Hockey is a well-known sport in western countries. It requires speed, strength, and decision-making while skating on ice. However, for eastern countries like the Philippines, the heat in the country makes any sport related to ice skating relatively inaccessible.
Luckily, there is such a sport that brings the same atmosphere and intensity to the country. A sport that is also played through hitting a ball with a stick and getting it to touch the back of the net—Floorball. It may be an unfamiliar sport to some, but it has been in the country since the turn of the century. But even with its time in the country, it has yet to make a great impact on the Filipino community.
With this, the Philippine Floorball League (PFL) was created in 2015 in order to popularize the sport and develop and create more opportunities to present players. One of the recent additions to the PFL is the De La Salle Floorball Club.
Club formation
The De La Salle Floorball Club did not exist a few years ago—in fact, it was only a year and a half ago that the club was formed. It began with the current club president, Zack Tamargo, enrolling in a FTTEAMS class. Once he and his friends saw the professor bring out sticks, they were confused and thought of dropping the class. They weren’t able to do so, but as the weeks went by, they grew fond of the sport, and by the end of the term, their instructor gave them the privilege of creating a floorball club, all with the permission of the Office of Sports Development (OSD). However, Tamargo states, “Just like many businesses, when they start, they have a high chance of crashing and burning.”
Finding new members for their organization was a real struggle because only a handful of students kne the sport. The challenge soon had Tamargo and his team start thinking about disbanding the club. They did not entertain this thought for too long, though. Tamargo explains, “It is a rare chance to actually be pioneers of a new sport in one of the top universities, so we could not give up.”
Soon, Ralph Ramos, a DLSU PE instructor who was also president of the Philippine Floorball Association, invited them to join one of his classes to encourage students to join. This resulted in many students joining their club during last year’s recruitment week in October, with these members now competing in different competitions.
At present
Now, with more than a hundred members, the floorball club is an upcoming sports club that Lasallians should keep their eyes open for. Since their formation as a club, they have joined several tournaments such as the Philippine Floorball League where they have competed impressively, considering that they are fairly new to the scene.
When competing, Tamargo opens the pool to everyone who wants to play. They make it a point that floorball is not “a sport that only the top students or top players can play.” He adds, “We don’t want to incorporate the thought that if you don’t have the skills, you can’t play with us during the leagues.”
Tamargo envisions the club in the future years as not only a place where the members get to play the sport of floorball and find teammates, but also a club which the members can call a family. He aspires for the club to still continue the same eagerness and joy that he experienced during the past years. “I just want them to continue proving the same excitement and fun for the future students who will be joining the club. We also want to bond together just like a second family, not just only a sports team,” he explains.
He also anticipates that more activities for both organizational development, trainings, and floorball competitions be introduced and implemented in the club. “We hope that they may have more activities so that the club won’t focus only in sports but also team building,” Tamargo shares.
Despite the novelty of floorball, Tamargo, encourages the Lasallian community to try and experience the activity, even those without prior exposure to sports. He wants to share the sentiment that age, gender, and capabilities do not hinder anyone in playing the sport. Floorball, according to Tamargo is for everyone, but one must have the drive to compete and a genuine love for the sport to be truly called a member of the floorball club. “We want the students to feel that the sports is for everyone, that there is no specific requirement. Only the value of motivation and love for the sport is needed,” Tamargo concludes.
