Estonian Floorball Union (Eesti Saalihoki Liit, EHSL) was founded on November 27th 1993 in Tallinn by four clubs and it celebrates therefore its 15th anniversary today.
ESHL belongs to the Estonian Central Sports Union since 1994 and is a member of the Estonian Olympic Committee since the merger between these organisations in autumn 2001. ESHL has been a full member of International Floorball Federation from 1996.
Today ESHL has 29 member clubs and around 4000 – 4500 people playing floorball in a country of 1,3 million habitants. During the year 2007 the number of licensed players was 2062.
The number of teams participating in the XV Estonian Championships for men is 40, where teams are competing in three different categories: Premier League, the first and the second division. In addition to that, 6 teams are taking part in women´s championships and 51 teams in Championships for A-, B-, C-, D- and E-juniors. In total the number of players this season is around 1700.
The Estonian Championships for men have been held 14 times, the reigning master is TTU SK and the reigning women master is SK Saku Fortuna. The Estonian Cup has been played for 12 times.
The Estonian national team is preparing for the A-division of the Men´s World Floorball Championships, which are played in Czech Republic from 6th to 14th of December 2008.
Text: Tonis Teesalu
