Members of the IFF Athletes’ Commission will be writing blog posts on the IFF website. The former Spanish national team captain and member of the ATC, Sergio Garces Sanchez, talks us through the recent switch from Spanish National Team player to now Head Coach.
Hello everyone! It is time to talk a little bit about how is Floorball in Spain and how has been my transition from playing in the National team (as the captain) for 20 years to being the Head Coach of the National team.
As you might know, Spain is not a floorball country, football is the big one sport here. I’ve been playing floorball since the very beginning in 1998 when the Spanish Floorball Association was created, and although so much work has been done and lots of efforts in its development has been putting in, it is not growing as much as we want. At the moment, we have two competitions going on in Madrid, the “Golden league” and the “Silver league”. In past years we had some teams in the North and also in the South, in Málaga, but they couldn’t afford the expenses of travelling to Madrid and at the end they decided not to compete anymore.
Once you are in the perspective of how floorball is in Spain, let’s talk about how has been my transition from being a player to be the Head Coach of a nation where the sport is really small.
After 20 years playing for the national team, I decided my time was over. It was hard for me to stop being part of the team without fulfilling my goal that was to qualify for a World Championship. It was not an easy decision, but you know, time flies and you have to accept it. During my last years in competition, the idea of retirement was becoming more and more clear to me. I started to think that I could continue helping the team with my experience of so many years playing qualifiers and try to raise the level of the team by improving the things I lacked as a player in the National team. In my last qualifier as a player, right at the end of the tournament, our former coach told us that he was also retiring. At that moment I thought I could take the step, but that I needed a good coaching staff by my side. I knew that in order for the team to improve I needed experienced people by my side. So, I talked to former national team players who also have many years of coaching experience in Spain in order to put together a competent team. And then, the new chapter for me began.
Since the beginning, we were looking for new players with experience in the big floorball countries that could raise the level of the team and that want to be part of the team for the long-term helping the players who live and play in Spain. 
We’ve found them and our level has improved.
Last week, it was my first qualifier as a Head Coach. Although we didn’t achieve our main goal of qualifying the team, I am quite satisfied with the whole process of preparation for this tournament. Spain is getting closer and closer to nations where floorball is quite big comparing with my country.
I am looking forward to see Spain playing a World Championship in the close future for the first time.
