North American Floorball League

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North American Floorball League
NAFL Primary Logo.jpg
SportFloorball
FoundedJune 20, 2020
Inaugural season2022
CommissionerRyan Connor
No. of teams5
HeadquartersGeorgetown, Texas, U.S.
Official websitenafloorball.com

The North American Floorball League (NAFL) is a semi professional floorball league in North America, consisting of five teams across the United States. The league was founded in June 2020, and is set to begin play in the summer of 2022.[1][2] The NAFL is the first elite level floorball league in North America, taking place in what is typically the offseason of most upper tier floorball leagues worldwide so as to draw the best possible talent without conflicting with club schedules.

History[]

Creation of the League[]

Prior to the creation of the NAFL, elite floorball was greatly concentrated in Europe, and there was an absence of top-tier leagues to develop any talent that was present in North America. The Canadian Floorball Federation has run the Floorball League of Canada since 2013,[3] and the United States has operated a series of club tournaments such as the Golden Gate Cup[4] and the Texas Open;[5] however, there was no cohesive, highly promoted league to showcase the best talent that the two countries had to offer, or to attract international players who wanted to see the sport grow in North America.

Because the existing floorball seasons in North America and Europe took place during the fall and winter, an idea was devised to create a summer league that could increase the level of competition in North America for its best players without eliminating the structures already in place. The concept was for a league in which teams from across the United States and Canada could play full seasons while still minimizing travel and limiting budget, attracting fans to the sport and allowing the top floorball players in North America to be celebrated as elite athletes. The idea began to take fruition in June 2020, and the league was publicly announced on August 1, 2020, scheduled to begin play the next summer.[6][7] However, the inaugural season was postponed to the summer of 2022 due to ongoing border closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2][8][9]

Team Creation[]

The first team to be formed was the Fort Worth Jaguars, who were publicly announced on August 17, 2020.[10] They were followed a month later by the Cleveland Bucs, who were announced on September 21, the Texas Tornadoes, who were announced on October 19, and finally the Fresno Force, who were founded on December 16, 2020.[11][12][13][14][15] Following the postponement of the originally scheduled 2021 season, it was announced on December 8, 2021 that the Florida Vikings would be joining the league as a fifth team for the 2022 inaugural season.

League Structure and Rules[]

The NAFL consists of five teams who each play a four-week, 16 game regular season, followed by a two-round playoff for the top four teams. To reduce travel, individual teams will host each of the four regular season weeks, with each team playing every other team every weekend in a round robin style.[14][16]

The league plays with IFF rules,[17] but is not associated with the federation officially. Because of its positioning during what is traditionally the offseason, the NAFL can attract some of the top talent worldwide while allowing players to continue playing with their home clubs in the winter.

Games are played in three 20 minute periods, with an intermission between each, and should the game end in a tie, there is a 5-minute, sudden death overtime period, followed by a shootout. Teams are qualify for and are seeded in the playoffs based on the points they earn during the season. Three points are awarded for a win in regulation, two points for a win in overtime, one for a loss in overtime, and no points are given for a regulation loss. The only deviation from the IFF rulebook is that penalty shots and shootouts are played with a 15-second shot clock in the NAFL, whereas IFF rules allow an unlimited amount of time to shoot, as long as either the ball or shooter are continually moving forward.

Teams[]

North American Floorball League is located in the United States
Vikings
Vikings
Tornadoes
Tornadoes
Jaguars
Jaguars
Force
Force
NAFL Team Locations
Team City First Season Head Coach
Florida Vikings Orlando, FL 2022 TBD
Fort Worth Jaguars Arlington, TX 2022 Finland Joel Ekroos[18]
Fresno Force Fresno, CA 2022 Sweden Bruno Lundberg[19]
Texas Tornadoes Round Rock, TX 2022 TBD
Team 5 TBD 2022 TBD

References[]

  1. ^ "North American Floorball League". nafloorball.com. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  2. ^ a b "NAFL to postpone inaugural season – North American Floorball League". nafloorball.com. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  3. ^ "Floorball Canada". www.floorballcanada.org. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  4. ^ "The 10th annual Golden Gate Cup - USA Floorball". Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  5. ^ "North Texas Floorball Association - Texas Open". www.ntfa.us. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  6. ^ "Första nordamerikanska innebandyligan startar 2021". Innebandymagazinet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  7. ^ "Introducing the North American Floorball League". IFF Main Site. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  8. ^ "Ikävä uutinen julki – ensimmäinen NAFL-kausi siirtyy vuodella eteenpäin". Pääkallo.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  9. ^ "NAFL to postpone inaugural season until summer 2022". IFF. 2021-05-20. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Fort Worth Jaguars Floorball | North American Floorball League". www.ftwjaguars.com. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  11. ^ "Teams – North American Floorball League". nafloorball.com. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  12. ^ "TV: Uppsalabo blir ägare för NAFL-klubb". Innebandymagazinet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  13. ^ "Americký florbalový sen. Za mořem vzniká nová liga". www.ceskyflorbal.cz (in Czech). 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  14. ^ a b "NAFL aikoo kasvaa NHL:n jalanjäljissä: "Mitä jos sinulla olisi mahdollisuus olla mukana yhdessä "original six" -joukkueista?"". Pääkallo.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  15. ^ "Uusin NAFL-joukkue julkaistiin – Fresno Force ponnistaa Kaliforniasta". Pääkallo.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  16. ^ "League Format – North American Floorball League". nafloorball.com. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  17. ^ "North American Floorball League". FloorballPlanet. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  18. ^ "Jaguars Announce First Head Coach". www.ftwjaguars.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  19. ^ "Bruno Lundberg klar som tränare i USA i sommar - Innebandymagazinet". Bruno Lundberg klar som tränare i USA i sommar - Innebandymagazinet. Retrieved 2021-02-16.

External links[]

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