The Swiss National League assembly has agreed to the flooring obligation. This flooring obligation will be introduced in the Lidl-Unihockey Prime League (L-UPL) for Men from the 2024/25 play-offs and play-outs. The national league assembly approved this with ten votes in favour and two abstentions.
The introduction of compulsory flooring surface in the top floorball league in Switzerland has been under intensive consideration for months. After club representatives from the L-UPL Men and Women spoke out in favour of the introduction of a flooring obligation at a workshop last spring, a detailed concept was drawn up within the association and a project organisation set up with Reto Gyger as the project manager. He examined all points such as supplier, set-up and dismantling, storage, personnel and financial resources and contacted the L-UPL clubs to examine their individual situations.
This introduction is essential in the context of the further professionalisation of floorball and increased public awareness. A floorball floor leads to a uniform appearance, contributes to better marketing opportunities and increases the attractiveness for spectators to follow the games on site or via livestream. It also promotes sporting development. Players will find a similar surface everywhere and thus become more competitive internationally. Last but not least, the next generation of players will also benefit if junior matches can be played on this surface.
– The introduction of a standardised surface is important from both a sporting and marketing perspective. I am convinced that this decision will contribute to the development of our sport, says Thomas Schwarz, President of the men’s national league.
Introduction for the women is being examined
Some clubs have already acquired a floor in recent months: Floorball Köniz Bern (FBK), SV Wiler-Ersigen, GC Unihockey and Floorball Thurgau are already installing floorball floors at their home games, while Waldkirch-St. Gallen and Floorball Tigers Langnau have ordered one.
– For us on the FBK board, it was clear that the purchase of a floor was an important step in order not to lose touch with the top three nations. We wanted to take an active approach to the project and gain experience before the compulsory floor was introduced, says Matthias Hermle, board member of Floorball Köniz Bern. In the meantime, setting up and dismantling the floor is simply part of the game and the feedback from the players, spectators and sponsors is all very positive.
An introduction was also examined in the Women’s L-UPL, but the clubs there are not yet as advanced structurally and the infrastructure also poses greater challenges. While Swiss Floorball Association has repeatedly laid a floor for the men’s game in the past, the women’s clubs lack this experience.
– I’m not ruling out the introduction of a women’s floor in the next few years, says Gyger. At Zug, for example, the women’s games will be scheduled so that they can also benefit from the men’s floor being ready.
Source: swiss unihockey
