Floorball comes to Truro

Locals enjoy a gentler form of hockey at the NSCC gym on Arthur Street

Welcome to the world of floorball, a non-contact form of hockey – no skates, no body checks and no punch-ups – that instead focuses on style, nesse and ball control.

“It’s quite popular in Europe, Asia and Australia where my brother-in-law comes from; my nephew and niece play high-level floorball down there,” said player Tom Shreve from Lower Onslow. “I think there’s a lot of interest that it could take o and become another sport in itself and encourage kids to play multiple sports – it’s another opportunity.”

Shreve said floorball will be played at the Arthur Street gym every Sunday through the summer. ree teams were formed at the first session July 22.

The sport was first introduced to the area by Nova Scotian Steve Broome, home after 20 years in Australia, where he mastered floorball, a favourite sport Down Under.

Broome, who created the group Infinity Floorball from his home in Wolfville after returning to Canada, said floorball was focused more on skills such as tackling and teamwork than rough-and-tumble ice hockey.

“It’s quite liberating, it’s actually a really fun game. It’s short bursts of speed, the way the game ows you’re on the pitch for one or two minutes, there are a lot of changeovers like in hockey, at the elite levels,” said Broome. “At our level, the numbers are low, so people can play for a long time.”

In floorball, rules are enforced to protect players, with body checking and ghting banned.

As such, floorball players can enjoy hockey without shelling out hundreds of dollars on equipment such as helmets. All that’s needed to play is a lightweight hockey stick and ball.

Lightweight equipment allows more agile movement, with players better able to manoeuvre around each other while chasing the ball.

“If you were to compare it to another sport in the way we chase for the ball, it’s like soccer,” said Broome.

Floorball has only just started in Colchester County and news is spreading, mostly by word of mouth, according to Broome, but the sport is already gaining popularity in Wolfville.

There, ice hockey players are signing up, as well as a 13-yearold gure skater who wanted to give the sport a try for the rst time and is now a key player on the local team.

Broome said Hockey Canada is encouraging floorball as a way to get more people involved in the sport without worrying about expenses, learning to skate or suffering injury from rough play.

Games are Sundays at 6 p.m. at the Nova Scotia Community College on Arthur Street inside the gym.