OVIEDO, Fla. -- Floorball is one of the fastest growing indoor sports in the world, and two of the world's top young players are right here in Central Florida.
- Central Florida family grows up playing floorball
- Sport is similar to hockey with 5-on-5 and a goalie
- 2 young people represent USA on U19 floorball teams
“It’s a really fast paced sport and it depends a lot on being able to run and agility,” said Emilynn Williamsson, a freshman at Oviedo High School.
“It’s set up kind of like hockey where you have 5 vs. 5 and a goalie. We have a stick; it’s not as tall as a hockey stick and it has a weave that’s hard plastic, and we play with a small wiffle ball with small holes in it,” said Liam Williamsson, a senior at Ovideo High School.
“A lot of people don’t know what it is,” Liam said.
“Everyone was like, 'Wow this is so weird at first,' ” Emilynn said.
“Once they realized what it is and they try it for the first time, they really like it,” Liam said.
An Oviedo family is already ahead of the curve -- the Williamsson siblings, Luke, Emilynn, and Liam have been playing floorball since they could walk.
Now both Liam and Emilynn are representing globally on the men’s and women’s U19 USA teams.
“It really meant a lot to start off just playing here in Orlando in a league with your friends and playing with adults since you were a kid, then to go and play in the world championship, at first I didn’t think it was possible, but now that I see the opportunities. I think it’s amazing,” Liam said.
“I have been practicing a lot my whole life, but it’s so cool that I get to go here, and it’s so cool they picked people and they picked me and said yeah you get to go,” Emilynn said.
The Williamsson family continues to share their passion for floorball in hopes of growing the game.
“That’s how it really grows. You have to show people the sport, and they have to try it out,” Liam said.
So it was only fitting that I took a swing at it or at least tried my hardest. I might not be representing the USA any time soon, but I have a feeling the Williamssons will be for a while.
“Now that I have gone to this level, it feels like I’ve been apart of something, and I want to keep on being apart of it so I will train really hard to get to the men's team and keep it going, because I love playing floorball,” Liam said.
“My dream is to play for the Olympics representing the U.S. I am here and I am ready for it,” Emilynn said.