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WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS UPDATE

The IFBA is pleased to begin updating information pertaining to the next World Broomball Championships to our International Broomball membership. The enclosed is based on the recent visit to Innsbruck, Austria, in May for the 2010 World Broomball Championships area familiarization with city officials. The visit was also an opportunity to schedule a special meeting with European broomball representatives to discuss future broomball operations in Europe with the IFBA. A report on the results of the meeting will be separate from this update.

Marc Desparios and I would like to thank everyone in Innsbruck, Telfs and Bolzano Italy for the wonderful reception we encountered during each meeting. The itinerary for the short stay (5 days), was extremely comprehensive due to the necessary information required pertaining to finding venues suitable to facilitate the 40 teams and 1000 guests projected to attend the next World Championships. This was the second visit to Innsbruck, the first time was prior to the 2008 World Championships to get a commitment from the area and more recently May 12 to 18, to sit with city officials in Innsbruck and Telfs (20 minutes from Innsbruck), to begin physically setting up for the World Championships.

To begin, the selected suitable competition venues are located in Innsbruck, Gotzens and Telfs. Venues attached to the Innsbruck system will be arranged through the Host Coordinator, Mr. Matthias Schlipflinger. All activities in Telfs will be coordinated by Mr. Michael Raffelsberger through the Innsbruck Host. The rink at Gotzens will also be coordinated through the Innsbruck Host. I can only encourage those attending this event to take cameras to all three locations. The view is spectacular as is the entire country and all three locations have a unique signature.

Accommodations will be coordinated through a central booking system using Hotels, Gasthofs and other available accommodations to suite all budgets and requests. Mr Robert Valentini will be the official Accommodations Coordinator for the event and details will be available on the www.internationalbroomball.com web site. Teams will still be required to register before obtaining the information for special accommodations set aside for the broomball festival. Robert has assured the IFBA the rates will be the lowest rates available even better than internet published rates. Mr. Sven Beissel, Hotel Manager, and his staff at the Innsbruck Hilton provided us with an exquisite tour of the property including the adjoining Casino, and the views were breath taking no matter which room is used and amenities too numerous to list at this time.

Availably of ground transportation and the best rental agency is still being researched, however, for teams arriving by air; the IFBA highly recommends using Munich International Airport as your destination. Innsbruck is less than 2 hours from Munich and the Autobahn highway is a direct route and fast. A WORD OF CAUTION FOR EVERYONE USING RENTAL VEHICLES! We learned after the fact, Austria requires a special permit on the windshield of any vehicle using Austrian roads. They are inexpensive to buy and readily available at any gas station for approximately 8 Euros. “However” if you are pulled over by the Police, you will be fined 150 Euros for not having a valid sticker and will still be required to pay for the decal. Travel by train is always an experience due to the convenient schedules and low cost of travel. Euro passes are available on line. I have travel extensively around Europe to Scandinavia and as far as Moscow and the rail has always been my favourite. The rail system has economy and first class fares and both are very comfortable for long distances. I would recommend buying tickets prior to boarding to save money.

Tours for those taking extended vacations will also be available through Robert Valentini’s reservation system, however, this will be posted at a later date. These tours will be for areas in Italy, Slovenia, Germany and other surrounding countries and include accommodations if requested. Packages will be available.

The location of the Registration Night will be downtown Innsbruck at the Congress Innsbruck Facilities in one of the huge “ball rooms”. The facility is large enough to have the trade show, entertainment and food for the Monday night as well as the Coaches meeting.

The IFBA will be coordinating pre-event broomball games in outlining participating countries for teams interested. We have spoken to the other member countries and most are willing to host exhibition games prior to the Worlds. These include Italy, Germany, Slovenia and Austria. The IFBA will coordinate the scheduling of the games for teams interested. Information will be posted on the web site in the near future.

Marc and I cannot thank the people of Innsbruck and Telfs enough for the hospitality and reception we encountered during our brief visit. Innsbruck and Telfs are dedicated to Hosting this event and want to be your host while your teams are in Austria. Current major sponsorship for this event includes; the City of Innsbruck, Tourism Innsbruck, Tourism Telfs and AST Ice Systems all in Austria and DGel Broomball Equipment as has indicated their return as well. The IFBA is currently negotiating with the Hilton Innsbruck as the Host Hotel.

I would like to take this time to acknowledge some very key people who will be instrumental in the planning process of the 2010 World Broomball Championships:

Dr. Michael Bielowski - Olympiaworld
Mr. Matthias Schlipflinger – Olympiaworld
Mr. Friedrich Kraft – Innsbruck Tourismus
Mr. Wolfgang Teix – City of Innsbruck
Mr. Michael Rafflesburger – Tourismusverband Tirolmitte
Mr. Manfred Fink – AST Systems
Mr. Gunther Freudenschuss – AST Systems

These gentlemen and their staff made our visit less stressful due to the warm hospitality and open forum pertaining to event strategies involving the City of Innsbruck and Telfs.

The IFBA web site will be used as the Official Web Site for the 2010 World Broomball Championships. All registrations, accommodation and transportation information will be posted as it becomes available. Any questions should be directed to the IFBA since the Executive will be the best point of contact for the event during the preliminary planning process.

Teams will also be receiving hard copies of the event information including posters for the event which are now available and will be mailed once teams register and mailing information is provided.

Start preparing your teams “NOW!” …and make sure your people have valid passports. This is one World’s you won’t want to miss!

Rick Przybysz
President/CEO
IFBA