Below, you can find one part from Kimmo’s latest article, about floorball in Germany. Want to read the full article? Click here.

Floorball in Germany

“After the game between DJK and Weißenfels, I had the chance to chat quickly with Ilkka Kittilä, trainer of Weißenfels, about the game and floorball in Germany in general. First of all, it was much more about me trying to learn about the game as much as get other viewpoints on various topics. So a great thanks goes to Ilkka for taking the time to chat with a novice like me.

Amongst other things, we did chat about the quality of play in Germany, the playing-system in Germany as well as the goals for the remainder of the season.

We did touch the play-off-system briefly as well and what I have found a little strange here in Germany is that the top 2 teams get a “bye” to the second round. This does bring some rest for the team but it does take the team away from competitive matches for almost a month. There is always a danger of “losing ones touch” however you can not deny that having the ability to have the “home-advantage” always (the play-offs are played best of three where the team having home-advantage starts away and the second and when necessary the third, games will be played in front of the home-audience), does help.

However, with a 10-team league, it is difficult to find a “fair system” and enlarging the league to say 12 teams is perhaps not ideal due to the quality of play as well as financial burden it places on the teams.

Having said all of that, however, I did chat with one of my Finnish team-mates as well about this and there is a certain charm to a system they have in place in Finland for example. In play-offs, the first ranked team gets to choose their opponent from the other playoff teams, then the second team chooses their opponent and so on (I am not quite sure how many teams are in play-offs and no time to check it right now)…then if you could play best of 5 series…now that could be cool!

Ilkka, having been in Germany for a number of years, did notice that the level of playing has started slowly to pick up. At least the difference between the best in the league and the last is no longer measured in double-digits that often. This should work in our favor as well when talking about attracting larger audiences and even sponsoring. After all, nobody is interested in one team running away with the title year after year (well perhaps Bayern München -fans in football) and games that are more interesting are only good for the sport.”

This short evaluation was part of Kimmo’s latest article, about floorball in Germany. Want to read the full article? Click here.