AS Trenčín travel for about 22 hours to compete at Gothia Innebandy Cup.
They travel more than 1000 kilometer for about 22 hours to compete at Gothia Innebandy Cup. Peter Klapita says that it is such a great experience for the players from AS Trenčín, they learn a lot and get to develop their floorball skills when playing agains foreign teams.
In 2020 AS Trenčín was one of five teams from Slovakia that participated at Gothia Innebandy Cup. For AS Trenčín it was for the first time and they got all the way to top 16, but it's not just the great performance at the matches that make them coming back in 2022. The whole trip, with sleeping on mattresses at the floor in a class room and playing matches against teams from other countries, were a great experience for the players.
Peter Klapita is the head coach at the club AS Trenčín and a great friend of Jiri Jakoubek, who every year organizes the trip for the teams from Czech Republic and Slovakia. Every year, many Czech and Slovak teams get on the bus two days prior to the tournament and then travel more than 1000 kilometer for about 22 hours before they arrive to Gothenburg early in the morning. After a few hours of sleep they play training matches against each other and then they get ready for the competing matches.
I don't know anything better and more interesting for floorball players than confrontations with foreign teams. At the club, we try to play international youth friendly matches and also travel with teams to various summer or winter tournaments. But it's all just against teams from the Czech Republic. But when a young floorball player notices a Swedish opponent, it's always something more. - Peter Klapita, coach for AS Trenčín
Peter says that many of the player took great steps as floorball players last time they played at Gothia Innebandy Cup, that they performed better than expected. When they beat Swedish teams he could not believe his eyes, and it's this experiences that make them want to come back to participate again in 2022. Peter thinks that it is important for the youth players floorball development to compete against teams from other countries, that is why he brings the team to two to three tournaments a year. They also play as many friendly matches as possible, This season the team will play about 60-65 matches in total, comparing to smaller clubs from Slovakia that plays about 20 matches in one season. It takes a lot of hard work and organization, but in the end it always makes Peter proud for his players and puts a smile on his face.
