Younger generations should take a deep dive into the European sport that changed my life: floorball.
Last week, I returned from Belgium after playing for Team USA against Team Belgium in two extremely competitive games. The games were fast, physical, and the atmosphere was loud with the stand packed full of people. Although the outcomes of the games weren’t what we hoped for, the experience will live on with me forever.
This was just my most recent experience with floorball, and I have many more to share with you.
Another amazing experience I had was my first international set of games. I was in about my seventh or eighth month of playing when I received the opportunity to represent Team USA in the International Floorball Federation Men’s U19 World Floorball Championship Qualifiers against Canada. We brought ourselves all the way to the middle of nowhere inFredericton, New Brunswick, Canada to play floorball.
I met the rest of the team and we practiced the first three days, which was exhausting. Our coach made us run for what seemed like most of the day. When we got back to the hotel, we made sure to voice our displeasure about him.
After a couple of practices, the team decided to take a break and have some fun, so we had a talent show. People did magic tricks, sang songs, and did stick tricks. My talent was that I could name every goal horn in the NHL. We also did candle stick bowling and fun balloon games.
The qualifying games rolled around, and I haven’t been more excited and nervous about playing floorball since I got the call to be on the U19 team. Being a part of the walkout was unreal: lights were flashing and people were cheering. We ended up losing all three games, but to experience this felt amazing: scoring and having an assist was the cherry on top.
After this, I thought it was over. This was my only chance to represent my country, as I would be ineligible to play in the next qualifiers. Yet I was wrong: this was only the beginning.
My next experience took me across the Atlantic Ocean to play in the Gothia Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden. During the 2025 winter
break, my mom, sister, and I traveled through Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Finland.
The opening ceremony was electric with a sold out Scandinavium–an arena–with over 500 teams and 14,000 people in attendance. Each country was introduced with a song, presumably from their country and a player on one of their club teams that was representing the country. The speakers were loud, louder than anything you could imagine.
We also got to watch and talk to professional players from Kalmarsund and Pixbo. Seeing these two teams play in person was shocking. The game was fast moving and high scoring. As the players made split second decisions, it was beautiful. I thought that I could be like that.
The next day, we woke up and got ready for our first game of the tournament. Being the only team from the US, we were at a disadvantage. Some guys were on little to no sleep due to the time change, so we got smacked 1-8. The rest of the games ended about the same way. I did score in back-to-back games, however, and registered two amazing assists in playoff games. We were eventually eliminated in the quarterfinal game with a 3-4 loss.
After arriving back home, I thought to myself once again that my international floorball journey was over.
It was the weekend after the Texas Open 2025 that I woke up to an email inviting me to play in IFF WFC 3v3 in May. So to Winterthur, Switzerland I went.
I met the team at AXA Arena and we went through our only practice. The feeling of practicing on the court next to other countries while representing the US was unmatched. I was going to play against the best competition in the world. By the time the first game came around, the stadium was filled with family members, teams who weren’t playing, and friends.
We played teams from Thailand, Czech Republic, Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands. We ended up losing all our games, but I’ll never lose this experience.
As the finals for both the men’s and women’s tournament approached, the show began. When Switzerland’s men and women’s teams won, the arena became mayhem. The fans were ecstatic and the city of Winterthur was restless.
Now thinking of it, although I didn’t qualify for the U19 WFC, I ended up in the same place as them. How funny.
That Sunday I arrived back home and instantly crashed in bed. Waking up the next day, I once again thought my international floorball career was coming to an end.
That brings me back to Belgium. Getting the opportunity to go play for the USA Men’s National Team again was amazing.
As the games rolled around, the arena was filling up, we met in the locker room, walked out for warm ups, and locked in. By the time team introductions came around, the stadium was packed to the brim with fans. With a hype squad with a drum, the Belgium women’s team, and our small but dedicated USA fans, this game was going to be good. The games, unfortunately, did not go our way. Although we battled and fought as hard as we could, we came up short 1-9 and 2-18, yet I don’t think the score reflected how we played.
As of right now, I don’t know where my USAMNT showing stands. I’m getting ready for a camp and tournament on Dec. 5 in San Jose, California. I hope to make the team to play against Canada in the International Floorball Federation World Floorball Championships. in March.
These are the moments that define floorball and you should start playing to experience the same places I’ve been to if not, even better, more scenic. Also, experience a type of play you’ve never seen before.
