North American Floorball League Postpones First Season Until 2022

The North American Floorball League (NAFL) was set to begin their first season this month with four teams located in Ft. Worth (Texas), Cleveland (Ohio), Fresno (California) and Austin (Texas).

Okay what exactly is floorball?

Floorball is hockey without ice/skates.  Teams consist of five players and a goalie playing on a court.  The game was invented in Sweden in the 1960s.  There are currently 74 countries playing floorball.  The sport has recently been recognized by the International Olympic Committee and may become an official Olympic sport in future games.

So, now the NAFL is launching the first "professional" league in the United States.  The Ft. Worth Jaguars, Texas Tornadoes, Fresno Force and Cleveland Buccaneers were scheduled to play over the course of four weekends, with each team hosting the other teams one weekend in round robin play.  Games were to be played on Friday evenings, all day Saturday, and Sunday mid-day.  The home team would play one game on each of the three days, and the other teams will play on two or three of the days, depending on the schedule.  Each team was set to play three games each weekend.  Playoffs and the championship game would have been held on the 5th weekend.

On May 19th, the league decided to postpone the season until 2022.  League Commissioner Ryan Connor announced that the inaugural season of the NAFL will be postponed until Summer 2022.  The decision is due to the continued travel restrictions between North America and the European Union.  “We waited as long as was practical to make the decision, but in the end the players, coaches, and officials must be given sufficient time to make travel plans” said Connor.  Every major sports league in the world has been affected by the pandemic, and the NAFL is no exception.  “We are moving forward with plans for 2022, and while we are of course disappointed that we will not be playing this summer, we are committed to using this pause to grow the visibility of the league with new partnerships and clubs coming on board.”   The NAFL had previously announced the formation of its youth leagues, and those leagues are still moving forward this summer.

In keeping with the goal of growing the league’s exposure, the NAFL is proud to announce its partnership with EXEL Floorball.  The EXEL Floorball Precision Pro League ball will be the “Official Ball of the NAFL”.  EXEL is a proven company with some of the highest quality products on the market.  Coupled with their passion about bringing floorball to new areas, this partnership is a perfect fit.  Look for official NAFL – EXEL floorballs and packaging coming soon, including a special limited edition set featuring the first four teams in the NAFL.

If you would like more information on the league:  https://nafloorball.com/