Daniel Dalbjer: “We need to manage six games, not only three.”

It’s been almost two months since the 2021 Women’s World Championships were played in Uppsala, Sweden where Team USA climbed in the ranking and finished in 12^th place. Head coach Daniel Dalbjer shares his thoughts on the experience from Uppsala and some thoughts as we look ahead to Singapore 2023.

Team USA gathered in Uppsala a week before the Championships started to prepare. “It was a great set-up and our team manager, Ann Lövgren, had planned everything down to the detail. As a coach I could focus on the team and getting the most from the players during the games,” says Daniel Dalbjer and adds that he was impressed by what Uppsala and IFU Arena delivered in terms of the tournament. “Having everything in one place at IFU Arena was fantastic. Uppsala delivered a great experience and really showcased floorball,” he says.

Before the Championships started Team USA played a training game against a team from the local club Sirius who play Allsvenskan, the second-highest league in Sweden, which ended in a tie. “That was an important game for us as it gave me a chance to see the players in action and I think we all had a good feeling after that game. That game was something that we absolutely had in mind as we faced Denmark in our first 2021 WFC game,” Daniel Dalbjer explains. He says that he was impressed with how the players conducted themselves in that match-up, which ended in a loss of 6 – 9. “Considering the team Denmark had we did very well. I was also happy with how our players listened and delivered on what we talked about during the game. Especially as we changed tactics in the middle of the game.”

The game vs Italy ended in a clear win 16 – 0. “Looking at the result it of course appears easy, but you still have to do the work. You don’t score 16 goals without putting in the effort and it was positive to see a lot of players delivering in that game,” he says.

When it comes to the game vs Thailand, which ended in a win 8 – 6, Daniel Dalbjer says that this was the game where the team really gave it all. “Towards the end of the game we could see that the players started to get tired, but they really gave it all mentally and physically to win and to climb in the ranking.”

Daniel Dalbjer explains that the team didn’t really have what it took to compete in the final three games. “Looking back, we didn’t have much more to give when we faced Slovakia, Latvia, and Russia and we lost with big numbers. I still think it was important to get these three additional games, but we were not able to do ourselves justice. We had too few players to start with and with some players getting sick and some injuries it became too tough for us. It’s also clear that everyone needs to be better prepared physically to be able to play that many games in so few days,” he says.

Looking ahead, Daniel Dalbjer says the focus is now on Singapore 2023. “We’ve begun to plan for what we need to accomplish going forward when it comes to sponsors, players, training camps, etc. We need a deeper bench, both when it comes to players but also in the support staff around the team,” he says and explains that everything should be some 30 percent better when the team arrives in Singapore at the end of 2023.

Before the team touches down at the airport in Singapore, Team USA however first need to win the qualifying games vs Canada in February 2023. To do so means more organized and consistent team training throughout the year.

The first opportunity will present itself on April 27-29, 2022, during a Women’s Team training camp in Fort Worth, Texas. Following the training sessions with their coaching staff, the Women’s Team will participate in the Texas Open Tournament (April 29- May 1^st). These are just two components of the major floorball event, also combining the Men’s World Floorball Championship Qualifier (April 29-30) and a U19 Men’s training camp. Female players 14 and older are invited to participate in the Women’s Team training camp. Please reach out to Alyssa.zinsser@usfba.org with interest and questions. More information on the Women’s training camp to follow.