Floorball: UFA Receives Multmillion Equipments From Sweden, Pledges to Spread the Game
The Uganda Floorball Association received playing equipment from Sweden worth millions of shillings.
In collaboration with the UFA board member who doubles as the founder of the game in Uganda, Mr. Robert Zimula, the Swedish based Uganda, the Swedish Floorball Association and one of its clubs donated equipments to Uganda worth millions of money and Promised to add more such that the game grows in Uganda.
While handing over equipments that includes; Floorball sticks, floorballs, jerseys and bags, today at Bweyogerere Artificial Turf in Kira Municipality, Robert Zimula revealed why he got interest in the game and how he got the equipments.
“This game was initiated from Sweden where I live, so I saw it important to bring the game here in my country. It’s played in Europe, Africa and Asia.
Our project is a big one and we expect to get more support from different countries, we have created a number of different international friends who can give us a hand, but we also need to work hard to achieve. We are a registered Association to the International Federation which is based in Switzerland.
So today I am here to deliver the equipment, we got from our friends from Sweden, the Swedish Floorball Association gave us 500 sets of Jersey, 1000 balls from one swedish club, we also got equipment bags and sticks. “
We got these equipments in 2019 but the challenge has been on Covid and shipping fees, so when the government relaxed on the lockdown, I decided to bring them.” Robert Zimula explained.
The chairman of the Association, Mr. David Mugisha lauded Zimula not to forget the Association even when he is abroad.
“We are here to receive equipments from Mr.Robert Zimula from Sweden, he is a board member, he initiated the game here, even though he is now basing in Sweden, he has never forgotten us.
These equipments are going to help us to spread the game from central to other parts of the country, one of the challenges we have been having is the equipments, but they have started coming and we expect more.
Currently we have been taking this game to school but covid disturbed the process, however, after vaccinating our children, we are going to start from where we ended.” Chairman told this website.
What is Floorball, When did it come to Uganda and how is it played?
The game was invented in Sweden in the late 1960s. The basic rules were established in 1979 when the first floorball club in the world, Sala IBK, from Sala, was founded in Sweden. Official rules for matches were first written down in 1981.
The sport is organized internationally by the International Floorball Federation (IFF).
Floorball is a type of floor hockey with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. Men and women play indoors with 96–115.5 cm-long (37.8–45.5 in) sticks and a 70–72 mm-circumference (2.76–2.83 in) plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three twenty-minute periods. Floorball was included in the World Games for the first time in 2017 in Wrocław, Poland. Sweden were the first World Games gold medal winners.
In Uganda the game was brought by UFA board member, Robert Zimula in 2015, currently they have a national team that even featured in 2019 championship in Kenya.
The Association is affiliated to National Council of Sports and they have 22 clubs, seven are for Women.
They have offices at Postal Uganda in Kampala and they are planning to spread the game to different parts of the country.