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IFBA President’s Report

Web Site Additions

The “Broomball Information Highway” has just received a long awaited injection to make participating at the World Broomball Championships that much easier. The IFBA site, in conjunction with the 2008 Host Committee will now provide pertinent information for team travel, accommodations, registration, event social nights, tours, Officials Qualification workshop and IFBA Certified Level 1 Coaching Clinic. As time gets closer to the event in Burnaby, more information will be posted to simplify team planning. To further simplify matters, instead of phoning to book practice ice of rely on emails, Teams are now able to book practice ice on line. The online bookings will also include tours and schedule evening socials during the busy week of the 2008 Broomball Festival. All made possible through a simplified online payment method. The IFBA is confident; this change in procedures will make preparations for the event less stressful and provide more time for team organizers to concentrate on building a competitive team. Congratulations to John Dalgity (IFBA Systems Tech) for the countless hours building this exclusive program for the IFBA which will be used for future IFBA events.

Information relating to Team Registration for the 2008 World Broomball Championships is also posted on this site. This information pertains to IFBA team composition policies and the competitive tier system in place for the championship format.

I have met with the 2008 Host Committee in Burnaby and can report that planning is progressing very well with venues, hotels, ground transportation and sponsorship. This will truly be a week long festival in the backyard of the 2010 Olympic Games with multi-cultural events and tours for an experience of a lifetime.

Around the World

Broomball in Mexico

The IFBA is continuing to be active promoting the sport internationally and this year IFBA Coaching representatives were invited to Monterrey Mexico to teach broomball to high school students and provide drop in ice sessions to the local community. The week was extremely busy and the team spent very little time enjoying the hotel pools.

Expanding to Poland

On the other side of the Atlantic, negotiations are still in progress to establish a Euro Broomball Championships with the first event scheduled in Poland. Meetings were established with a local Sport Marketing firm in Lodz last June. At this point in time the IFBA is optimistic to reach an agreement to host this event in Poland, however, Broomball is a new sport and educating the local athletes will be the first priority.

First Pacific Rim! Thanks Australia !

Congratulations to Broomball Australia for hosting the 1st Pacific Rim Broomball Championships in Sidney. Up dates are available on the www.broomball.com.au A full summary of the event will be posted once the event is over and finalist decided. There was disappointing at the outcome of outside participation from the IFBA membership. Canada did have a Men’s team from Ottawa attend with some participates from Japan. Players and guests who traveled to Australia will have great stories to tell when they return. It is important that future events such as Pacific Rim are supported by the membership. The future of the Pacific Rim event will be discussed at the next IFBA Governors Meeting in 2008.

IFBA Programs

IFBA Coaching Certifications Level 1

The Coaching Program was launched in 2006 at the World Championships in Minneapolis. The IFBA provided one of the most qualified coaching instructors in Broomball, Mr. George Brown, of the CBF, who provided his time to put together a clinic and for the efforts came out with less than adequate attendance. This was totally unacceptable in today’s standards as an International Federation establishing a Coaching Program. The goal of the IFBA was to have Level 1 Certified Coaches on the bench for 2008 in Tier 1 competition for men and women. Consequently, another clinic will be run in conjunction with the 2008 Worlds on the Saturday and Sunday before the competition. Those who take this course will be registered with the IFBA as Certified Level 1 Coaches. Each country thereafter will be required to use these certified coaches for certification courses within their country. Information will be posted on the web site with registration forms. The maximum attendance is 20 people.

IFBA Officials Certification/Qualification

The 2008 World Championships will require the largest contingent of officials ever assembled for this event. Officials interested in participating should send the IFBA VP-Tech their particulars expressing interest to ensure they receive information in advance. The designate Chief Official will be announced by the IFBA prior to the event. All member countries participating in the event are required to send a minimum of 1 official. IFBA Officials for the event are required to arrived on the Sunday prior to the event and attend a refresher/qualification clinic on Monday as part of the Officials registration. The 2006 event had three countries represented on the ice and the 2008 event is expected to add to the list.