Source: Radio New Zealand
Japan’s Satoru Shimoyama’s first goal. Supplied / Hamish Black Media
This week Wellington is hosting an international tournament for a sport many have never heard of.
Floorball is particularly popular in Scandanavian countries, but it’s beginning to pick up in popularity here too.
This week, the Asia-Oceania qualifier for the 2026 Men’s World Floorball Championships are being held at the Ākau Tangi Sports Centre in Wellington.
Japan celebrating first goal in first game in qualifier. Supplied / Hamish Black Media
The International Floorball Federation said Asia-Oceania is now its fastest growing region.
But what exactly is floorball?
Vice president of Floorball New Zealand Dan Coup describes it as ice hockey without the ice.
Dan Coup. RNZ / Krystal Gibbens
“The rules are similar in a lot of ways, a lot less contact and no ice and no skates, but … similar size rink and same size goals and same number of players,” he said.
“You’ve got a stick each – it’s a much lighter weight stick than an ice hockey stick – and you’ve got a small lightweight ball instead of a puck and you’re trying to get it in the goal at the other end of the court.”
He said bringing an event of this kind of profile to Wellington really helped with growing the sport here.
“It’s both great for Floorball New Zealand to have the kind of the prestige of welcoming nine other countries to our event, but it’s also a great advertisement for the young people here to see where you could go if you stick with your floorball.”
But being a new sport does come with challenges. A big one, Coup said, was a lack of funding.
He said hosting a tournament like this relied almost entirely on volunteer labour.
“We’ve had some very generous sponsors that have come in to partner with us on the tournament, and we’re incredibly grateful for them,” he said.
“Also, the local council has supplied us a lot of facility as in-kind for the tournament, so that’s brilliant.”
But when teams went overseas, he said that was generally completely self-funded and an incredibly expensive enterprise.
Cameron Fitzgerald Little. RNZ / Krystal Gibbens
Cameron Fitzgerald Little, a player on New Zealand’s men’s team, said interest in floorball had increased tenfold since he started.
“It’s bigger than it’s ever been, especially with this wonderful tournament. This is the biggest tournament Floorball New Zealand’s hosted before, so this is a really special tournament for us.”
He’s encouraging people to give the sport a go and said it’s open to all ages and experience levels.
“We’re a really welcoming, inviting community. We really want to try and grow the sport. So come on down and give it a go. We’d love to see you there.”
Georgia Kibblewhite is helping organise the tournament and looking after the volunteers.
Georgia Kibblewhite. RNZ / Krystal Gibbens
She’s been playing floorball for about 14 years.
She said she’s excited by how many teams they have and the exposure the event provided.
International Floorball Federation event manager Sarah Mitchell said with the growth in the Asia Oceania region they will be looking to have some more events to continue to help its development.
“This is a really important region and New Zealand actually plays a really important role here with the Pacific countries and the island countries in particular.”
Sarah Mitchell. RNZ / Krystal Gibbens
“For example, with Solomon Islands, they’ve been really supportive of helping with their development, and whether that’s with expertise or with equipment, that’s a really important role that we rely on the developed countries to then help the smaller countries.”
The last day of the tournament is Monday. Tickets are available on Floorball New Zealand’s website.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
