‘The greatest sport you’ve never heard of’: GIS Graduate on Sports Governance Role as UK Floorball President

From playing floorball at primary school in the Cotswolds to leading the sport’s national governing body, GIS graduate Francis Overton has turned a lifelong passion into a leadership role at the heart of UK sport.

Elected President of the UK Floorball Federation (UKFF) in October 2025, Francis has spent thousands of hours volunteering to grow a sport that remains relatively unknown in Britain. His journey has taken him from representing Great Britain at Under-19 level to expanding the national university league and now helping shape floorball’s long-term future in the UK.

For those unfamiliar with the game, floorball is a fast-paced indoor hockey variant played with lightweight sticks and a plastic ball. Imagine ice hockey without the ice.

The sport was officially codified on 12 April 1986, when the governing bodies of Finland, Sweden and Switzerland established the International Floorball Federation (IFF). Today, the IFF estimates that more than 2.2 million people play recreationally worldwide, with around 5,000 clubs active globally.

“Floorball is a great sport to play and watch, it’s fast-paced and energetic but accessible to new players,” Francis explained. “One university club called it ‘the greatest sport you’ve never heard of’!”

Growing up in one of the few pockets of the UK where floorball is prominent, Francis began playing primary school floorball in the Cotswolds at the age of nine, before joining a club and, eventually, representing Great Britain as an Under 19s international.

Studying history as an undergraduate student, it was during his time at the University of York that other roles in floorball piqued Francis’ interest, volunteering at the UKFF for four years as Universities Coordinator, organising the national university floorball league.

From this position, Francis became Universities Director, growing the league from four teams to 10, alongside developing its social media presence and introducing live broadcasts of each fixture.

That experience helped spark an interest in sports governance and ultimately led to his election as UKFF President in October 2025.

“It’s been quite the journey with thousands of hours volunteered,” he said, “but I love putting the effort in to help others enjoy the sport that I have enjoyed for so long.

“Delivering fun events and now supporting the national development of the sport brings me a great sense of purpose,” he added.

With limited funding and no substantial full-time workforce, the UKFF relies heavily on volunteers to keep the sport moving forward. That brings its own challenges, with Francis balancing a broad range of responsibilities while working to build a sustainable future for the federation.

“Delivering fun events and now supporting the national development of the sport brings me a great sense of purpose,” he added, a driver that is very much necessary given the little funding available to the hockey variant.

As is true in any sport, driving this growth is a major aspect of the role as president. However, the size of floorball and its accompanying absence of full-time staff comes with a unique set of challenges, particularly concerning the variety of responsibilities Francis has had to become familiar with.

“Becoming President of UKFF was certainly a major step up for my responsibility and vision. My focus shifted from delivering opportunities to overseeing the Central Committee and all of its constituent areas. I’ve developed in my committee leadership, understanding of sports governance, finance and budgeting, and reframed my thinking from the short-term to long-term development. 

“Communication has been critical, both internally and publicly, as how we share our message is ever more important as we try to engage our current playerbase as well as spread the message of the sport to new audiences, all underpinned by strategic vision.”

This strategic vision at the UKFF is an ambitious one. Long-term aims include an ‘organisational rebrand’ converting the UKFF into a charity, whilst the federation strives for recognition by UK Sport as a national governing body (NGB). Francis also desires to build on the IFF’s 2011 IOC recognition by supporting the federation in their bid to make floorball an Olympic sport at the 2032 Brisbane Games.

The UKFF’s ambitions include an organisational rebrand, becoming a charity and securing recognition from UK Sport as a national governing body (NGB). Francis also hopes to support the IFF’s ambition to see floorball included in the Olympic programme, with Brisbane 2032 among the targets.

“Floorball would be a fantastic Olympic team sport for a lot of reasons that make the Olympics special,” Francis reasoned. “It’s fast-paced, athletic and very technical, so the world’s top players are exceptionally skilled, which makes for brilliant spectator experiences. 

“At grassroots level, floorball is very easy to pick up and play, it’s mostly mixed gender and cheap to organise, so I feel like the Olympic buzz would translate into people wanting to give it a go! Another element is that floorball is very much a worldwide sport, although the Scandinavian nations are the most skilled, there are plenty of countries around the world that would provide excellent competition with their own cultural spin, which is always brilliant to see when watching the Olympics.”

Scandinavia’s dominance, referenced by Francis, has been emphatic. Finland and Sweden are the only two nations to have won the biennial Men’s World Floorball Championship, though the Women’s edition has seen similar dominance disrupted by Switzerland winning their second title in 2025, beating the Czech Republic in the final.

Conversely, Great Britain have yet to challenge on the international stage, currently ranked 28th and 29th in the world in the women’s and men’s game respectively. Nevertheless, Francis, who represented Great Britain at youth level, recalls “a lot of great memories” from his time representing the nation, both internationally and at grassroots level.

“As a player, it was mind-blowing to step out in an Italian arena in a GB kit, but equally I felt such a sense of pride to represent my University of York club which I’d built a passionate group of student players for. Off the rink, I very keenly remember the first livestream I presented (using skills gained from my Journalism module at GIS), and how amazing the reception was!”

This module came as part of the studies Francis graduated from in 2023, from which he cited an improved skillset, network, and calibre of lecturer amongst initial motivations to join GIS.

Francis graduated from GIS in 2023 with an MSc in Football Communications and Digital Marketing, a course that helped him connect his creative strengths with his interest in the sports industry.

“Having studied History at undergraduate level, the MSc Football Communications and Digital Marketing course spoke to my strengths as a creative writer and someone who thinks about audience and impact in messaging,” he recalled.

“The tutors for the various modules were each fantastic at relaying relevant, practical and interesting content with real-world applicability, which helped me gain a thorough understanding of how people work in the sport industry. 

“I felt that everyone at GIS, including my coursemates, shared a great passion for the experience of sport, which made making meaningful relationships easy.”

Francis then noted his Leadership module as a particularly enjoyable one, which encourages students to reflect on their skills, experience and personality as they prepare for successful careers in the sports industry.

“If I had to give a piece of advice to new students,” he continued, “it would be that you will have such a good chance to grow, if you are brave enough to stand up and make a positive impression, it’s all there for you.”

“My recommendation for anyone wanting to work in sport is that although 100% of the people making floorball happen in the UK floorball are volunteers, that’s only 5% more than the volunteer proportion of people who work in the UK sport industry in general. Volunteer doing something that gives you a sense of purpose!”

Francis’s journey highlights how volunteering can provide a route into sports leadership, offering opportunities to build experience, develop practical skills and take on greater responsibility.

If you are interested in gaining experience in a sporting context, or simply learning more about floorball, students are encouraged to reach out to Francis by contacting him at president@ukff.org, or via his LinkedIn.

To discover more of our students and graduates in exciting sports industry roles, explore our news page.

Article by Zakaria Anani