December 20, 2025 • 12 mins
In January, Wellington's Ākau Tangi Sports Centre will play host to the Asia-Oceania qualifying tournament for next year's Men’s World Floorball Championships in Finland.
Between January 13-19, New Zealand is one of 10 teams competing with four spots from the region to head to Europe.
Adam Cooper spoke with New Zealand men's coach Christian Bertschinger about the team's preparation, and the significance of the event coming to the capital.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's twenty to eight here on the All Sport Breakfast.
Well a significant international sporting event is coming to Wellington
in January, the Asia Oceania qualifying tournament for next year's
men's Floorball World Championships. So the qualifier is going to
be held from January thirteen to nineteen at Aukltungy Sports
Center in Kilbernie and New Zealand as one of ten
(00:21):
countries vying up for just four spots that will be
qualifying for the Finland tournament later next year. To chat
more about this, it's great to welcome into the studio
this morning the coach of the New Zealand men's team,
Christian Birchinger. Christian, morning to you, thanks for popping by.
This must be a pretty exciting time for the sport
having this event coming to Wellington.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Oh, thanks Adam for having me yet, it's great to
be here. Great to talk a little bit about our
upcoming Floorball World Cup qualifiers. So definitely a very exciting
time for us.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Indeed, just to give our listeners some perspective, it's at
floorball's not a sport we discussed too much on the
show here on News Talks, there'd be just just quickly
summer rise for people that may not be too familiar
with floorball exactly how it works and what kind of
game it is.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah, it's definitely an up and coming growing sport. It's
an indoor it's a type of indoor hockey, so it's
a mix between what I would call a mix between
ice hockey and field hockey. So the court has got
boards around it so you can bounce the ball off
the side boards. The goals are set in so you
run around the goal similar to ice hockey, but it's
(01:27):
just on normal, normal shoes now skating not quite as
physical and violent as ice hockey, but very fast, very quick,
typically a goalie and five field players that are on
the court.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Right, Well, you're the coach of the national men's team,
you're obviously based in Wellington. Does that have a big
factor in getting this event to Wellington? These qualifiers?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
It does. I've been involved with the sport for probably
the last seventeen eighteen years here in Wellington and through
that Wellington is the the hub for floorball in New Zealand,
has got the most players and also got school leagues,
all sorts of social leagues happening and Hence we've got
(02:10):
a big floorball community that makes it possible to host
such own international event and quite significant.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
The first time this has been held in New Zealand
is it?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
It's the second time actually that we hold the men's qualifier.
The first one was in twenty fourteen and we're five teams.
Then now we've got ten teams here, so it's the
biggest event we've ever hosted in New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Wonderful. Tell us about I guess the rest of the
world how big the sport is that. I imagine all
the other regions around the world, like Oceania and Asia
here are getting ready for the big tournament next year.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, so the world and floorball a sort of split
into Europe as the sort of dominant powerhouse. That's where
all the strong teams are based. Then we've got the
Asia Oceania region and there will be four teams qualifying
from those ten that compete. And then there's the Americas
on Northern and Southern America that will have their own
(03:05):
qualifiers for one or two teams from from that region.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Tell us about the group of players that will be
playing for New Zealand in this I know some are
based overseas and you know, play in some of those
big European countries. Do you have to go far and
wide to pick the best New Zealand players to play
in a big event like this.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yeah, we try obviously to get the best possible team together.
What is exciting for me this time around is that
all the players are pretty much they they've started playing
floorball in New Zealand and really sort of ground from here.
We maybe have got one or two that played a
little bit overseas before they moved to New Zealand, but
(03:44):
the three players that are currently based in Europe, they
all started here actually in Wellington, and then moved overseas
to try and improve their skills play in better leagues.
And yeah, have invested a lot of their own time
and effort to become better players, which is awesome for
us as a New Zealand team.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
It's hard to imagine a time in Wellington when we
didn't have Akultungi there right out by the airport there.
It's become just such a fixture and it's used by
so many different sports and community organizations. How much of
a boost to floorball in New Zealand or in Wellington
in particular has having that scene to being.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Oh, it was tremendous. It really that's when it started
to change for us because suddenly, I mean before we
were in a school gym somewhere hidden away, no one
knew we were even there. And as soon as we
started being in a kutuni then we were seeing people
that came to play basketball suddenly saw this strange hockey
being played and started to question what that is and
(04:39):
maybe give it a go. And the numbers really have
exploded since then. So it's been absolutely fantastic to be
part of this wider sports community and made a huge
difference for us.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
I love you, I said, strange hockey is it? Do
you get hockey players giving it a go? What sort
of skills you know? Maybe compared to other sports? Do
you do you find the most beneficial to playing football?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah, we definitely have. I've quite a few hockey players
that come in and played us in their off season,
and a lot of those skills are very transferable. We've
got in line players that come and play every now
and again. We might get some overseas players who played
ice hokey in the States or in Canada. They come
in usually there we need to tell them to not
quite be so rough on the court, but a lot
(05:21):
of skills are very very easily transferable absolutely from doll Sports.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Great and so this event will starts mid January Tuesday
the thirteenth and finals right up until Monday the nineteenth,
which is Wellington Anniversary Day. So great scheduling for people
to come along, and I know everyone involved here is
really hoping we get some good crowds along for this one.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah. Absolutely, We've got all the New Zealand games in
the evenings, so really prime prime time to come along
and see a bit of a spectacle at a kutani.
So there are seven I think the first game is
seven thirty in the evening and we definitely hope to
get a big crowd the year. Sort of one of
the goals I guess will be for us to get
the biggest out for an event in the Southern Hemisphere.
(06:02):
That's sort of I think something that is achievable for
this event. And yeah, we hope that the Wellington community
will come and support us.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Yeah great. How much of a game changer is it
preparing for a big moment like this, you know, trying
to qualify for the World championships, not having to travel,
not having to be in a foreign country, a foreign environment,
and as you said, a lot of the players are
living here in Wellington.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yeah, absolutely, it certainly makes a difference. We've got what
I would probably call the best possible squad we can
have because it's local. It also made it possible for
some of the people to actually be here and participate.
Sometimes it's not always possible for people to travel overseas
for a couple of weeks with work commitments and whatnot.
(06:43):
But the timing of the tournament and the fact that
it's here in Wellington, might it possible to really get
the best possible selection that we could have. So certainly
a big plus for us.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Great So after the full week, the top four qualify
for for next year in Finland. How tough is that
from a New Zealand perspective. What are the chances as
you build up for that now?
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah, so, I mean we certainly think we're in with
a chance. It will be it will be tough. We're
in a group of five. We need to come in
to the top three to then get into the kind
of the playoffs where it starts to matter whether you
qualify or not, so that's that's the first step. And
then if we do manage that, which we are sort
(07:29):
of positively confident that we will, then yeah, anything is
possible from the area. As you now, playoff in sports
are always a sort of a new thing and anything
can happen from there on in.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Great I know you're starting off against China, as you said,
an evening gain. That's the Tuesday, January thirteen. What is
the toughest match in the pool going to be? Do
you think you've got a few other big contenders there
too by the looks, Yeah, I would.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I would think Singapore on the Thursday night will be
will be tough. The development that you have been doing
and Singapore over the last fifteen twenty years has been
very strong, lots of young, strong players coming through. And
then the toughest opponent will be the Philippines at the
end of the week. They have a lot of players
based in Europe and Sweden in particular, so if they
(08:16):
bring all their top players from Europe, then that'll be
quite a different style of opponents. So very exciting to play.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Yeah, awesome. How close to the start of the tournament
do you get your whole team together ready? To train
together as one.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
So we start our prep on the third and fourth
of January. I've got a cow coach from Switzerland that
has sort of been part of the preparation up till now, Simon.
He will come over early January and then from the
eighth of January will actually be then staying together as
a team to prep have some final trainings. We've got
(08:50):
an upcoming friendly game against Australia as well, just before
the tournament. That's always a good a good measure for us,
and obviously playing the Aussies is always extra special for us.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
How's that rivalry? Is it like what we see in
every other sport? Oh?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Absolutely absolutely. And again they started playing floorball probably about
fifteen years before we did in New Zealand, so they've
got a good head start. But we're certainly closing the
gap and we waite to just get the first win
against their men's team.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Yeah. Great. In terms of people being able to come along,
tickets are on sale now, I know, and I see
there's quite a few different options. People can choose multi days,
particular sessions. You've kept the options for people pretty wide
open to be able to come along.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Yeah. Absolutely, you can get just a single single entry
to a game or to a day. You can get
a week pass, you can get family tickets. We really
want to offer something for families to come in. A
lot of schools in Wellington play floorball these days, at
primary or secondary school levels, so it'll be a great
opportunity for those young players to come along and see
(09:52):
what this could look like on an international stage.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Yeah, wonderful. I mean if people are listening and maybe
they've got friends or themselves played at say school, or
were exposed to it at some point, if they want
to sort of investigate possibly playing it a bit more often,
how can they do that here in Wellington.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
There's a number of clubs now in Wellington. The Wellington
Storm is one of the central clubs we've got based
floorball club. It's another club based in the city, and
then we've got Lower Hut and Upper Hut floorball clubs
as well. Around South there there's a number of clubs
that I guess if you search online you sure find
(10:27):
a bit of contact and that always be the best
way to get in touch, start playing with some friends,
and that's that's where it all started in Wellington as well.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah, great, So eight teams here in Wellington, including you.
I imagine there's also a lot of officials and people
coming to sort of run this tournament as well, So
let's bring in quite a few visitors to Wellington over summer.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Yeah. Absolutely, so. There will be referee peers, International referee peers.
There will be people from the International Floorball Federation. They
are here as the official observers. They're not so much
organizing the tournament, but they're making sure it runs properly
and if there's any issues they will be here. So yeah,
we'll probably have about fifteen officials here through all of that,
(11:08):
plus then all the teams with your support staff and
hopefully a few visitors as well.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
And historically chasing a spot at the World Cup for
the New Zealand's senior men, this is possibly uncharted territory
if they managed to make it.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Right at this stage, we've never qualified for the World Cup,
so it would be absolutely the first time. We've been
getting closer and closer every year, so all we need
to do is pretty much beat one of the incumbent
top four and then that might give us a spot.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Great, well, we're wishing you are the very best cut
Wait to see it in action over over summer. I'm
going to try and pop along. I'm really looking forward
to it. Actually nice to have something big like this
that we can all get behind and cheer on New
Zealand for right. So go well over the summer, Christian,
I hope it goes really well early next year.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Wonderful. Thanks for support, Adam would love you. We'd love
to see you there at the venue. Awesome For more
from
Speaker 1 (11:57):
News talks that'd be listen live on or online, and
keep our shows with you wherever you go with our
podcasts on iHeartRadio
It's twenty to eight here on the All Sport Breakfast.
Well a significant international sporting event is coming to Wellington
in January, the Asia Oceania qualifying tournament for next year's
men's Floorball World Championships. So the qualifier is going to
be held from January thirteen to nineteen at Aukltungy Sports
Center in Kilbernie and New Zealand as one of ten
(00:21):
countries vying up for just four spots that will be
qualifying for the Finland tournament later next year. To chat
more about this, it's great to welcome into the studio
this morning the coach of the New Zealand men's team,
Christian Birchinger. Christian, morning to you, thanks for popping by.
This must be a pretty exciting time for the sport
having this event coming to Wellington.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Oh, thanks Adam for having me yet, it's great to
be here. Great to talk a little bit about our
upcoming Floorball World Cup qualifiers. So definitely a very exciting
time for us.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Indeed, just to give our listeners some perspective, it's at
floorball's not a sport we discussed too much on the
show here on News Talks, there'd be just just quickly
summer rise for people that may not be too familiar
with floorball exactly how it works and what kind of
game it is.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah, it's definitely an up and coming growing sport. It's
an indoor it's a type of indoor hockey, so it's
a mix between what I would call a mix between
ice hockey and field hockey. So the court has got
boards around it so you can bounce the ball off
the side boards. The goals are set in so you
run around the goal similar to ice hockey, but it's
(01:27):
just on normal, normal shoes now skating not quite as
physical and violent as ice hockey, but very fast, very quick,
typically a goalie and five field players that are on
the court.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Right, Well, you're the coach of the national men's team,
you're obviously based in Wellington. Does that have a big
factor in getting this event to Wellington? These qualifiers?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
It does. I've been involved with the sport for probably
the last seventeen eighteen years here in Wellington and through
that Wellington is the the hub for floorball in New Zealand,
has got the most players and also got school leagues,
all sorts of social leagues happening and Hence we've got
(02:10):
a big floorball community that makes it possible to host
such own international event and quite significant.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
The first time this has been held in New Zealand
is it?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
It's the second time actually that we hold the men's qualifier.
The first one was in twenty fourteen and we're five teams.
Then now we've got ten teams here, so it's the
biggest event we've ever hosted in New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Wonderful. Tell us about I guess the rest of the
world how big the sport is that. I imagine all
the other regions around the world, like Oceania and Asia
here are getting ready for the big tournament next year.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, so the world and floorball a sort of split
into Europe as the sort of dominant powerhouse. That's where
all the strong teams are based. Then we've got the
Asia Oceania region and there will be four teams qualifying
from those ten that compete. And then there's the Americas
on Northern and Southern America that will have their own
(03:05):
qualifiers for one or two teams from from that region.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Tell us about the group of players that will be
playing for New Zealand in this I know some are
based overseas and you know, play in some of those
big European countries. Do you have to go far and
wide to pick the best New Zealand players to play
in a big event like this.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yeah, we try obviously to get the best possible team together.
What is exciting for me this time around is that
all the players are pretty much they they've started playing
floorball in New Zealand and really sort of ground from here.
We maybe have got one or two that played a
little bit overseas before they moved to New Zealand, but
(03:44):
the three players that are currently based in Europe, they
all started here actually in Wellington, and then moved overseas
to try and improve their skills play in better leagues.
And yeah, have invested a lot of their own time
and effort to become better players, which is awesome for
us as a New Zealand team.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
It's hard to imagine a time in Wellington when we
didn't have Akultungi there right out by the airport there.
It's become just such a fixture and it's used by
so many different sports and community organizations. How much of
a boost to floorball in New Zealand or in Wellington
in particular has having that scene to being.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Oh, it was tremendous. It really that's when it started
to change for us because suddenly, I mean before we
were in a school gym somewhere hidden away, no one
knew we were even there. And as soon as we
started being in a kutuni then we were seeing people
that came to play basketball suddenly saw this strange hockey
being played and started to question what that is and
(04:39):
maybe give it a go. And the numbers really have
exploded since then. So it's been absolutely fantastic to be
part of this wider sports community and made a huge
difference for us.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
I love you, I said, strange hockey is it? Do
you get hockey players giving it a go? What sort
of skills you know? Maybe compared to other sports? Do
you do you find the most beneficial to playing football?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah, we definitely have. I've quite a few hockey players
that come in and played us in their off season,
and a lot of those skills are very transferable. We've
got in line players that come and play every now
and again. We might get some overseas players who played
ice hokey in the States or in Canada. They come
in usually there we need to tell them to not
quite be so rough on the court, but a lot
(05:21):
of skills are very very easily transferable absolutely from doll Sports.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Great and so this event will starts mid January Tuesday
the thirteenth and finals right up until Monday the nineteenth,
which is Wellington Anniversary Day. So great scheduling for people
to come along, and I know everyone involved here is
really hoping we get some good crowds along for this one.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah. Absolutely, We've got all the New Zealand games in
the evenings, so really prime prime time to come along
and see a bit of a spectacle at a kutani.
So there are seven I think the first game is
seven thirty in the evening and we definitely hope to
get a big crowd the year. Sort of one of
the goals I guess will be for us to get
the biggest out for an event in the Southern Hemisphere.
(06:02):
That's sort of I think something that is achievable for
this event. And yeah, we hope that the Wellington community
will come and support us.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Yeah great. How much of a game changer is it
preparing for a big moment like this, you know, trying
to qualify for the World championships, not having to travel,
not having to be in a foreign country, a foreign environment,
and as you said, a lot of the players are
living here in Wellington.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yeah, absolutely, it certainly makes a difference. We've got what
I would probably call the best possible squad we can
have because it's local. It also made it possible for
some of the people to actually be here and participate.
Sometimes it's not always possible for people to travel overseas
for a couple of weeks with work commitments and whatnot.
(06:43):
But the timing of the tournament and the fact that
it's here in Wellington, might it possible to really get
the best possible selection that we could have. So certainly
a big plus for us.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Great So after the full week, the top four qualify
for for next year in Finland. How tough is that
from a New Zealand perspective. What are the chances as
you build up for that now?
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah, so, I mean we certainly think we're in with
a chance. It will be it will be tough. We're
in a group of five. We need to come in
to the top three to then get into the kind
of the playoffs where it starts to matter whether you
qualify or not, so that's that's the first step. And
then if we do manage that, which we are sort
(07:29):
of positively confident that we will, then yeah, anything is
possible from the area. As you now, playoff in sports
are always a sort of a new thing and anything
can happen from there on in.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Great I know you're starting off against China, as you said,
an evening gain. That's the Tuesday, January thirteen. What is
the toughest match in the pool going to be? Do
you think you've got a few other big contenders there
too by the looks, Yeah, I would.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I would think Singapore on the Thursday night will be
will be tough. The development that you have been doing
and Singapore over the last fifteen twenty years has been
very strong, lots of young, strong players coming through. And
then the toughest opponent will be the Philippines at the
end of the week. They have a lot of players
based in Europe and Sweden in particular, so if they
(08:16):
bring all their top players from Europe, then that'll be
quite a different style of opponents. So very exciting to play.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Yeah, awesome. How close to the start of the tournament
do you get your whole team together ready? To train
together as one.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
So we start our prep on the third and fourth
of January. I've got a cow coach from Switzerland that
has sort of been part of the preparation up till now, Simon.
He will come over early January and then from the
eighth of January will actually be then staying together as
a team to prep have some final trainings. We've got
(08:50):
an upcoming friendly game against Australia as well, just before
the tournament. That's always a good a good measure for us,
and obviously playing the Aussies is always extra special for us.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
How's that rivalry? Is it like what we see in
every other sport? Oh?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Absolutely absolutely. And again they started playing floorball probably about
fifteen years before we did in New Zealand, so they've
got a good head start. But we're certainly closing the
gap and we waite to just get the first win
against their men's team.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Yeah. Great. In terms of people being able to come along,
tickets are on sale now, I know, and I see
there's quite a few different options. People can choose multi days,
particular sessions. You've kept the options for people pretty wide
open to be able to come along.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Yeah. Absolutely, you can get just a single single entry
to a game or to a day. You can get
a week pass, you can get family tickets. We really
want to offer something for families to come in. A
lot of schools in Wellington play floorball these days, at
primary or secondary school levels, so it'll be a great
opportunity for those young players to come along and see
(09:52):
what this could look like on an international stage.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Yeah, wonderful. I mean if people are listening and maybe
they've got friends or themselves played at say school, or
were exposed to it at some point, if they want
to sort of investigate possibly playing it a bit more often,
how can they do that here in Wellington.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
There's a number of clubs now in Wellington. The Wellington
Storm is one of the central clubs we've got based
floorball club. It's another club based in the city, and
then we've got Lower Hut and Upper Hut floorball clubs
as well. Around South there there's a number of clubs
that I guess if you search online you sure find
(10:27):
a bit of contact and that always be the best
way to get in touch, start playing with some friends,
and that's that's where it all started in Wellington as well.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah, great, So eight teams here in Wellington, including you.
I imagine there's also a lot of officials and people
coming to sort of run this tournament as well, So
let's bring in quite a few visitors to Wellington over summer.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Yeah. Absolutely, so. There will be referee peers, International referee peers.
There will be people from the International Floorball Federation. They
are here as the official observers. They're not so much
organizing the tournament, but they're making sure it runs properly
and if there's any issues they will be here. So yeah,
we'll probably have about fifteen officials here through all of that,
(11:08):
plus then all the teams with your support staff and
hopefully a few visitors as well.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
And historically chasing a spot at the World Cup for
the New Zealand's senior men, this is possibly uncharted territory
if they managed to make it.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Right at this stage, we've never qualified for the World Cup,
so it would be absolutely the first time. We've been
getting closer and closer every year, so all we need
to do is pretty much beat one of the incumbent
top four and then that might give us a spot.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Great, well, we're wishing you are the very best cut
Wait to see it in action over over summer. I'm
going to try and pop along. I'm really looking forward
to it. Actually nice to have something big like this
that we can all get behind and cheer on New
Zealand for right. So go well over the summer, Christian,
I hope it goes really well early next year.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Wonderful. Thanks for support, Adam would love you. We'd love
to see you there at the venue. Awesome For more
from
Speaker 1 (11:57):
News talks that'd be listen live on or online, and
keep our shows with you wherever you go with our
podcasts on iHeartRadio
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