The German Unihockey Association set the courses for the change of the name Unihockey to Floorball at its Delegatee Assembly at 26th september in Weißenfels, Germany.
With this procedure the Association wants to adjust the term to the international nomenclature. Since 1990s the Association used the German-based term “Unihockey”.
“The delegates who were present at the Delegatee Assembly pointed out that they just want one term for the future. There were 86 yes-votes of 95 total votes”, chairman Prof. Dr. Oliver Stoll explains. Based on this result the German Unihockey Association prepares all necessary steps for the change of the Associations statute. Henceforth the sport will be running under the brand “Floorball Deutschland“” (Floorball Germany).
Due to this change the German Unihockey Association positioned for an aspired accession to the German Olympic Sport Association (Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund). “In 2010 we want to file a membership application. As we expected feasible trouble and contrary wind from the German Hockey Association and we also assume that this term represents our sport in the best way, this step was essential and necessary”, chairman Stoll states.
Nine of eleven already existing Regional Associations sent their representatives to the Delegate Assembly at Weißenfels. Objectively and constructively the delegates debated about the complex theme. They initiated the name change, which is exceptional for German sport history.
The German Unihockey Association hopes to avoid misunderstandings from now on. Unihockey was often spuriously associated with some kind of hockey which is only played at the universities. In the German language the word university is abbreviated with Uni. But actually the term Uni in “Unihockey” meant universal.
There were also some irritations when the sport was present at the TV-Show “Schlag den Raab”- one of the most famous shows in German television. The editorial office called the sport hockey as they reasoned that Unihockey was too difficult to explain for the audience. Also EuroSport-host Jörg Opuchlik stated: “I guess the term Unihockey is really infelicitous. For me Floorball seems to be a more appropriate term, especially if you consider the increasing internationalized leagues or if you want to join the Olympic Family.”
Text & Picture: Mathias Liebing/Deutscher Unihockey Bund (DUB)
