The Spanish Floorball Association held its annual General Assembly on Thursday 29th of October. The General Assembly was organised online due to the Covid-19 restrictions and the floorball championships and competition calendar in Spain were some of the main topics on the agenda.

– Even though we normally have our annual General Assembly in June, this time we decided to postpone it until we really had something to decide based on a realistic situation. We have had contacts with the clubs during this months and analysing the situation of everyone in order to give and propose the best possible option to our members, says Spanish Floorball Association President Mr. Juan A Roldan.

The participation of the clubs was very positive and everyone was present and updated their own situation. All are affected by this crisis and this is having a big impact in the number of licenses, which was a common concern to all.

The Assembly approved the annual report and plan of action for this season. Highlight the great job done during these months in terms of promotion and the adaptation of the education system to online tools.

Spanish Floorball Association Central Board

A new member entered into the CB, Mr. Rafael Garrido who is working and leading floorball in Córdoba, and at the same time he will work with the Universales and education.

An ambitious promotional plan was also approved with Fernando Garcia’s incorporation as responsible for promotion, and who has already initiated several actions in these months which have proved very positive, like the approach to inline hockey clubs and also introductory sessions to school sport projects. He has also prepared some actions in other regions of Spain, like Valencia.

CB Members:

• Juan A Roldán, President
• Miguel Prieto, Vice Prsident
• Carlos Lopez, Secretary General
• Luis Miguel Rodríguez, Tresaurer
• Diego Agueda, CB Member
• Dimas Castro, CB Member
• Rafael Garrido, CB Member

Collaborations with Special Olympics will also be one of the key actions for the Spanish Association.

– We all have now a chance to do things that we normally are not able to handle due to the competition calendar. We have to take advantage of this “non competition” weeks for new contacts, being ready to go to new possible partners. Waiting with arms crossed is not an option for us, Spanish Floorball Association Vice-President Mr. Miguel Prieto, commented.

Competition calendar in Spain

Regarding the competitions in Spain, everyone was willing to start a new season but no one wanted to approve a non realistic plan and then being forced to postpone and change the calendar every week. This would have offer a very bad impression of the sport, and probably would have affected to the situation of the clubs within their own town. Finally, a road map was approved in order to present the way back to the competition that would enable the clubs and teams to offer realistic planning to their members.

Two situations were set (both with mid term new meetings for a revision of how the situation is going).

Start with a SuperCup event with final four format for four teams in the male and female leagues when both were suspended in March. Two dates were set: second half of December (with a Go No go meeting on the 7th Dec.) or January (with a second Go No go meeting on the 7th January). If those dates would not work out then the new season would take place in February.

Regarding the championships in Spain the following has been decided:

• Try to organise two tournaments, one male and one female to close the 2019-2020 season.
• These tournaments will take place among the teams that occupied the top four positions at the time of suspension in March 2020.
• The semi-finals would be played on Saturday and the final and third and fourth place on Sunday.
• The proposed dates are:
  • December 12 and 13 female category
  • December 19 and 20 male category
• The possibility to play the competitions will be investigated by the clubs and an online meeting is to be held on Thursday, December 3rd
• If at that meeting it is decided that it is not feasible to play the competition on the scheduled dates, they will move to the following dates:
  • January 16 and 17 female category
  • January 23 and 24 male category.
• An online meeting will be held on 7 January, to decide if competitions can play on these dates
  • If in this second meeting it is decided that it is not feasible to play these tournaments, they will be definitively cancelled and will NOT be played, leaving the title of champion of the 2019-2020 season deserted.
• The competitions of the 2020-2021 season will begin in January if the aforementioned tournaments are held in December or in February if they are held in January.
  • However, the clubs will meet to assess the situation on the first of each month and the appropriate decisions will be taken.

The international situation and the compromise with the floorball world was also part of the assembly discussions:

– Everyone expressed their concern about the situation that affects all aspects of our daily life as clubs. But at the same time we all joined and worked together to find the best solution and proposal that will enable us to face this crisis in the most realistic and best possible way, Spanish Association Secretary General Mr. Carlos Lopez concluded.

Source & more information: Spanish Floorball Association