Seven Singapore national floorballers will swap home comforts for one of the sport’s strongest environments this September, beginning a seven-month stint in Sweden as part of a new overseas training programme launched by the Singapore Floorball Association (SFA).
The inaugural Singapore Floorball Overseas Training Programme (SFOTP) will see six female and one male national athlete train and compete with Swedish club Pixbo IBK from September 2026 to March 2027.
The first cohort comprises forwards Siti Nurhaliza Binte Khairul Anuar, Jerelee Ong Yan Ting, Nur Yuanna Insyirah Binte S Ralli and Nicholas Chua Wee Guan; defenders Lim Jie Ying and Foo Wen Xin; and goalkeeper Shermaine Goh Xin Mei.
The athletes will spend more than half a year embedded in Pixbo’s high-performance environment, training daily and playing regular competitive matches.
Their respective placements within Sweden’s league system will be decided in September, while athletes who perform particularly well could also earn a trial with Pixbo’s Swedish Super League side.
It is a significant change from the shorter overseas camps traditionally used as part of Singapore’s national-team preparation, and one SFA hopes will allow players to experience the demands of a stronger floorball environment over a sustained period.
SFA President Ben Ow said: “For the first time, our athletes will have the opportunity to spend an extended period immersed in one of the world’s strongest floorball environments – training daily, competing regularly and experiencing the standards required at that level week after week.
“Our domestic programme remains the foundation of athlete development in Singapore. The SFOTP gives players who are ready to push themselves further the opportunity to train and compete in a stronger environment, and to see how far they can go.”
More Than A One-Off Stint
The seven athletes are intended to be the first of several groups to head overseas under the high-performance programme.
SFA is targeting around 10 athlete placements each year from 2027 to 2029, subject to funding, athlete availability and the capacity of its overseas partners. The association is also working with Pixbo Innebandy towards a longer-term partnership covering future athlete placements, specialist programmes in Singapore and coaching attachments in both countries.
Importantly, SFA wants the programme’s impact to extend beyond the athletes travelling to Sweden.
During their stint, the players will undergo monthly check-ins, fitness testing and competition analysis, while also holding monthly tactical sharing sessions with teammates back in Singapore. Further knowledge-sharing sessions are planned once the group returns.
“For us, success cannot just be measured by one result when they return in March,” said Ow.
“We want to see measurable development in each athlete, but just as importantly, we want the impact to go beyond the seven of them. We want them to return with new standards, ideas and experiences that can be shared with their teammates and help raise the level of the national programme as a whole.”
For 28-year-old Siti Nurhaliza, who has represented Singapore for eight years, the length of the programme is precisely what makes the opportunity different.
“I’ve had opportunities to play overseas before, but this will be very different because we will be there for seven months and become part of the competitive environment,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to experiencing the intensity and standards in Sweden week after week, and seeing how much I can develop as a player.”
Siti, one of the most experienced members of the group, also hopes what the seven athletes learn can ultimately benefit the wider national set-up.
“As one of the more experienced players in the group, I also hope I can support the others through the experience, but I’m going there to learn just as much as everyone else,” she said.
“Ultimately, we want to bring what we learn back to Singapore and help raise the level of the national team.”
Singapore To Host U19 World Championships In 2028
The overseas programme comes as Singapore floorball builds towards several major milestones over the next few years.
SFA also announced that Singapore will host the Men’s U19 World Floorball Championships in February 2028, bringing another major international floorball event to the country following the Women’s World Floorball Championships in 2023.
The announcement follows Singapore’s recent success at the Asia Oceania Floorball Confederation qualifiers at Our Tampines Hub, where the national U19 men’s team finished top to qualify for the next World Championships in Latvia.
Together with the 2027 SEA Games and Singapore’s home SEA Games in 2029, the U19 World Championships will form part of a broader period of development for the sport.
“The 2028 U19 World Floorball Championships and the 2029 SEA Games on home soil are important milestones, but our ambitions go beyond those events,” Ow added.
“Ultimately, we are trying to build a stronger system, a deeper pool of athletes and a pathway that gives more Singapore players the opportunity to test themselves at a higher level.”
