02.
2017
Whose league is it?
Two weeks ago in Finnish Salibandyliiga, table leaders Classic demolished SalBa with 18-2. The result immediately set alight the old subject about whether there are too many teams admitted.
Nico Salo (l.) has signed the contract with Helsingborg for the next season. May Salibandyliiga lose many more talents like this? (Photo Erwin Keller)
Anonymous voices expressed concern about the sport’s credibility. Top players like Miko Kailiala and Peter Kotilainen tweeted that it is too easy to become a Salibandyliiga player in Finland and not all the players aim for as serious development as players as they do themselves. EräViikingit forward Tommi Rosendahl revealed that an M-Team (one of the less successful teams) player had mocked EräViikingit mid-game for taking floorball too seriously.
Whether there should be fewer teams is one matter. Who should get to decide what to do with the league is another matter, maybe even more interesting.
Whom does a country’s highest league belong to?
Technically, there’s no doubt about it. In Finland it is the central board of the Floorball Federation that decides about the series systems.
On a philosophical level, though, the question remains open. Should the teams attending get to decide? Or teams with potential to make it to the highest level? Or anyone concerned about floorball or maybe all the floorball teams in the country?
I tweeted my pondering aloud and got some interesting answers.
Salibandyliiga teams should decide, an elite player said.
The paying customers should decide, a former national team player said.
The best players should have their say first, a floorball journalist stated, as we don’t want to lose more players like Nico Salo heading for Sweden for better and tighter games.
At the least the present Salibandyliiga teams have been asked. Last week the teams gathered in Tampere to discuss contemporary matters and the amount of teams attending was mentioned. The teams expressed no need to make changes to the present number which is 14, the federation informed us.
Last night, Happee set a new Salibandyliiga record for biggest victory, destroying M-Team with 17-0.
Looks like the discussion is not going to die anytime soon.
