Innebandy

Hey y'all

another update for you all blog freaks :) I'm in Stockholm now,... not much to report but I didn't want to keep my audience waiting for a new post... :p

Last Friday I tried playing innebandy for the first time ever... yeah... innebandy, I didn't misspell it heh... It's a big sport in Sweden... the rules are similar to ball hockey but at the same time it's nothing like hockey and not to offend anybody, I think it's a gay version of hockey for the wimps who can't stand the physical punishment of a good hockeygame.

Yeah, I might as well explain what innebandy is... they play with this "mini-stick"... the biggest one you can find on market is 101cm long.. and the blade is just composed of plastic frames, not solid plastic... the ball they play with is... *gulp*... whiffle ball :) yup, the exactly same ball we used to play t-ball with when we all were 4 years old or something heh...

• Helmets and hockey gloves are not used
• Physical part of the game are kept to the minimum, anything more than a nudge will send you to the penalty box for 2 minutes
• You cannot lay/slide down on the floor to prevent other teams' passes or shots or you'll be sent to the penalty box for 2 minutes
• Cannot touch the whiffle ball with your head, your arms, hands.
• Goalies wear very thin padding, and are the only player on the team that uses a helmet
• Goalies usually stay on their knees while protecting the net (the net is smaller than hockey regulation net but bigger than lacrosse net)
• There is a like 1.5 foot tall wall around the gym, if the ball gets over the wall there is no face off but the opposing team gets to pass in the ball just like soccer when the ball gets out of the bounds
• You cannot interfere with other player's stick, you cannot put your stick under other player's legs...

Yeah, for our Canadian standards, the game might seem very backwards when compared to our traditional hockey ideals... but at least there is one good thing I can say about this game, with shorter sticks, we are required to bend our knees more often and it's a fast game... everybody is always running all the time so it's a good exercise.

In innebandy, players are usually thin and quick contrasting with ball hockey where there is usually a fair balance of smaller and quicker player with bigger and physical players. I personally like ball hockey better because it's more easier to control the ball, the playing area is bigger, and its more physical! :)

There is usually deaf people playing Innebandy every fridays in Stockholm, I might try asking them to see if they want to try playing ball hockey one night and you never know, I might trigger some kind of new sports revolution in Sweden :p

For you Canadians, I've posted some pictures of Innebandy so you can get some idea of what it looks like...

For you Swedes, this is what ball hockey looks like (the better indoor hockey sport :p)

I got most of those images from the International Ball hockey Site I thought it was funny that they emphasized that the stick they use in Ball Hockey is "normal stick", I wonder what that makes an innebandy stick? :p

Anyway, I guess I'll continue playing innebandy when given the opporuntiy for the sole purpose to give my body some exercise... :p

Have fun,

bg0ur3