle Karlsson

The United States Floorball Association (USFbA) is the highest governing body for floorball in the United States of America. The USFbA is a self-governed organization, recognized by both state and federal governments. It is based in Fresno, California.

Organization

The USFbA is divided into 5 regional branches: West, Central, North, Northeast, and Southeast. 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 30th, 2008, there are 920 registered floorball players in the United States, which is one-and-a-half times the total of registered players in 2007.[1]

Central board

The current central board consists of a President, Vice-President, and 3 regional directors.

 Position  Name
President Calle Karlsson
Vice-President      David Nilsson   
Regional Director:
California/West		 Erik Larsson
Regional Director:
Northeast		 Jonas Laeben
Regional Director:
Southeast		 Erica Camp

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 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, North Carolina, to Fresno, California.

Players

Players in the USA must register with USFbA's Amateur Athletic Union (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.[2]

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 3rd place in the B-Division of the 2008 Men's World Floorball Championships.

Adam Troy has served as the team's general manager since 2002.

Clubs

There are 30 floorball clubs in 16 states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas & Washington.

Citations

  1. ↑ , Member Statistics 2008 – International Floorball Federation
  2. ↑ , Floorball Galaxy.com – USFbA Insurance – Press Release
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