North American Floorball League

The North American Floorball League (NAFL) is a semi professional floorball league in North America, consisting of four teams across the United States. The league was founded in June 2020, and is set to begin play in the summer of 2021.[1] 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.

North American Floorball League
SportFloorball
FoundedJune 20, 2020
Inaugural season2021
CommissionerRyan Connor
No. of teams4
HeadquartersGeorgetown, Texas, U.S.
Official websitenafloorball.com

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,[2] and the United States has operated a series of club tournaments such as the Golden Gate Cup[3] and the Texas Open;[4] 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, 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.[5][6]

Team Creation

The first team to be formed was the Fort Worth Jaguars, who were publicly announced on August 17, 2020.[7] 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.[8][9][10][11][12]

League Structure and Rules

The NAFL consists of four teams who each play a four-week, 12 game regular season, followed by a two-round playoff. To reduce travel, each team hosts a single week of the schedule for every other team, with each team playing every other team every weekend in a round robin style.[11][13]

The league plays with IFF rules,[14] 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 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
NAFL Team Locations
Team City First Season Head Coach Captain
Cleveland Bucs Rocky River, OH 2021 TBD TBD
Fort Worth Jaguars Grand Prairie, TX 2021 Joel Ekroos[15] TBD
Fresno Force Clovis, CA 2021 TBD TBD
Texas Tornadoes Round Rock, TX 2021 TBD TBD

References
  1. "North American Floorball League". nafloorball.com. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  2. "Floorball Canada". www.floorballcanada.org. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  3. "The 10th annual Golden Gate Cup - USA Floorball". Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  4. "North Texas Floorball Association - Texas Open". www.ntfa.us. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  5. "Första nordamerikanska innebandyligan startar 2021". Innebandymagazinet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  6. "Introducing the North American Floorball League". IFF Main Site. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  7. "Fort Worth Jaguars Floorball | North American Floorball League". www.ftwjaguars.com. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  8. "Teams – North American Floorball League". nafloorball.com. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  9. "TV: Uppsalabo blir ägare för NAFL-klubb". Innebandymagazinet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  10. "Americký florbalový sen. Za mořem vzniká nová liga". www.ceskyflorbal.cz (in Czech). 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  11. "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.
  12. "Uusin NAFL-joukkue julkaistiin – Fresno Force ponnistaa Kaliforniasta". Pääkallo.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  13. "League Format – North American Floorball League". nafloorball.com. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  14. "North American Floorball League". FloorballPlanet. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  15. "Jaguars Announce First Head Coach". www.ftwjaguars.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
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