The Chairman of the Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI), Marciano Norman, urged the Central Board of the Indonesian Floorball Association (PP AFI) to be more active in promoting the sport so that it becomes more widely known among the public.
"There must be a lot of activities to attract participants," Marciano said in Jakarta on Monday, emphasizing the need for intensive activities that can expand the reach of floorball in Indonesia, while receiving a working visit from the Chairman of the Central Executive Board of AFI, Ganefri.
Marciano believes floorball has the potential to grow rapidly due to the support of many administrators from university backgrounds, thus providing an opportunity for more extensive campaigning for the sport.
He encouraged AFI to maximize its campus network to expand its player base and organize activities, including developing sports science studies relevant to the needs of the sport.
The retired three-star Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) general added that the university ecosystem is one of the sectors that responds most quickly to new sports, so it can be a major driver of increasing the number of athletes and fans.
Through structured program support, he hopes floorball can become a sport that can develop significantly in the next few years.
In a meeting at the KONI Office, the General Chairperson of the AFI Central Executive Board, Ganefri, also reported on the implementation of a floorball exhibition at the 21st Aceh-North Sumatra National Sports Week (PON) 2024, which was held at the Binjai Sports Hall, North Sumatra, on September 14-17, with participation from nine provinces.
Ganefri said that the momentum at PON became the basis for strengthening the AFI development program.
"We will optimize community development and expansion activities to ensure floorball is increasingly accepted by the public," he said.
Floorball began to gain popularity in Indonesia through neighboring countries that had already developed it, such as Singapore and Australia. The sport is also popular in several European countries, including Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland.
Meanwhile, PP AFI itself was formed in 2009 and in the same year was accepted as a temporary member of the International Floorball Federation (IFF).
