The German cup competition has started. Here’s a summary of the first rounds. Furthermore, Kimmo mentions the low amounts of spectators at German games. Should the German Federation act?
“Just this past weekend it was round 1 of round 2 in the German cup-competition. Yes, round 1 of round 2… Confused much? Don’t worry… it is not that bad. There are just so many teams signed up for the competition that they had to reserve two weekends just to get through them all. This is officially the second round but the first one for the Bundesliga -teams. They traditionally get the first round free.
Results
So here are the results after first of the two weekends of round 2:
| Hannover 96 I | ETV Piranhhas Hamburg | 2:11 | (0:5;0:3;2:3) |
| SG Black Panthers Altenbochum 1/2 | UHC Sparkasse Weißenfels | 0:51 | (0:18;0:15;0:18) |
| SG Mellensee/Rangsdorf | BTG Teutonia Bielefeld | 7:1 | (3:0;2:0;2:1) |
| SSF Dragons Bonn | FC Rennsteig Avalanche | 17:5 | (8:0;3:3;6:2) |
| Lumberjacks Rohrdorf | TSG Erlensee | 10:6 | (4:2;2:2;4:2) |
| Lilienthaler Wölfe | MFBC Leipzig | 3:24 | (1:8;1:6;1:10) |
| Floorball Tigers Magdeburg | USV Halle Saalebiber | 3:15 | (1:6;1:5;1:4) |
| USV Jena | TV Schriesheim | 0:14 | (0:6;0:5;0:3) |
| Black Lions Landsberg | DJK Holzbüttgen | 1:26 | (0:12;1:5;0:9) |
| Floorball Grizzlys Salzwedel | Baltic Storms | 6:21 | (1:4;2:6;3:11) |
| TSC Wellingsbüttel | Blau-Weiß 96 Schenefeld | 7:28 | (3:5;2:11;2:12) |
| Baltic Storms II | Hannover Mustangs | 2:24 | (1:9;1:6;0:9) |
| PSV 90 Dessau | Red Devils Wernigerode | 7:9 | (4:3;1:1;2:5) |
| TSV Calw Lions | Donau-Floorball Ingolstadt/Nordheim | 1:9 | (0:2;1:3;0:4) |
As one can see: the differences in skill level can be quite large. Where my team, DJK Holzbüttgen was on the road again to eastern parts of the country with just 11 players and managed a clear 26-1 victory over the hosts playing in the lower local leagues, I thought we did well.
The Grim Reaper
Yet the result was even subdued in comparison with some of the others. UHC Weißenfels took the three periods for target practice as they demolished the SG Black Panthers Altenbochum by 51 (!) goals! As the reigning champions MFBC Leipzig beat the remnants of the previous Bundesliga glory, Lilienthal by 24-3, Schenefeld shooting 28 goals against their opponents Wellingsbüttel; it is like the Grim Reaper went on a tour against the lower-league teams in the competitions leaving some of the undoubteldy in difficulties to find their way out of the hall any more.
Low numbers of spectators
When you consider the lopsided results with the fact that across 13 games, only 3 managed to get 100+ spectators whilst most of them stayed well below that… I think the total would be somewhere around 500 people who actually came to see the games. Even this might be somewhat optimistic since – at least based on the photos I saw of the DJK-game that reportedly had 30 people watching was off by about 20. Well, perhaps some came later but I think it is fair to say that something needs to be done. If we wish to grow the sport, attract sponsors, perhaps even entertain thoughts of having Floorball as Olympic sport one day… something needs to be done to get some a***s to the seats. Pardon my French.
Floorball Deutschland, wake up
Here’s looking at you Floorball Deutschland! Desperate times call for desperate measures. I do realize that there is a lot more money in our sport in countries like Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, and Switzerland, but we need to do something.
While I read news-articles that the Finnish League matches will be broadcast in the Czech Republic and Slovakia – with around 35 regular-season games and 20 playoff games being watched on television – in Germany, we have exactly 1 team (Hamburg) that is able to put up a stream in Youtube of their games. This only because they have done this themselves, they have managed to find the right people and secure funding for it themselves.
I would like to know what is being done on a national level in Germany in regards to this? Are there discussions, project-teams in place to look at the problem? We have lackluster attendance figures, practically non-existant presence in live-media; why would anyone want to sponsor if there’s nothing in it for them outside of some sense of social responsibility? This is a problem and it needs some addressing.
Meanwhile, while waiting for the next weekend and the rest of the cup-games to be played, I am off to see if I can see some of the Finnish games here in Germany.
Cheers, Kimmo”
Kimmo Vallema blogs about his floorball experiences in Germany. Want to know more about him? Click here to read his introduction article.
Any thoughts about floorball in Germany? Or questions you’d like to ask Kimmo? Let us know by sending an email to hello@floorballtoday.com or contacting us through social media!
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