On October 25th 2008 a historical event took place in Glenrothes in Scotland as four ladies teams played the first ever ladies floorball league round in the UK.
In the summer of 2007, two female floorball players from Aberdeen created a plan of integrating more ladies in Britain into the sport of floorball. An event was created with the aim of getting together all of the female floorball players in Scotland (league or non-league players, adults and kids, beginners and advanced) for some fun games, whilst bringing new ladies along to try out the sport in a relaxed atmosphere. The event created was named the ‘Pink Rink’ and the first of its kind took place in September 2007 in Dundee, attracting over 20 players. The ‘Pink Rinks’ continued to be well supported and successful at encouraging ladies of all ages (8 to 50) to participate in such floorball events, some completely new to the sport, others who train with local teams but do not participate in the current mixed league. Although initially created to increase the numbers of ladies playing floorball in Scotland, the ’Pink Rink‘ began to show some signs that a ladies league may not be too far in the future.
Following on from the success of the ‘Pink Rinks‘, the organisers decided to try going a step further this season and establish a ladies league. The idea was to play in the 3 vs 3 (plus keeper on a 20 x 10m rink) format, which is commonly used in Switzerland, thus allowing teams to form more easily with less players. The format was very successful in establishing floorball in Switzerland, now a floorball giant, and organisers hope to achieve a similar success with growing ladies floorball in the UK.
The first round of the league was played on Saturday October 25th with 4 teams taking part: Aberdeen Oilers, Balwearie, Glenrothes, and St Andrews (a University based club). Male keepers were allowed if needed to help get things off the ground. There was some cracking floorball on display, showing great promise already with some exciting and close games, some skillful players and an impressive range of ages participating (8 to 50 years old). The scores were as follows:
Balwearie 1 v St Andrews 7
Aberdeen 3 v Glenrothes 1
Glenrothes 6 v Balwearie 3
St Andrews 1 v Aberdeen 1
Round 2 will take place on January 25th.
For more information please check the website www.ladies.floorball.org.uk or email ladies@floorball.org.uk.
Text by: Lorna Teal (Aberdeen Oilers)
