Slovenia is gearing up for its first FISU World University Championship in over a decade, with organisers of this year’s FISU WUC Floorball ready to welcome the best student-athlete floorballers to the picturesque city of Koper, June 24-28.
The coastal city in southern Slovenia will host a FISU Championship in the central European country for the first time in 12 years, after organising the 11th edition of WUC Futsal back in 2008. The region does however have vast experience in hosting other major university sports events, having organised six European Universities Championships in the past, the last being the 2019 Beach Volleyball and Water Polo Championships where over 200 participants enjoyed the Koper sunshine last summer.
The fact that it had been so long since hosting a FISU competition, combined with the fact that floorball is still an emerging and lesser-known sport in the country, motivated the Slovenian University Sports Association, together with the local University Sports Association of Primorska, to bid for the 2020 Floorball Championship.
– We estimated that it was time for one big competition and decided on floorball because it is an unknown sport in our region. We wanted to promote a sport discipline that is not yet present in our university area (Slovenian Istria) and popularise it. Floorball in Slovenia is increasing in visibility and popularity, primarily through informal competitions and the inclusion of floorball in the subject of sports education in primary and secondary schools, David Savron, President of the Local Organising Committee, told FISU.net.
The Organising Committee has since 2018 been preparing for this year’s event, which will take place from June 24-28 at two separate locations in the city, the first being the 3 000-seater Arena Bonifika, and the second being the gym in Koper Primary School.
– The gym, situated next to Arena Bonifika, provides everything we need to organise the Championship. It has a capacity of 1 500 seats, has a comfortable atmosphere and is great for the needs of the competition, Savron explains
As a test event for this year’s WUC Floorball Championship, the Arena hosted a four nations Floorball Championship in November, contested by the national men’s teams from neighbouring Austria, Hungary and Italy, with hosts Slovenia going unbeaten to take the overall honours.
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For more information about the event, please visit wucfloorball2020.com
Registrations for the event are made here.
