I met Jeremy briefly at the official WFC afterparty and I took the chance to explain what was written on the back of my jersey which led to me typing in my email in his phone so he could contact me about making this profile!
An action shot of Jeremy guarding the net!
The jersey I tried to explain which apart from my name says "Goaliefocus" in Swedish.
How old are you and how old were you when you started playing floorball?
- "I am 17 years old and I started playing at 14. I grew up in Hamilton, Ontario Canada and the floorball culture is growing here each day as floorball is introduced more and more to highschools in Canada."
Which teams have you played with growing up?
- "I started playing with Hamilton Floor hawks, a team that has 8 practices and then does one tournament called the Canada Cup. There are a few tournaments every year but Canada Cup is the most popular one so many teams only enter that tournament and be done for the year. In total I have played with teams from Toronto, Cambridge, Ottawa, Boston, Montreal, Manitoba, Edmonton and New York, and other highschool teams from around Ontario.
Tell me more about the floorball culture in Canada!
- "The floorball scene in Canada is not surprisingly not very big with just over 1000 registered players in the country. It is however showing up more and more in highschools and hockeyplayers actually love the sport and the different feel of a floorball stick. It is going to get bigger here eventually!"
(For comparion; Sweden has about 120,000 registered floorball players.)
You currently play for SWC Floorball, how do you like it there?
- "Sir Winston Churchill (SWC) is the highschool I go to and we are lucky enough to have had a floorball team for the last 6 years. We have our own set of brand new boards and a great coach and I really like it there!"
Did you play any other sport before floorball and do you play any other sports right now?
- "I've always played hockey, that's actually how I found the sport, we have a hockey skills academy at my school and they introduce it as a good off-ice training tool! Every player on our men's national team all have hockey backgrounds. As of now I practice icehockey as a forward center man 3-5 times a week so I'm on the ice alot!"
Have you always been a goalie and have you ever had a goalie coach and how would you describe your playing style?
- "I started as a player but the highschool needed a new good goalie because the one we had was in grade 12 so he'd be gone next year. I thought it was a good opportunity to practice to be the starter goalie the next year! I have never had a goalie coach though, I just watched videos on Youtube on goalies around the world to see what type of moves and styles they use in the net. I also asked every coach I ever had what I need to work on and what my strengths and weaknesses are in their eyes, then I worked to improve on those things!
I believe that I have my own style of playing, a "canadian" style. I've picked up a few things over the years from other goalies and European goalies but I prefer to just keep it easy, nothing too fancy!"
You've recently been to Sweden for WFC14, how did you like Gothenburg and the tournament?
- "Gothenburg was great! I'm really glad that I'm going back there for men's under-19 training camp! I look forward to be training with our men's coach David Jansson, he knows his stuff and is a real "floorball nerd" as he claims himself to be. My favorite part of the championship was playing against Latvia, I hope we get to play them again in the future WFC's!"
What would you say is your favorite goalie gear?
"- My favorite gear is Blindsave! Very good equipment, I would recommend it to any goalie looking for new gear. Definately top of the line stuff!"
There are alot of funny stereotypes in the world, for example we swedes have polarbears walking the streets and every canadian is overly polite and loves icehockey. Is there any truth to these stereotypes?
"- We do have alot of polite people! However like everywhere else we have people that are not so nic, and yes most people in Canada love icehockey, we really get into it and a lot of people do play it!"
If you were to give advice to new goalkeepers, what would that advice be?
- "If I could give advice to younger goalies it would be to never hang your head if a team scores on you. Keep doing your job and never give up!"
Thanks alot for doing the interview Jeremy, good luck at the under-19 training camp and welcome back to Sweden! I look forward to seeing the floorball scene grow in Canada!
(We ended up working together.)
 |
| Picture of me and Jeremy after the U19 WFC in Helsingborg. |
/Pontus
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar