First international match in Chemnitz

Georg Schmidt

The town's first floorball team was founded 18 years ago. Only as a section within the SG Adelsberg did the men from the Central German national league make a rapid rise, which was not to reach its peak with participation in the 1st Floorball Bundesliga in 2002. In 2007, the club celebrated its greatest success to date by finishing runners-up in the men's German championship. One person who has been with the club since the beginning and knows the action both on the pitch and behind the boards is Georg Schmidt. The current club chairman has put his heart and soul into floorball (as floorball is known today) and still has big plans for the club. On behalf of the entire Floor Fighters Chemnitz team, he is our man of the week.

How did you get into floorball?
Georg Schmidt: I started playing floorball at school. I was the first year at Schloßteichgymnasium, where floorball was offered as a school sport. Back then, about 20 years ago, I thought it was cool. It's thanks to Jochen Finaske, who was in charge of the school clubs and then founded the section at SG Adelsberg, that we have this sport in our town. He recruited the good people from the school sector. That's how the first contacts were made.

But you started small. It didn't start right away with the 1st Bundesliga?
First it was the Central German state league on a small pitch, then the regional league on a large pitch. By the third year, we were already playing in the Bundesliga. But the whole structure was completely different then. Back then, there were only five or six teams playing at that level. And there was no substructure like the second division is today.

Today there are ten teams in the 1st Bundesliga. The second division is divided into a northern and southern league. The FLOOR FIGHTERS now also have a broad base in all age groups. Five youth teams, one women's team, two men's teams and one senior team. Over 230 members chase after the small plastic ball.

How much has the sport grown over the past 20 years?
Huge growth! Even the number of members in the association has increased. There are currently over 10,000, which is also one of the prerequisites for joining the German Olympic Sports Confederation. This happened at the end of 2014. However, the big goal of making floorball an Olympic sport is a very lengthy process. This is not expected to happen until 2024 at the earliest.

What fascinated you about floorball?
It's a sport that's very easy to learn and requires very little equipment. All you need is a stick. And it's a fair, yet incredibly dynamic sport.

How did your career progress from player to CEO?
I think I've filled every position in the club. It started as a player, of course. That went on for quite a while. I also played one season in Heidelberg. Then there was a shortage of coaches and I was a coach in the 1st Bundesliga for a year. And then I switched to team management and only played in the regional league at the same time. We founded the Floor Fighters Chemnitz e.V. in 2009 and I've been chairman ever since.

Your record is impressive.
The highlight at national league level was the runner-up title in the 2006/2007 season, when we had a really good squad and thought we would be at the top forever. We learnt very quickly that this was wrong. Two seasons later, we were relegated. But then we came back up again very quickly. Then the development in sport was more across the board. The competition has become incredibly fierce and we're now really happy that we've been playing in the Bundesliga without interruption since we were promoted again. The step from purely amateur sport to semi-professional sport has been successful. You have to invest from all sides. Not only the players, but the entire environment must grow. The general conditions in the Bundesliga are completely different now than they were back then. For a match day in the Bundesliga, you need at least 20 people behind the team, all working and preparing non-stop in different positions. From the secretariat to admissions, stewards and advertising. And that simply wasn't the case in the past. It's taken on a whole new dimension now.

Around 200 to 250 spectators watch the games of the Floor Fighters Chemnitz in the first Bundesliga. "That's great for a marginal sport," says Georg Schmidt. The team consists of many young players who have little or no Bundesliga experience. "Many of them saw our team as a stepping stone and left," says the 36-year-old. However, the club has achieved considerable success in the past. Georg Schmidt would like to build on this again. "Of course, the goal at Bundesliga level is always to attack the top. You work towards that for decades. We've succeeded once so far. But now it's getting more and more difficult," says the father of five about the runner-up title in 2007.

Is Chemnitz a floorball stronghold?
Chemnitz is definitely a stronghold. We have over 230 members in the club. Few clubs in Germany have so many. Our youth programme is leading the way. Two years ago, the U15 team were German champions, and last year we were German champions with the U17 team. We cover the spectrum from kindergarten to senior level. I always notice that I no longer have to explain the term floorball. Five years ago it was different.

In addition to the sporting highlights of recent years, the FLOOR FIGHTERS and all floorball fans and interested parties can look forward to another sporting treat. On 26 November, the national floorball teams from Germany and the Czech Republic will play against each other in the Schloßteichhalle. "The first ever international floorball match in Chemnitz," reveals Schmidt. "I assume that the game will be sold out with around 650 seats."

Why in Chemnitz in particular?
We are an attractive and reliable partner for the German Floorball Association. We have organised the Final Four for two years. This is the cup final weekend with four teams each, men and women. The association was very happy with it.

Ultimately, it was our great wish to organise an international match in Chemnitz and we wanted an attractive opponent. We got that with the Czech Republic. Now, before the World Championships in Riga, it was a unique opportunity for both Germany and the Czech Republic to test themselves again. The travelling distances are not infinitely long. It should be a real endurance test and that is the case with the Czech Republic as an opponent. The Czech Republic are number three or four in the world. Germany is in the top eight. But rather at the bottom.

You've had a few national team players in your ranks in recent years. Will they play in the international match?
Erik Schuschwary, who was born in Dresden and played in the Czech Republic last year, has been playing for us since this season. He has already worn the captain's armband for the national team and is a very strong player.

Do you get feedback from your sporting guests when they are in Chemnitz about how they like the city?
If we take the Final Four as an example: We rented the entire youth hostel at Getreidemarkt for the weekend. This meant that the players had a super short walk to the Hartmannhalle. It's also a great hall for events of this size. Many clubs in Germany are certainly a little envious of our sporting conditions.

You were born in Karl-Marx-Stadt and have now also played in Finland: What do you like about Chemnitz?
It's a manageable city. Not too big and not too small. You can find everything you want. A good mix of sport and culture. From a family point of view, you sometimes wish there was a better infrastructure, for example the cycle path network.

Our final question: Do you need to encourage the people of Chemnitz?
I think a lot is happening and many people are getting involved. But it's never wrong to encourage people to get involved in voluntary work, whether in sporting, cultural or social areas. Lending a hand, helping - that's important! This also creates a sense of community that can make a big difference.