Team Australia: Happy to be an underdog

What is the ‘Aussie Spirit’ made of and what is the team’s goal for WFC2010? Grant Mead, the Head Coach of Team Australia, is here to answer.

G’day Grant! How does floorball stand out in a country of a million team sports; rugby, cricket, field hockey, Aussie rules, just to name a few?

Floorball is very small in Australia with only approx 1800 regular players across Australia, so it really doesn’t compare to Aussie Rules, cricket, rugby, soccer etc., all who would have over a million people playing at one level or another. However the Australian Floorball Association (AFA) is now looking for long term growth and sustainability and is doing this by trying to develop floorball in schools, which we believe is the main priority for floorball Down Under.

How did floorball arrive in Australia, what is the history like in short?

Floorball was brought to Australia by a couple of Finns who had a passion for floorball and who believed that Australians would also love the sport. They brought over some sticks and balls, made up some goals and the sport was born. They started an association in 1996, picked some local hockey players and took them to the WFC in 1998.

How was Australia's journey to the final tournament this time? What is the goal for the WFC2010 and how will you reach it?

For Australia to come to WFC we needed to place in the top 3 from the WFC qualification games in Singapore recently. We achieved that goal, however we did not play up to the level we believe the team was capable of playing. When I became the coach of the Aussie team I set some short, medium and long term goals for the team. The short term one was to qualify for WFC which we have achieved, some of the medium term goals are to develop the players’ game understanding and technical skills, have the players gain experience by watching and playing against the best players in the world and to learn from our experiences.

The long term goal is to make the national team a more competitive team on the world stage, also against the European nations. We are looking towards 2012 and 2014 as to when we will have stronger teams and hopefully more success.
 
Our goal for WFC 2010 is to learn as much as we can from the top nations and provide valuable experience to our players.We believe by playing smart, disciplined floorball we will challenge the teams in our group.

Kangaroos, Wallabies, Sockeroos... In Australia, the national representative team usually has a nickname. What is the floorball team called?

Ah yes, that has been a question many people have asked and as yet I don’t believe we have been able to come up with a good nickname... Maybe you have some good suggestions?

Let’s see if the fans come up with something! What is Team Australia made of this year? What are your strengths?

The team won’t be selected until much later in the year, however as we have those medium and long term goals set out then I would anticipate that we will have a team that is made up of both young and some more experienced players. With the young players we will be looking for those with very good potential who are young enough to still be playing in 4 or more years’ time. We will be looking for very athletic type players who can learn quickly and who have good technical skills.

What is the famous "Aussie Spirit" made of?

That is kind of difficult to put into words, but basically it describes the ‘never say die, never give up’ type attitude. Aussie's will always support the underdogs and also like being the underdogs. When we have our backs against the wall or seems like we have no chance is when the true Aussie Spirit comes alive. History has shown that Aussies will always fight when others would give up. Never underestimate Aussie Spirit!

Thanks a lot Grant and happy training!