By David Nagel
The rush and thrill of representing his country is driving Gavin Staindl to be fully prepared for his fifth Men’s World Floorball Championships in November.
The 17-man Australian side, which includes Staindl and six Pakenham teammates, qualified for the World Championships in Switzerland after finishing fourth at the recent Asia-Oceania Championships (AOC) in Singapore.
Australia, who had won the previous three AOC titles, defeated Japan and Korea in the opening rounds of the tournament before falling 4-2 to the Philippines.
The loss thrusted the Aussies into a cut-throat quarter-final contest against New Zealand, where Australia won 9-0 to earn a berth at Winterthur and Zurich later this year.
Australia qualified for its first biannual World Championships in 2010 (Finland), and subsequently qualified in ‘14 (Sweden), ‘16 (Latvia) and ‘18 (Czech Republic), before Covid caused it to abandon plans of returning to Finland for the delayed championships late last year.
Missing those championships, in December 2021, came at a massive cost.
“It really sucks, because had we gone to the World Championships last year, we would have qualified for the World Games, where sports go through to get to the Olympics,” Staindl said.
“The World Games are taking place as we speak, in Birmingham, USA, and Floorball is part of that.
“But we had no choice…restrictions just wouldn’t allow us to leave the country.”
To get back on the world stage, the Aussies would have to qualify through Asia.
“We hadn’t lost a game since 2012, so our goal was to win it,” Staindl said.
“We’ve been the best in Asia for a long time, but circumstances were against us this time around.
“The Philippines has a lot of European imports who basically haven’t stopped playing through Covid, while we had to stop.
“So, this was our first time for a long time against really good competition.
“But our number-one goal was to qualify for World Champs…and we did that which is very exciting.”
Staindl has been a trailblazer for the sport, participating in all of Australia’s previous World Championship campaigns and playing 60 games for his country.
He was part of a famous 11-9 victory over Russia in 2014, and a 4-2 victory over Poland in ’18.
The adrenalin rush of those occasions is what is driving him to achieve more.
“The thrill that you get from representing your country, in front of thousands and thousands of people, with some of your best mates, is the pinnacle of sport,” he said.
“I just wish everyone got to experience it.
“The rush you get, when you’re on court and about to take a face-off, and there are thousands of people watching, then online, friends and family at home, or in the stands…it’s impossible to explain.
“I always take a moment to think how lucky I am, not many get a chance to do it.
“It’s a buzz, an absolute rush.”
Floorball is basically Ice hockey without the ice and skates, where five field players and one goal-keeper play a fast-paced and physical sport, over three 20-minute periods, that is very attractive to the eye…and a professional sport in Europe.
Being not so popular in Australia – well it has its pros and cons.
“I love the fact that it’s not a well-known sport in Australia, and while that is sometimes an irritation, for the people that play it gives them a chance to be part of something special,” Staindl said.
“Even when I’m coaching juniors now, there’s a genuine chance that some of these kids could be playing state level, national level, or international level…and it gives them a real purpose.
“I felt that coming through the ranks as well…that the sport gives you a chance to be someone.
“I’ve travelled the world, I’ve seen so much of this globe because of this sport and being unknown is actually one of the good things about it.”
According to Staindl, being always involved in the action is a main attraction as well.
“It’s a pretty free-flowing kind of sport,” he said.
“In other sports you generally play in certain zones, but in floorball everyone plays everywhere.
“I’ll go for a run out of defence and then all of a sudden, I’m in the forward line, someone is covering me, and then I’ll drop back afterwards.
“They’re loosely defined positions and it’s more about team cohesion and working together as a unit.
“You can also really take it to an opponent…it can be pretty physical at times.”
Australia’s most recent World Championship campaign was also its most successful, defeating Poland (4-2) and Thailand (4-3) to make it through to the play-off rounds for the first time.
Floorball in Australia has come along way since the 39-1 thumping the Aussies were handed by world-powerhouse Sweden in 2010.
“I played in that game, it was 2-1 and we were like, ‘c’mon boys’, but then they scored the next 37 goals,” Staindl said laughing.
“And they rested their top-10 stars, they were that confident that they were not going to lose to Australia.”
While still not at the standard of floorball’s elite – Finland and Sweden, who have shared all 13 world titles – Staindl said the rest of the world is starting to treat the Aussies with respect.
“It’s improving, it’s definitely improving, not against Finland or Sweden, because that’s a whole new level altogether, but against Denmark or Poland they’re not taking us for granted anymore…and that feels great,” he said.
“Our goal is to make top-10…we just missed it last time so that has to be our number-one goal.
“If we can get through our pool, that will open us up to the rest of the world.”
Australia, ranked 13, has Denmark (10), Philippines (16) and Poland (12) in its group and will need to finish top two to make it through to the play-off rounds.
From there, one win against a top-eight ranked side will see it through to the quarter-finals.
Australia kicks of its campaign against Denmark on Sunday 6 November.
