Teen floorball player and coach helps organize youth and adult tournament in Romeoville
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Have you ever found something - maybe a movie, a book, or a song - that you love so much, you tell everyone about it? A Chicago teen has: it's a sport known as floorball.
As CBS 2's Marie Saavedra reports, floorball might be to you, but 17-year-old Keene Addington doing everything he can to change that.
On a cold spring day, Saavedra learned about the sport of Floorball from its foremost ambassador living in Chicago.
"Floorball is pretty much an easier and more accessible version of floor hockey," said Keene, a junior at The Latin School, and coach of the floorball team.
In floorball, players use hockey sticks and a whiffle ball to score. The game's origins are in Sweden and surrounding countries, and a family friend introduced it to the Addington family when Keene was 10.
"I played floorball by myself for years, because I didn't have a brother, and I didn't have any friends who knew about the sport," he said.
So his love of the sport was a lonely road, until two things happened.
First, his parents gave him a brother, 11-year-old James, who's had a stick in hand almost since birth.
"It's just fun to play, and it's kind of fun exercise," he said.
Second, Keene decided to start a league; something he wishes he had when he fell in love with the game.
"What I want to do is, like, give something that I never had to these kids, because now they can play floorball with all their friends, and they can talk about it with each other," Keene said.
He is dedicated to growing the game in Chicago. Beyond coaching, he runs the Floorball Chicago Facebook page and website. In between homework, and with help from his parents, Keene took it upon himself to plan and host a youth and adult tournament happening in June.
"We ended up settling on a place in Romeoville," Keene said. "It's pretty much, like, we can host from up to like 12 to 20, 25 teams."
He'll welcome teams from several states, in what feels like a big undertaking for a teenager. But he benefits, too.
"I'm very proud of what I've accomplished, but I'm also, I'm also just happy because I get to play it more," Keene said.
Now, his dad helps him coach and his mom's in the net as goalie when needed. Sharing the sport truly is a family affair, with all of the Addingtons eager to teach Chicago sports lovers something new.
"I'm just, pretty much, just giving something back to the community that I never had," Keene said.
The 2022 Youth Nationals Tournament in Romeoville is the second weekend in June. The adult tournament happens at the same time.
