Kontiolahti club targets F-liiga after building Finland’s largest girls’ floorball club

FB Factor, a floorball club for girls and women in Kontiolahti, is aiming for promotion to the women’s F-liiga next season after becoming the largest club of its kind in Finland, Yle reports.

The club, which plays its home matches in the village of Lehmo, has more than 200 players. It overtook Espoo club Northern Stars and Oulu club Rankat Ankat last season in the number of player licences.

Founded a decade ago, FB Factor was set up to give girls their own place in the sport. Most players in its senior team are products of the club. Jennica Holopainen, 22, has played for FB Factor since it was founded, and says many of her teammates have known one another for years.

The club’s ambitions grew as a promising group of younger players reached adulthood and continued playing, according to managing director Markus Holopainen. A 2022 Finnish championship win for the under-16 girls, secured against Helsinki’s Eräviikingit, helped cement the league goal.

FB Factor are currently fifth in the women’s first division. Holopainen says promotion is realistic. The team trains and plays at Lehmo’s sports hall, completed in 2024, which he says meets league requirements. He also says the club’s finances could support a move up: playing in the first division costs about 50,000 euros per season, and the F-liiga is not much more expensive.

Promotion would make FB Factor the first adult top-flight team in any sport in Kontiolahti. North Karelia’s last women’s top-flight floorball team, Tuupovaaran Urheilijat, was relegated in 2010. Head coach Sakari Salmela says the region’s floorball scene is now recovering, with former players moving into coaching.