Floorball is a phenomenon. Really in Scandinavia, but also in the Czech Republic. Over the past thirty years, it has gone from being an entertainment for a few college students to a sport selling sports hall. The best players are professionals, they are considering bids for foreign involvement in Switzerland or Scandinavia. “If you want to climb to the top, you have to go to Sweden,” said Czech’s most talented player Filip Forman.

The power of floorball is Scandinavia, but the Czech Republic is also gaining an increasingly strong position on the international scene. No doubt thanks to the quality of work with young people.

“As in any team sport, their parent club, where they spend most of their time in the sport, is very important for young floorball players. Therefore, the association is making every effort to support youth work in the field itself, which is key. , “explained Filip uman, former president of Czech Floorball. Sparta Prague, Tatran Střešovice, Bohemia Prague and Vítkovice are well known for the quality of their work with young people. According to uman, the maximum width of the base is very important for future results in the international field.

The first selection of talent in the student category in the Czech Republic takes place at the regional level. Especially the Children’s and Youth Olympics is a wonderful event for the promising Czech floorball players. They “only” represent their territory here, but as Filip uman said, this is the Olympics with everything. Representative.

However, floorball players can represent the Czech Republic at international level as early as sixteen years old, where they start competing with their foreign rivals. The highlight of the youth selection competition is the World Junior Championships. In recent years, Czech juniors have earned the respect they deserve from their rivals, and in 2019 and 2021 they took home the gold medal.

Interesting foreign engagements may already be led by many Czech juniors. From an economic point of view, Switzerland is probably the most attractive right now, but the best floorball is definitely being played in Sweden. The best would like to play there, which will certainly be confirmed by the captain of the Czech national team, Eliška Krupnová, who is currently defending Sweden’s Pixbo colours. Krupnová was named the best floorball player in the world in 2020 and is without a doubt a role model for a number of promising Czech floorball players who are already doing well on the Czech scene. According to Filip uman, these include Vanesa Keprtová, Filip Langr or Matěj Havlas, but a bright future and the achievement of the highest goals are predicted especially for Filip Forman.

Filip Forman (19) played floorball at the age of nine, as his older brother Mikuláš and cousin Martin played floorball. He started at school, of course. He tried football and hockey, but apart from his family, he was attracted to floorball by a good group and friendly environment. “And I did, so of course you enjoy it more,” he recalls.

The advantages are very dexterous hands, dexterity, but also a great picture of the game. Despite the superlatives often associated with him, he remains a team player. And that is very important in floorball. “If you want to be successful, you have to submit and play your part in the team. And it can be different.” Filip Froman’s fact of success is evidenced by the two world titles he won twice in a row with his juniors as a key figure in the team, and maybe even more bronzes than last year’s World Championships. “I played on the bottom, I practically didn’t sit down, that’s a big honor for me,” he said of the World Cup in Finland.

However, Filip Forman is an outstanding player and as such garners individual accolades. Despite his young age, he won Canada’s top score of the Czech competition this year (as the youngest player in history) and when he went to Sweden for an experience when he wasn’t playing in the Czech Republic, he instantly shook the cradle of the floorball. with his appearance. When he scored four goals in a Swedish league hit for FCB Kalmarsund, the floorball sky lay at his feet.

He could already choose which team would strengthen the world’s best league, but Filip returned to Bohemka. His entire floorball career is still connected with the Prague team, and will remain so for at least next year. And then? “Maybe Sweden or Finland. But graduation first,” he said.

If you want to be the absolute top player in the world, you have to master floorball most of the time. The players from the best teams train every day and, if they work, mostly for their floorball team. Maybe they practice. Filip Forman knows this, in the following years he also wants to devote himself completely to floorball, maybe abroad. However, at the same time, he realized the pitfalls that clearly followed from this.

Floorball, even though it will be the best player in the world, will not secure it financially in the future. “It’s a pain from floorball in the Czech Republic, but maybe elsewhere in the world. As people get older, their values ​​and priorities change. At twenty-five, they usually just have to go to work, make money. Or at least prepare systematically Then it’s not easy to mix it up with a top sport anymore,” he explained. He studied civil engineering and although he wanted to play floorball at the absolute highest level, he certainly didn’t rule out education. “I’m waiting for a decision… It would be ideal to manage both, foreign and university engagements, but not everyone has them.”

As you can see, floorball is not hockey. This is for those who say with a grin that floorball is played by those who want to be hockey players but haven’t learned to skate. Floorball players think differently. The desire to be a leader in their field, but they share. Filip Forman is already a top Czech player, and if things go according to the assumptions that Filip himself puts in a very realistic way, he will soon become a world class player. “In five years, when the current generation of players leave Sweden, we have to win the title with the Czech national team. We have it,” he said. The goal is high, but quite realistic. “At club level, I want to win the Swedish league.”