On Monday, March21, International Floorball Federation (IFF) officially recognized Uganda’s Association the Uganda Floorball Association (UFA) as one of its member countries , 11 months after its foundation.
The UFA was founded last year in April following the numerous strides the game had taken in the country.
Uganda now becomes the 63rd country to join the IFF central board, and only Africa’s 6th.
Floorball is a type of floor hockey with five field players and a goalkeeper on each side. It’s played on a rink, and unlike floor hockey, the floorball stick is relatively short and round in shape.
The rules and equipment used in floorball are also slightly different from floor hockey. The game was first introduced in Uganda in 2012 but only gained platform in 2015 after its exhibition at the Kampala capital city festival last year – which still counts as its major activity to date.
However, the Association has managed to make Floorball presentations in different schools, both primary and secondary, and youth centers.
The UFA has 103 registered members so far and seven Floorball clubs, two of which are women’s.
In a bid to develop the game and expand its club structures in the country, UFA intends to introduce coaching, refereeing and officiating courses to both men and women.
The Association therefore encourages and calls upon Ugandans to embrace this exciting growing sport.
Training takes place at Nambole and Sheraton, and the national league gets underway in May.
