Finnish floorball teams often play in undersized school gyms – Jämsä adds padding to walls for league games

Many Finnish school gymnasiums are too small for competitive floorball, forcing teams to seek exemptions and modify facilities for safety, reports national broadcaster Yle. In Jämsä, a junior team’s home arena required wall padding and expanded playing dimensions to meet league requirements—though space remains tight.

The Jämsä-based Duo floorball club’s under-16 team currently plays its 1st Division home games in Mäntykallio School’s gym under a special permit from the Finnish Floorball Association. While the association’s rules require a 20 x 40 metre rink, the Jämsä venue measures just 19 x 38 metres—leaving as little as half a metre of safety space between the boards and concrete walls in places. The recommended buffer is two metres.

To improve safety, the city installed 5 cm-thick padding on walls and pillars, funded with around €10,000 in municipal support. “Without the city’s intervention, we’d be playing in Jyväskylä or Muurame instead,” said Ari Vilenius, the team’s coach. The modifications also included a new scoreboard, lighting, safety barriers, and a synthetic floor mat.

Jari Kinnunen, the Floorball Association’s community relations director, noted that many school gyms across Finland were built for older sports like gymnastics, basketball, or volleyball—long before floorball’s rise over the past 40 years. “Unfortunately, a lot of these spaces fall just a few metres short,” he said. Poor flooring choices, such as overly abrasive or slippery surfaces, can also increase injury risks.

The association grants exemptions for undersized rinks case by case, prioritising player safety as the sport’s speed and physicality have grown. “We’ve seen some serious collisions,” Kinnunen said. “Our job is to minimise injuries.” Floorball is Finland’s most popular indoor team sport, with roughly 300,000 participants and 50,000 licensed players nationwide.

Duo Jämsä hopes the city’s planned €4.6 million sports hall—slated for completion in 2027 or 2028—will finally provide a regulation-compliant venue. The proposed Paunu district location, near schools and existing sports fields, is undergoing zoning changes. Vilenius urged the city to engage local clubs and schools early in the design process: “This needs to serve everyone in Jämsä, not just one sport. Safety and proper sizing are non-negotiable.”