Brief news from this day in life

Did you know that the IFF is to update the rules for Floorball slightly and allow some sort of back and follow through swing.... still maintaining the safety of the sport - it will be interesting to see how the new rules will look like as finalized.

Did you know that the male team USA plan a summer camp in Sweden this Summer..

Did you know that the organizers in Gothenburg Sweden, for the male WFC 2014 already secured a main TV host broadcaster with 15 live TV games already confirmed and way more to be expected. Well, the ambition is clear to make the WFC 2014 the largest Floorball happening ever...
We say there is no doubt this will happen...

Did you know that the organizational gridlock in the UK have been resolved and..http://www.ukfloorball.org/index.php/ukff-news/entry/iff-decision-on-the-official-national-floorball-association-of-the-uk

And finally here is a new website from Texas  http://www.cowtownfloorball.com/
Other cool news from Texas is a statewide friendly:  That say...
We're also playing a special friendly against Houston, Dallas, and Austin on Saturday, June 8th.

Splendid Special Olympic Floorball News

Just a few fast incredible good Special Olympic News.

First of all Floorball has now formally met the criteria determined and reached the number of active countries with Special Olympic Floorball (24). This means that the sport now may be announced as an Official Special Olympic sport.
Norway is only one of the new countries with Special Olympic Floorball.

There has also been a coaching seminar held in Poland for Special Olympians, with officials from the Czech Republic.

The IFF further express that they see further growth in Asia within this field and they also state that together with Special Olympic International they expect Special Olympic Floorball growth in Latin America too.

We love this, this is exactly how Special Olympians may take on the lead a show a continent - what sport today is made of... like fast plastics...

During the WFC both Paralympic and Special Olympic Floorball were played as demonstration games...

Source last CB meeting at the IFF.

More on the Health Disaster in NA (and all over)

We have earlier praised organizations like the US American based designedtomove.org and if you have not seen their movie.... do it!
It's here http://youtu.be/JGskDRV4t0g

YES today SMOKING is not the BIGGEST health problem - the inactivity in kids is the much larger issue!

Today Canada initiated something rather similar. What is different with Canada's latest initiative is that they fully focus on transportation modes (or at least it looks like it when you skim through their messages).
But in essence the message is the same, not enough movement and too much sitting still. Thanks BCfloorball for leading us to this.

We like this message, we like that kids could walk or skateboard to school, we like jump rope and all kinds of physical activity.
But we do not like that these campaigns (this is done by professionals) does not have a clue about Floorball and they do not either compare physical expenditure from different kind of activities... We only feel good about the idea that we know that they one day will know what Floorball can do to kids.

Let us now add some old classic ideas from marketing. Products are normally rated as in what is called a Growth Share matrix. A cash cow is a product that is big and generates a lots of money - and in the world of School Sports - Basket Ball for instance is only one of these large "cash-cows". But all viable systems on a real market must also have - what is called a star product and that is the product that has the potential to grow and replace old cows... It is here Floorball fits perfectly into the future market mix for school sports in America.
And yes investments build the future market too.

This is the theory in brutal economic terms as described in one quote by an economist:
"To be successful, a company should have a portfolio of products with different growth rates and different market shares. The portfolio composition is a function of the balance between cash flows. High growth products require cash inputs to grow. Low growth products should generate excess cash. Both kinds are needed simultaneously." --Bruce Henderson

So what do they say in Canada?

This is clever folks they have prepared tonnes of material for use in social media inclusive a blog post - so we run it here - even if we think it is a bit long and not as piffy as can be...

In a nutshell they say - we have a lazy disaster upon us and much more kids must move much more - here is what they call a Matte story they want to have shared online - so here it is:


Are We Driving Our Kids to Unhealthy Habits?
Fewer and fewer kids are getting to places on their own steam. Gone are the days of in-line skating, biking, 
walking, wheeling and skateboarding to get to and from destinations such as school, parks and shops. In fact, current data suggests that only 25 to 35 per cent of Canadian children and youth walk, bike or wheel to and from school. 

Active transportation, an important source of physical activity for children and youth, is on the decline in Canada and it is affecting our children’s health. According to the 2013 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card, 58 per cent of parents walked to school when they were kids, however only 28 per cent of their children walk to school today. In just one decade (2000 to 2010), the proportion of five- to 17-year-olds using only inactive modes of transportation (e.g., bus, train, car) to get to and from school has increased from 51 per cent to 62 per cent.

The Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card, released in partnership with ParticipACTION and the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO-HALO), assigns a ‘D’ grade to Active Transportation this year.

“Today’s youth spend less time walking, and walk shorter distances, than their parents did as children,” says 
Kelly Murumets, President and CEO, ParticipACTION. “With only five per cent of five to 17 year olds meeting the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines, it is important to find simple solutions to help increase their physical activity levels. By making small changes to the way we travel to destinations, we can have a big impact on the physical activity levels of our children. Not only will we help get them closer to achieving the recommended Guidelines, but we will also provide opportunities for social engagement with their peers.” 
Increased car time driving long-term unhealthy habits.

“By driving our kids to and from their destinations, we may be robbing them of an important source of physical activity, and contributing to lifelong unhealthy habits,” says Dr. Mark Tremblay, Chief Scientific Officer, Active Healthy Kids Canada. “Active transportation presents an easy, cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to increase physical activity levels among children and youth, and its benefits are significant. In fact, if we encouraged our kids to walk for trips less than a kilometre, they could bank an additional 10 to 15 minutes of physical activity per trip!”

Here is much more
http://www.activehealthykids.ca/

New Youth league sign up in Calif.

Read all about it here...
http://www.floorballhockeyamerica.com/flyers/Floorball-Hockey-America-YouthLeague_Flyer1web(1).pdf

This is just a snapshot:

Beginning Floorball (Ages 5-8 year olds)

Click for Flyer and Registration Form

Fees: $109 (includes floorball stick and ball)
           $89 (without floorball stick and ball)

Location: Lake Forest Ice Palace
                 25821 Atlantic Ocean Drive, Lake Forest
60449  Sundays June 30th-August 25th 
Approximate Game Times: 12:00p-3:00p

Intermediate Floorball (Ages 9-17 year olds)

Fees: $109 (includes floorball stick and ball)
           $89 (without floorball stick and ball)

Location: Serrano Intermediate
                 24642 Jeronimo, Lake Forest
60450   Sundays June 30th-August 25th 
Approximate Game Times: 12:00p-3:00p

Canada is so much ahead of the US...

If we are embarrassed? You tell...

OK, here is another take on the smallest common denominator or #whatfloorballinschoolbringstohockey

If you strict go by #LTAD principles then the larger base of athletes will create a much better top level, and the main idea is that with a very high number of athletes involved in one sport - well the very best will become much better too and we will have the best top athletes we can get.

In theory we support this.

In Ice Hockey this pose a tremendous problem though...

Both USA and Canada sport roughly 500.000 licensed Hockey players.

Sweden sport some 60.000 and Finland sport some just less than 60.000 and Switzerland sport about 25.000.
Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey#Number_of_registered_players_by_country

IF the LTAD principles would work to the 199% good then Canada and USA would beat the crap out of all the others, right.

Today's World Hockey Final was played between Sweden and Switzerland and according to LTAD that is not what you would expect. Right?

Let us now add some other numbers here..
Sweden sport about 120.000 Floorball players, Finland like 50.000 and Switzerland almost 30.000.
Canada have 320 and the USA does not even seem to know how many they have...
Source http://windows3.salibandy.net/default.asp?kieli=826&sivu=205&alasivu=205

But that has nothing to do with hockey? Or does it?

In hidden ways dear Watson. This is how it works, With a significant high number of Floorball players with a license - it mainly indicates that Sweden, Finland and Switzerland have a heck of a lot Floorball being played in their schools.

This creates - not the top Hockey player (even if many NHL players from Europe thanks Floorball for their skills). Instead this creates a "lowest table" of  hockey skills among almost all kids. READ THIS AGAIN ALL KIDS.
Just face it if your kids bounce a basketball most of the time in school or if they play a fast stick-handling game... what group do you want to recruit hockey talent from?

This whole thing is just too silly...

IT IS ALL ABOUT THE LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR and almost all kids in "floorball-land" are very skilled in fast stick handling skills. Even so if they do not even consider Ice Hockey.
We say, You do not have to be a professor to figure that out?

OK OK...
Just to add to this picture Sweden as a nation  is much more efficient than the Greater Toronto Hockey League (largest NA hockey player producing unit) to add players to the NHL and still to this day many Americans still scratch their head about hockey and stick handling skills delivered from parts of Europe.

Then.. The Swedish Hockey Federation early on tried to explain the Swedish Hockey wonder during the 90's with some corporate BS about significant raised standards and new methods. We think it is almost all BS, ok maybe a part of this is true but only a part. In reality the surge of Swedish Ice Hockey on the International scene - seriously coincide with the development of Floorball in school.

Do YOU not see this?

This is so wild.

Floorballcentral say - as long as North America and Russia will not have a decent Floorball culture in school compared to the countries with a high Floorball penetration in school - and as long as you do not know Floorball.

North America is doomed to the passenger seat.

The next big Hockey nation?

We here think that Singapore looks like a good bet.