Being a Team Host is about much more than taking care of practical details
When Team Switzerland arrives at the Men’s World Floorball Championships, one person will be there to help make sure everyday life during the tournament runs smoothly.
The locker room is ready, information reaches the right people and practical matters are taken care of. And if something unexpected happens, help is close at hand.
That person is Anna-Lena Fricke, Team Host for Switzerland.
For Anna-Lena, who comes from Germany, Finland has been special for many years. She spent a school year as an exchange student at a Finnish upper secondary school, and that experience created a lasting connection with the country.
She is no stranger to volunteering at the World Floorball Championships either. Her first WFC volunteer experience was in Helsinki in 2021.
Back home, Anna-Lena works as a dialysis assistant and has just started studying nursing at a university of applied sciences in her hometown. In her free time, she follows floorball and ice hockey, enjoys what she calls “nerdy things” with OpenStreetMap and spends her summers as a volunteer lifeguard on the beautiful German island of Wangerooge.
What excites Anna-Lena most about being a Team Host is the opportunity to truly become part of the team.
She runs errands, helps prepare the locker room and makes sure information from the tournament organising committee reaches the team. If someone gets injured, she can also help take care of the practical logistics.
And, of course, she will be cheering for the team – hopefully as one of its biggest fans.
For Anna-Lena, a successful match day is actually quite simple: everyone is on time, everyone has what they need, nobody has forgotten their accreditation at the hotel and nobody gets injured.
And if Switzerland wins?
That is a big bonus.
A floorball journey from Germany to Finland – and beyond
Floorball has been part of Anna-Lena’s life for a long time.
She comes from a small town in Germany where floorball was played relatively early after the sport arrived in the country. However, the first time she actually picked up a stick was during her exchange year in Finland.
Her first real involvement in a floorball event came at the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria. There, she supported the Special Olympics Latvia floorball team in a role similar to that of a Team Host.
She does not consider herself a serious player, but as a spectator, she loves the speed and skill of the sport.
For Anna-Lena, there is never a boring moment in floorball.
Anything can happen at any time.
Free of Limits means taking the chances life has to offer
For Anna-Lena, Free of Limits means taking the chances that life has to offer.
That same idea guides her work as a volunteer.
As a Team Host, she wants to understand what the team needs and do her own job as well as possible. When everything behind the scenes runs smoothly, everyone else on the team – and ultimately the players – can focus on doing their job at their best.
What is Anna-Lena looking forward to in December?
The people.
Volunteer friends from previous tournaments, excited spectators and, of course, “her” Team Switzerland.
Those encounters are also part of what makes the World Championships something Anna-Lena believes should be experienced live.
Floorball is simply so fast that television cannot capture everything. When the world’s best players compete in one of the world’s leading floorball countries and the stands come alive around them, the atmosphere is something you cannot experience in quite the same way anywhere else.
Anna-Lena has one message for everyone coming to the World Championships:
Cheer as loudly as you can for your favourite teams and players – but do it fairly, without putting down the opposition.
Give a volunteer a high five.And most importantly, have fun.
Thank you, Anna-Lena, for being part of the World Floorball Championships!
Quick-fire with Anna-Lena
☕ Coffee or tea?
Tea.
🌙 Morning or evening?
Evening.
🏟️ Stands or court
Stands.
🌭 Favourite event snack?
Bratwurst – I am German after all.
🕺 Best cheer or event tradition?
A difficult one to choose, but if it counts, the “referee dance moves” at the Ice Hockey World Championships.
🇨🇭 Favourite team?
Team Switzerland.
❤️Her favourite place in Tampere?
That answer will have to wait. It has been so long since Anna-Lena’s last visit that she promises to answer the question again after the World Championships.
She does, however, already have some advice for international visitors: bring warm clothes, try new food and watch as much floorball as possible.
And don’t forget to take some Fazer chocolate home for your loved ones.