Kiwi teams hope to put on a floor show
‘‘It’s pretty important at this stage as the sport grows in New Zealand.’’
Floorball is a form of indoor ball hockey, played on a court with boards for continuous play. The tactics, speed and structure are similar to ice hockey – teams play with a goalie and five out players, with frequent substitutions to keep the speed and intensity at a consistently high level.
It is a big sport in Europe, is widely played in Asia and North America, and is growing in popularity in New Zealand, especially in the nation’s capital.
Eighteen of the 20-strong squad are from the wider Wellington region, with the other two players coming in from Germany and Switzerland – one was born here, while the other has a Kiwi father, Fitzgerald-Little said.
The fact they are mostly from the same region means the squad is a closeknit group.
‘‘The bond in the team is very strong. We’ve all known each other since before the team was brought together. That’s been really good because we’ve been able to train together all the time,’’ FitzgeraldLittle said.
New Zealand will play in the B division at the under-19 Men’s Floorball World Cup, taking on the Germany, Canada and Slovenia in pool play.
Floorball New Zealand is bidding to host the 2022 Under 19 Women’s Floorball World Cup in Wellington in a further development to boost the profile of the sport. Olympian Steven Ferguson could be poised to join Emirates Team New Zealand for their defence of the 2021 America’s Cup. Ferguson, who competed as a swimmer at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and represented New Zealand in canoeing at the Athens, Beijing and London Games, has been reported by TVNZ as being on the radar of Team New Zealand and its boss Grant Dalton. The son of four-time Olympic gold medal-winning canoeist Ian Ferguson, Steven is now having a crack at the gut-busting job of being a grinder for Team New Zealand. It is understood that Team New Zealand’s wider grinding squad will be confirmed within the next couple of weeks. TVNZ has stated that Ferguson is a certainty to be named in the squad, and footage of him working out in the grinding tests have confirmed the versatile Olympian is in great shape. London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea have had quarterfinal victories to move within two matches of a possible Europa League derby final. Arsenal added a 1-0 victory at Napoli to their 2-0 first-leg home win for a 3-0 aggregate success over the Italians. Chelsea scored three times in the opening 17 minutes but also survived a second-half scare as they beat Slavia Prague 4-3, with Pedro getting a brace and setting up the other two for a 5-3 aggregate win. In the May 3 and May 10 semifinals, Arsenal face Valencia and Chelsea take on Eintracht Frankfurt.