Canberra Floorball Open 2011

The hastily arranged but smoothly run inaugural Canberra Floorball Open was held at mpowerdome on 8-9 October 2011, with teams coming down the highway from Newcastle and Wollongong playing against three Canberra teams in the men’s competition and two women’s teams.

Played without finals, the men's round-robin competition started with a "we'll be mates after the game ends" home-town derby which set the scene for a day with some fiery clashes and brilliant game play that thrilled the gathered crowds. Friendships were re-established and individual brilliance from the day exaggerated over a steak and a game of pool at the CFO party. Showing the other teams how it's done on the north coast, the Cobras disappeared into the Canberra night to establishments unknown (although the "Moose" stamps on their arms the next day may have given us a hint).

Sunday continued to produce games resulting in high scores and intense competition, setting up an unofficial final between the Cobras and Chelsea who were to battle it out for top spot in the second last game of the weekend. Chelsea FC came away victorious, finishing CFO undefeated.

With the assistance of a Sydney goalkeeper and one of WA’s finest, Canberra formed two full women’s teams, giving many players their first opportunity to experience full court floorball. With several new players finding the full form fun and addictive, we hope to see players from both Red and Black in the Chargettes team when we next travel. A very close best-of-three competition ended in Canberra Black claiming a narrow victory.

ACTFA would like to thank everyone who was involved in playing, organising and supporting throughout the weekend and look forward to inviting everyone to Canberra for CFO in 2012.