PRESS RELEASE - CBHA & FC Partnership
May 6th, 2009CBHA & Floorball Canada
A partnership for the world to follow
The CBHA is proud to announce it has officially recognized Floorball Canada as an associate member. The goal of the CBHA has always been to provide and engage Canadians with affordable, safe and fun ways of playing the sport of hockey at a grassroots level. The objective of this union is to engage Canadians with additional forms of play. The games of ball hockey and floorball employ distinct rules and types of equipment, yet they are quite similar in that they augment the skills of a hockey player in totality. The playing seasons are complimentary, with floorball leagues operating mainly in the fall, winter and spring and ball hockey taking over our rinks in the summer. The partnership will offer hockey enthusiasts a wider range of options for off-ice play year round.
The CBHA sees this union as one where cross-pollination will help grow our sport and over time make our players stronger and more competitive. Because each game promotes somewhat unique athletic and hockey playing abilities, we believe those exposed to both sports will naturally become better rounded players. We see floorball players playing ball hockey, and ball hockey players playing Floorball, enhancing their success within either sport. Within our association, members of both sports will enjoy insurance coverage, training of officials and coaches, and be linked to events across the country and the globe. The sports will also join forces in executive discussions at Annual General Meetings and share information, with overall growth being the common objective.
We plan on being an even bigger player as part of the hockey mosaic of Canada; this union signals that fact.
In addition, the CBHA High Performance group is committed to Floorball Canada being integrated into its World Champion pedigree of Coaches and General Managers as part of encouraging the achievement of international-level prominence in Floorball. Make no mistake; the mandate of any Team Canada is to win hockey championships. CBHA High Performance Director George Gortsos states: “We will elevate Floorball by tapping into our strong pools of players, providing the knowledge we have used to dominate World Ball Hockey and in doing so minimizing the time it will take to compete at the level of Scandinavian countries who created Floorball and remained uncontested for years. Simply said, our goal is to bring Canada to the top where it belongs”.
When asked about the benefit of developing a partnership with the CBHA, Floorball Canada President, Randy Sa’d, stated: “Floorball has a great deal of potential in Canada and has already made tremendous strides in the short time it has been around. Working with the CBHA will allow us to leverage the extensive internal structures, government support and cross-Canada leadership the CBHA has worked tirelessly to establish over the past 30 years. We look forward to helping grow our collective membership base and organizational strength and in doing so, exemplifying how other nations can take advantage of the synergy that exists between ball hockey and floorball.”
CBHA President Domenic DiGironimo sees this as a signal to the hockey world that the CBHA is more than ever ready to take on the task of getting the game of hockey out to more and more Canadians. He states: “Partnering with Floorball provides our provincial associations and operators more opportunity to reach a greater number of players with the game of hockey. Floorball strengthens our ability to reach communities at the grassroots level; a winning strategy for all.”
It is our intention to show the World how these two sports can work in unison and thrive within an organization, and within its nation. Stay tuned for more news in the future.
If you have questions for either organization, please direct your inquiries to:
CBHA Executive Director, George Gortsos
56 Pennsylvania Ave, unit 5
Concord, ON L4K 3V9
905.738.3323
coach33@rogers.com
