Floor hockey
Indoor hockey games played on foot or with wheeled skates.
Floor hockey is an umbrella term for a variety of indoor games in which two teams use sticks to move a ball or puck into a goal. The puck may be either open (with a hole in the center) or closed. Players compete either on foot or on wheeled skates, and the different codes generally draw from ice hockey, field hockey, bandy, or a mix of those sports. These games go by many names, such as cosom hockey, ball hockey, floorball, or simply floor hockey. Two variants played on wheeled skates fall under roller sports: quad hockey, which uses traditional roller skates and resembles bandy, and inline hockey, which uses inline skates and follows the ice hockey style. All versions are played on dry, flat surfaces like gymnasiums or basketball courts. As in other hockey codes, players try to shoot the object into a net using sticks—some with a curved blade, others with a straight, bladeless design. Floor hockey is more structured than street hockey, with formal rules. Variants played on foot with a closed puck are sometimes used as dryland training for ice hockey, while floorball serves a similar purpose for bandy.
Floor hockey began as a fitness activity in public school physical education classes but has since grown into many organized forms beyond schools.
In Canada, the game’s formal creation is credited to Sam Jacks, a Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame inductee. Jacks wrote the first set of floor hockey rules in 1936 while working as assistant physical director at the West End YMCA in Toronto. His version used an open disk, not a closed puck or ball. The United Nations Youth Branch later recognized his work. In 1991, the Canadian Ball Hockey Association (CBHA) was founded to organize formal ball hockey leagues for men, women, and juniors, and it runs national championships for each division.
In the United States, in 1962, Tom Harter created one of the first organized indoor hockey variants in Battle Creek, Michigan, using plastic sticks and pucks. It is unknown whether other early efforts influenced the sport's spread.
- field
- Indoor team sports (floor hockey variants)
- known_for
- Broad category of indoor hockey games played on foot or with wheeled skates, including ball hockey, floorball, cosom hockey, and roller hockey
- earliest_recorded_organized_play
- 1936 (first codified rules by Sam Jacks in Toronto, Canada)
- first_codified_rules
- 1936 by Samuel Perry Jacks (Sam Jacks) in Toronto, Canada
- governing_body_example
- Canadian Ball Hockey Association (CBHA), formed 1991
Lore & Background
Floor hockey's official creation is credited to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Samuel Perry Jacks, better known as 'Sam Jacks', who codified floor hockey's first set of rules in 1936. His version used an open disk (a disk with a hole in the center) rather than a closed puck or a ball. At the time, Jacks was working as assistant physical director at the West End YMCA in Toronto. His achievement was later recognized by the Youth Branch of the United Nations.
Contrary to some claims, there is no substantiated record of Sam Jacks coaching a Canadian Floor Hockey Team at the AAU Junior Olympic Games in 1947. The earliest recorded organized play of floor hockey dates to 1936 with Jacks' rules, not to 1875 in Montreal, which refers to ice hockey. Additionally, the Special Olympics World Winter Games include multiple team sports, not just floor hockey as the sole team sport.
Reader's Guide
Floor hockey's significance lies in its adaptability and widespread use as a dryland training tool for ice hockey and bandy, as well as a standalone recreational and competitive sport. The variants that do not involve wheeled skates and use a closed puck are sometimes used as dryland training to teach children ice hockey, while the floorball variant is sometimes used as a dryland training program for bandy. The sport has evolved from a physical education activity into organized leagues and international competitions, with the Canadian Ball Hockey Association (CBHA) formed in 1991 to provide formal leagues for men, women, and juniors, organizing National Championships for each division. In 2003, the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association Hockey Committee released a baseline set of rules for a specific intramural floor hockey variant for college campuses across the United States. Floor hockey's inclusion in the Special Olympics since 1970 as the only team sport under its purview highlights its accessibility and importance for athletes with disabilities. The variety of equipment—balls, closed pucks, open disks, and rings—and stick types (bladed, hooked, or straight with drag-tips) allows for multiple game codes, each with its own rules and protective equipment standards.
Did You Know?
- Floor hockey was originally a physical fitness sport in many public schools developed for physical education class.
- Sam Jacks codified floor hockey's first set of rules in 1936 using an open disk (disk with a hole in the center).
- In 1970, the Special Olympics World Winter Games added team floor hockey as an event, the only team sport under its purview.
- The Canadian Ball Hockey Association (CBHA) was formed in 1991 and runs leagues for men, women, and juniors.
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