10.
2016
Østholm - The Bomber
Sweden’s Martin Östholm is the hottest name among today’s international top defenders. Of all his achievements, the 28-year old Pixbo defender is best known for his unbelievable shot. One of these days, World Champion Östholm will very likely represent a Swiss club.
Martin Ostholm had scored a great deal of goals for hic club Pixbo Wallenstam as well as for the Swedish national team. (Photo Per Wiklund)
”Playing in Switzerland is something I have given a lot of thought about and it sounds like a lot of fun. It is something I absolutely will want to try at some point”, Martin Östholm says in the middle of getting ready for another season for Pixbo Wallenstam. ”In Sweden, it is hard to see myself representing any club besides Pixbo but it is better to never say never.” It is a published fact though that Östholm has been contacted by Wiler-Ersigen and other Swiss clubs already. It is just who and when will have the honor that remains to be seen.
Martin Ostholm so far collected two World Champion titles. Will there be more after the tornament in Riga?
Ready for the next gold
Martin Östholm and the whole world of floorball are looking into a special season as the men’s WFC title will be decided in the Latvian capital Riga. Östholm is preparing for his third men’s WFC tournament with two straight gold medals under his belt.
It might or might not be a coincidence that Sweden regained the throne in 2012 in Zürich with Martin Östholm having made the team for the first time. In December 2014, he was a member of the team that had the rare honor of celebrating the title before their Swedish home crowd in Gothenburg. ”That has been clearly the most memorable moment of my career this far”, Östholm admits. ”And of course, our goal is to renew that success in Riga and I believe that is what is going to happen.”
Besides his well-based Swedish self-confidence, Östholm has a hint for a surprise to keep an eye on. This time, he does not expect to face Finland in the final. ”I have a feeling that Switzerland led by David Jansson can snatch the final from the Finns as long they have a good day.”
With a 3-2 thriller victory in the 2014 final, Sweden will start yet another WFC season as favorites. ”The main reason for our strength is the greater amount of elite class players in Sweden. We have a greater pool of talent than any other nation to choose from. In the rink, I think Swedish elite floorball is a bit more tactical and prepared. You do not necessarily just play your own game to win.”
Exploding water-melons
Martin Östholm’s statistics do not belong to your typical defenseman. In WFC in 2012, he scored eight goals, in 2014, six. His screamer from the point to the top corner against Switzerland in the semi-final was praised as the most spectacular goal of WFC2014. ”Well, maybe one of my personal top three”, he smiled in a video interview filmed to marvel the occasion.
You do not need to scrounge YouTube for long to find videos of Martin Östholm’s shot. He is shooting holes in water tanks. He is making water melons explode. The force and accuracy of his shot will not be matched by anyone for a while.
Free kicks and penalties were Martin Östholm’s specialities already as a junior football player in Sundsvall in northern Sweden. But you do not become a top shot by just talent. ”Training is the most important part and during my career, I have stayed after training to fire thousands of shots to achieve this level. Also, first of all you will have to master the details of different shooting techniques.”
During a floorball PR tour in the Far East, local spectators just could not believe their eyes seeing Martin Östholm fire off the ball. One of them offered to stop a shot with his thigh. Later, Martin Östholm got to autograph the bruise his shot had left on the poor fan’s skin.
Idol Zinedine Zidane
The beginning of the future World Champion’s career had all the usual influences. A sport-oriented family in Granlo in the outskirts of Sundsvall with active brothers and a variety of ball sports. The youngest one had to do with hand-me-down equipment from his brothers but that did not slow him down. ”My two older brothers were always playing and took me along to try football and bandy but I also tried ice hockey and floorball. Me and my friends had a football team where our coach encouraged us to also find something for the winter and we founded our floorball team. For most of us, that actually soon became number one. I quit serious football at 16 and since it’s been just floorball.”
Young Martin Östholm’s sporting idol was a football player, though. ”I always admired Zinedine Zidane”. A midfielder like himself on the football pitch.
Martin Ostholm would only play SSL in Pixbo, where he is the key player and a captain.
Talent is not enough
Becoming a top player was not a walk in the park. After choosing floorball as his number one sport, young Martin Östholm applied for a floorball gymnasium but was rejected. His grades in English were not good enough and neither did the board see that much potential as a floorball player. But revenge was near. Soon after, Östholm was picked for Sweden’s U19 national team which was followed by a call from the school that just rejected him. He said no to the gymnasium but yes to the national team.
Playing for Sweden, the young center was soon transformed into a defenseman. Back there, the young talent had more room for his lethal shot, already well known. In 2005 in Latvia, Martin Östholm became U19 World Champion. In the tournament, he had two assists of which one in the final against Finland. ”I have lived greatly off my talent, my eye for the game and my shot but those are not enough to take one to the top. During the years, I have worked really hard for the physical part to develop and become even better."
Additionally, Martin Östholm is one of the players any coach wants on his team to send out there when the game has to be won. In Swedish, it is called ”vinnarskalle” and Martin Östholm’s got it in full. ”I believe that's something you are born with but it also shows that I used to play a lot with my brothers and I was always prepared to do everything to win.There’s a lot of that still left but I have also been able to lose the negative sides of all that will and keep focused.” So the scoring has stayed but the high numbers of penalty minutes that plagued the talent’s first floorball years have become less and less.
Pixbo got lucky
Fresh off gymnasium and already a star in Sundsvall City in the first division, Martin Östholm had been offered contracts by most of the Svenska Superligan clubs. After thinking it over with his parents, Östholm decided he did not wish to stay up north in Norrland which ruled out IBK Dalen but at he same time Stockholm felt a bit too much. Swedish west coast felt like the right choice which meant picking between Pixbo or Warberg. Pixbo Wallenstam became the lucky one and has got to enjoy his services ever since.
Becoming a star was not easy in Pixbo, either. Martin Östholm’s first seasons were troublesome and injury-ridden. Neither was it easy mentally for a star of a small club to suddenly be a young player fighting for his position in a big club a long way from home. But then it all started coming loose. In 2009, Östholm made his debut in the men’s national team and the next season he became captain of the Pixbo team.
Not even a Swedish top player can dream of a life of a football or hockey star though if not playing in Switzerland. ”During the season, we practice four to five times a week add one or two games. It takes enough time to be a bit strenuous when you remember that we all also have a job or studies to take care of.“ This could probably be changed in Switzerland. But when?
