Love for floorball keeps United States’ Tiffany Gerber in the game at 38

SINGAPORE – American Tiffany Gerber was among those who had featured at the 2005 Women’s World Floorball Championship, when it was staged in Singapore for the first time.

Fast forward 18 years, the defender is still wielding a floorball stick with finesse and is back in the Republic for her ninth world championship.

While the 38-year-old had said several times in recent years that she would be quitting floorball, she just could not bring herself to walk away from the sport.

Gerber is the only player from the 2005 edition who is taking part in the ongoing tournament, which she said could finally be her last outing for her country.

The trouble is, no one believes her any more, she added with a laugh.

Gerber, who has played floorball since eight, said: “I just love the sport, I can’t stop. I said OK, it’s my last like three world championships ago, now when I say it’s really my last and nobody believes me, so I’m not saying it any more. Like I just keep going.”

Her goal in this tournament is just to “try to not get injured and come home alive”, she said.

Gerber, who turns out for Swiss club Unihockey Berner Oberland, had the opportunity to represent Switzerland when she was younger as she holds dual citizenship. But she turned it down as she wanted playing time, which she felt was more definite with the United States.

She said: “I was 16 when they were searching for players and I was on the edge of the Under-19 Swiss team, and it was the world championship in Switzerland in 2003.

“They asked if I wanted to play for the ‘A’ team (of the US) or in the Under-19 Swiss team. For me, it was clear.”

She still recalls the raucous crowd at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2005, when they beat the hosts 3-1 en route to finishing second in the B Division, one rung above the Republic under the old format.

She said: “I remember playing Singapore in the semi-finals of the B Division in front of so many spectators.

“That was like the best game, the most special game I played (in my) whole career.”

While she does not remember many other details from 18 years ago, apart from not being able to find shoes or clothes in her size while shopping, she said she is experiencing it better now.

She added: “You feel a bit (more) relaxed, your body aches more, but it’s still as fun as when I was 17.”

The world No. 15 Americans, who have lost 9-3 to 14th-ranked Estonia and 8-5 to 12th-ranked Japan in Group D, look set for a spot in the 13th-16th place play-offs, unless they can pull off an upset over world No. 10 Denmark at the OCBC Arena on Dec 5 and snatch a top-two spot in the group.

While they may look unlikely to match their best placing of ninth at the 2007 and 2011 editions, Gerber believes American floorball has made great strides over the last two decades.

She said: “Twenty years ago, nobody was playing floorball. Nobody. Our first team, there was somebody from street hockey, somebody from hockey and one player actually played floorball.

“Now they have grown it a lot.”