Decorah was the first city to meet floorball in the state of Iowa, USA, during the Nordic Fest which took place over the last weekend of July 2016.
Hundreds of children tried the sport at a rink provided by the Tomah, Wisconsin, Parks and Rec, under supervision by Ms. Linnea Nordquist, from the US U19 women´s national team, her mother Annika Johnson Nordquist and Mr. Michael Borg from Wisconsin Floorball.
Floorball demo for the first time ever in Iowa, USA with Linnea Nordquist and Annika Johnson Nordquist.
“We stayed busy all the time” said Ms. Linnea Nordquist, and she continued – “we must do this again.” Linnea Nordquist plays floorball in Sweden for Lerums IBK, she is a US citizen with family and roots from Decorah, Iowa. Her mother Annika, was as enthusiastic, as she said: “it is time for the USA to discover floorball, not only as a kids game, but also as a true full-fledged sport.’”
Mr. Borg said: – “it was interesting to showcase floorball for the first time ever in Iowa”, but he also stressed that most people he instructed the game to did not always come from Iowa and continued: “We provided instructions to players and parents from Minnesota, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa. Perhaps not what we anticipated at a Nordic Fest, but it seems true many people with Scandinavian ancestry are today well spread out all over in the United States and not just confined to smaller enclaves. This means we should be able to spread the sport even faster if we can find the right American hearts for floorball.”
Decorah, Iowa is a small community up in the northeast corner of Iowa, close to Minnesota and Wisconsin. Decorah is named after an Indian tribe leader and is considered to be a true Norwegian-American town with strong Scandinavian influences. Decorah is a hot bed for a large youth football operation (soccer in America). Some ideas assume that cultural ties to Scandinavia is part of what made football (soccer) big fast in Decorah, Iowa. The official estimate is that the Nordic fest in Decorah attracts some 50.000 visitors.
“So why should not floorball be a hit here too?” asked Ms. Linnea Nordquist.
From another North American floorball source, we this week heard that the Bloomington Athletic Association just recently decided to start a Youth Floorball League. This is thanks to relentless work by Mr. Cael Sprute in Minneapolis.
The Bloomington Athletic Association in not just the 5th largest such association, in the United States – Bloomington is also located in what many Americans call “The State of Hockey”. Bloomington, is a suburb to Minneapolis where the first plastic, ball, and stick were invented – and it is where you also find the famous Mall of America.
Mr. Ben Kortbein, in Tomah Wisconsin presents floorball at the local National Night Out celebration
August 2nd, the local Tomah Floorball group also performed floorball demonstrations at the National Night Out in Tomah, Wisconsin. Mr. Ben Kortbein, Mr. Justin Marshall and Mr. Michael Borg showed the sport to approximately 100 children highly interested in the sport.
Photos by: Mrs. Annika Johnson Nordquist (Decorah) and Mr. Michael Borg (Tomah)
Text & more information: Mr. Michael Borg/Wisconsin Floorball
