I wanted to give everyone an update on where we are with the Men’s Under-19 team following the US Nationals Championships three weeks ago in Dallas. The MU19 Development Team had a lot of new faces on it and showed a LOT of potential and poise in finishing 9
th out of ten teams! Multiple people throughout the floorball community commented to me on how surprised they were at the teamwork and hustle of this new group of young men.
I want to thank Stefan Hedlund, Joakim Soederbaum, and Case Connor for coaching the team during the weekend. Many of the players and parents spoke very highly of the instruction our team received both during the camp on Saturday morning, as well as during the tournament itself. The experience brought by Coach Hedlund from his time as US Men’s coach was evident in how well the boys played together and how hard they fought!
Now the time has come to announce our first two staff members for the 2025 World Championship cycle. I’m very excited to introduce Tim Scott as our new Men’s U19 Head Coach! Tim comes to us with over 27 years of coaching experience in USA Hockey including his current role as Head Coach of the Chicago Jets and he also holds a Level 5 certification. In 2022, he brought his youth team to the US Youth Nationals in Chicago and competed against the other youth floorball clubs in the country. In 2023, Tim ran the NAFL Combine during the Texas Open weekend.
Coach Scott is enthusiastic about joining USA Floorball! He comments: “The struggle to achieve is the path to emerge victorious. I look forward to the successes and failures equally and intend to build a foundation that will drive this game and team towards an even more successful future. It’s going to be a fun ride – let’s go USA!”
Coach Scott will be responsible for selecting his assistant coaches and other player development staff, such as the strength and conditioning coach, goalie coach, and any other staff he feels he needs. I have forwarded any applications to him that were sent to me, but if you want to email him directly, he can be reached at
gojetshockey@gmail.com. A USA Floorball email will be assigned to him shortly.
Our other exciting addition to the staff is our new Assistant General Manager, Keene Addington. Most of the USA Floorball community either knows Keene personally or knows him by reputation. Keene is the leader of the Chicago Floorball Club, which routinely puts one or two teams into national tournaments – the Chicago Dogs and the Chicago Mad Dogs. Addington is passionate about growing the game and improving the competitiveness of the US programs abroad at IFF events such as the World Floorball Championships. Keene’s son, Keene IV, recently competed in Denmark at the 2023 Men’s U19 WFC and is currently trying out for the US Men’s team.
In the past, Addington and his wife, Megan, organized the 2022 Chicago Open, which was co-located with the 2022 US Youth Nationals in Chicago. During that weekend, the Addington’s and the Chicago Floorball Club hosted 16 teams (9 adult, 7 youth) from 11 different programs around the country. Running two courts side-by-side on a common floor, Keene and his team organized a near-perfect event, with much acclaim by all participants. In his professional life, Addington is a restauranteur, operating the Tortoise Supper Club in downtown Chicago, and Gussie’s Handmade Italian on the Chicago Northside.
Addington is eager to bring his business leadership experience to the front office of the Men’s U19 program. “I’m excited to work with Brian to build an organizational team that will be a model for all levels of USA Floorball moving forward,” he says. “Building teams that have clear goals and are given the space to run on their own is a passion of mine. Hire great people, give them the tools to be successful, communicate with them and let them do their thing!”
As AGM, Keene will be responsible for the “front office” of the team. This includes marketing, fundraising, equipment and merchandise, travel, scouting, and finances. The list is long, but as Keene indicated, the pool of volunteers who are passionate about floorball in the US is also long and has a LOT of talent available to draw on. As with the coaching staff, those who are interested in working on the front office staff should contact Keene directly at
keene.addington@gmail.com.
Please join me in welcoming these two talented men to the Men’s Under 19 team! I’m very excited to work with them both to build on the program’s successes over the past 4 years and to take it even higher! Watch for more announcements to come as we get ready to participate at the Golden Gate Cup on December 2-3 in San Jose, California.
