Steve Broome’s love of floorball has grown across two continents.
He began coaching the sport, which was invented in Sweden in the late 1960s and incorporates a rule set with elements of floor and field hockey in an indoor setting, in Australia and established Infinity Floorball in Wolfville upon arriving in Canada in 2018.
“It’s an inexpensive way for players who are interested in a hockey-style sport but might not be able to participate because of costs,” said Broome. “It also can appeal to people who may be new to Canada who might want to try this form of sport without the investment and aren’t interested in learning how to skate.
“And for those who have a hockey background, there’s the appeal of it being incorporated into off-ice training.”
Enough of an infrastructure has developed in Atlantic Canada to form an East Coast Floorball League, with teams in Halifax, Truro, Wolfville and Fredericton.
Since 2022, the Advance Female Floorball Annual Camp in Wolfville has introduced new players to the sport while also providing opportunities for advanced athletes to hone their skills in an attempt to pursue national team spots. That base, which has grown from nine participants in its first year to more than 50, has helped form a feeder system for the national under-19 female team which will be attending the world championship from April 23 to May 3, 2026 in Italy.
“We’ve been doing strength and conditioning sessions since March as part of weekly get-togethers here in Wolfville,” said Broome, who is an assistant coach with the Canadian team. “And in July we’re going to host an identification camp with support from Sweden, which is sending one of its top players in the world as a guest instructor.
“We’ll do fitness testing and skills assessment there and continue throughout the summer and fall, with the goal of formal tryout camps in Nova Scotia and Ontario in November where we’ll put the final team together. And with some fundraising initiatives, we plan to take the team to Europe for a training camp and some pre-tournament competition as part of our final preparation for Italy.”
Broome said that the sport continues to strive for full provincial sport organization status, with the annual camp receiving a grant from Sport Nova Scotia, as well as partnerships to keep costs low by providing affordable equipment for participants.
“We want to make floorball affordable for as many people as possible, regardless of their financial situation,” said Broome.
“And for those who want to compete at the higher levels, we want to have as many opportunities available for that as possible. We have our challenges like any other sport – we’re not as high-profile as other sports and are still trying to grow the game at the grassroots level – but we have a lot to offer to the community.”
Anyone interested in the Advance Female Floorball camp from July 8-12 can visit advancefloorball.ca for more information.
