Tokos: Living the dream

Quick feet point player Martin Tokos is getting ready for his third WFC. In the interview we talked not only about the national team ambitions,  but also about coach Mrazek, the long trips with Dalen, the star teammates from Falun – and figure skating.

This – judged by the look – tough fella from Ostrava, who has been playing since September 2016 for his already third club in SSL, could have actually been a figure skater. His mother is a successful coach in Ostrava and if she had back then decided to let Martin try, floorball could have lost one of it’s interesting personalities. “I recall following mum to the practices, but just to have a look and skate a bit. I preferred the team sports, so I ended up playing hockey for a while. My mother didn’t really want to me follow in her footsteps, or being my coach and I am really grateful for that”, says Tokos laughingly.

He traded the expensive and time consuming hockey with floorbal when he was 9 years old and this sport suited him enormously. Soon it was clear, that he has a great potential. It showed when he played regularly with the older categories and managed to be seen anyway. As a fourteen year old, he went to Vitkovice. “You wouldn’t guess who was my first coach – Sladas!” laughs Tokos. That means Tomas Sladky (former player of Wiler-Ersigen, Waldkirch-St. Gallen and Chur in Switzerland), who later became Tokos’ companion in Vitkovce’s first line as well as the Czech national team. Together with him and Milan Tomasik (Linköping), they won the Czech Championship in 2009 and the bronze medal at WFC 2014.

And it was actually Sladky, who was the first colleague in SSL as well – in summer 2013 they went together to Jönköping. “But I almost left 4 years earlier already. At that time me and Patrik Suchanek got an offer from Josba (Finland). But coach Radomir Mrazek didn’t allow us to go. He said, we were better than that and that in a couple of years we would get better offers. And he was right”, mentions Tokos the key personality of the Vitkovice club. “I am really grateful for that. And for all, what he taught us. I am pretty sure its thanks to him that the Vitkovice guys have been given so many opportunities all over the Top leagues.” In the end it was just half a year in Jönköping for Tokos. In the middle of the season he got an interesting offer from Dalen and so he packed his belongings and moved to Umea, where he was expected already by Tomasik and Suchanek.

Falun? That’s unlikely, right?
The Dalen adventure lasted two and a half years and within this time Tokos earned himself a good reputation. His way of playing was unorthodox, he excelled with his inexhaustible running and technical finesses. But a injury in the middle of last season resulted in him losing his position in the base roster. “There are 20 players at the practice and they literally fight for the spot in the first two lines. It’s as fast and tough as in a regular game. I had to fight as well, and despite the fact that I scored some goals again, I never regained the coaches trust.”

When it was obvious after new year that Dalen was not interested in prolonging the contract, Tokos started to have a look around. Knowing that from now on he wouldn’t have to spend all year long in a bus or plane going to the  away games was pretty tempting too. “The guys from JACT had asked me, which teams I would prefer and I said – Falun and Storvreta, but that’s not likely, right? So I added some other teams. In the end they came to me and said that Falun was the only interested team so far. That was at the beginning of the semifinal series. I was really pleased, but didn’t really believe it would go through.”

But suddenly there was a contract proposal from Falun and it started being clear that the dream was about to become true. Tokos signed the contract the day after the semifinal series was over. “I didn’t hesitate a split second. Even if it should be for one year only, playing in the best team in the world is just worth that.” So now he is practicing with stars such as Enström and Galante Carlström and he couldn’t be happier: “The guys are really great. Even the biggest personalities are totally cool.”  But so far, he hasn’t been playing much. “The first line of Falun is not to be changed and believe me, I get it”, he smiles. “My goal has to be the second line, to play even if the roster gets slimmer. So far, the coach is rather using the other guys. But I still believe that my moment will come.”

Language trouble
The life in Falun meant changes for Tokos not only when it comes to floorball. For the first time, he doesn’t have any friends from Vitkovice around. “I live together with the Swiss Nicola Bischofberger and it’s fine, we don’t have any problems. We just don’t speak Czech at home anymore,” laughs Tokos. “Hopefully this might help me to improve my English as well as Swedish. After so many years it wouldn’t be that bad.”

Also the financial situation is different. “My contract in Dalen was much better. But honestly said, the offer from Falun was not about money for me. I didn’t want to pay for the possibility to be here, but I don’t need much.“ In the end, it went really well. “Part of the money I get from the club, the rest I earn through a 50% job they organized for me. I help in a hotel during breakfast time and in a restaurant during lunch. It’s great not to be just home all day long like in Umeå, where I was the whole time unemployed.”

The WFC in Riga is about to start. For Martin, it will be the third WFC in a row. After the disappointing debut in Switzerland 2012 (7th place), he enjoyed and appreciated much more the bronze medal two years ago in Gothenburg. Now he is facing a new challenge and he is not alone. The result of the Czech team in confrontation with the other top nations were not really promising in any way. The Czechs lost all they could have. But Tokos won’t despair. “It’s true that right now the team is not in a very good place. But I believe the final practice camp in Teplice will be the right kick off. WFC is always a big motivation and we are hungry to show our best. And if we succeed, no one will remember, what the last two years looked like.” On Decemer 3, at 16:30 against Norway, together with Tomasik and Sladky, he might just start writing another successful chapter of his career.