The year is 2008 and the idea of founding an amateur floorball club is born among the Olomouc scouts and in the head of Jan Ševčík. The years go by and Saros Olomouc is gradually turning from friendly slapping the ball into a functioning floorball club, step by step. “We have a vision and a desire to move forward, we do it for fun and with a group of friends,” says Václav Venkrbec, official chairman of Saros from 2021. Two years later, two adult teams are playing under the banner of the Olomouc club, and the first children’s categories are being created.
The seemingly meaningless compound Saros Olomouc hides a surprising meaning. “The first players were the Eighth Center Scouts and Rovers,” the vice-chairman of the club Dominik Palásek reveals with a laugh. And it’s true, when the ball was tapped for the first time at a friendly tournament in Šternberk in 2009, several 15-year-old scouts were standing on the platform. Now the Saros players have two sets of jerseys, regular training or social networks. The scout lily in the club’s emblem refers to their beginnings, but we are already getting ahead of that.
“At first we toured amateur tournaments in the entire Olomouc region, but also in eastern Bohemia, for example,” recalls Venkrbec and adds that later boys from outside the scout joined. Finally, in 2014, Saros won the biggest scout tournament in Malé Svatoňovice and another impulse to move came.
Large floorball tournaments in Lviv, Ukraine. Entering the amateur league
According to Václav Venkrbec and Dominik Palásk, the decisive turning point is repeated participation in the Ukraine Floorball Open in Lviv, where teams from Switzerland, Poland, as well as Finland and Sweden also play. It forced the club to buy jerseys, design a better emblem and be seen. “The changes also concerned the staff itself. It was no longer just a bunch of enthusiasts, like in the beginning. A few guys with good floorball experience joined, that’s how it crystallizes even today.” describes Dominik Palásek, who also has experience playing league floorball in France. In the following years, the club made it all the way to the quarter-finals, although regular Monday training already worked.
The rebirth of an amateur club, a group of boy scouts and some girl scouts in Saros Olomouc participating in the official competition was also helped by participation in the national Orelské floorball league, which Saros eventually dominated and won the whole in the 2021/2022 season. “We have been participating in the Eagles League regularly for several years, the competition, matches for points in the table, it has created a solid squad,” Václav Venkrbec explained the importance of participation.
Official establishment of the club, list of statutes, election of the chairman and progress in the first season
And now we will stop for a moment in 2021, because this is the time when Václav Venkrbec, Dominik Palásek and Martin Musil meet at the post office on Horní náměstí. They unanimously elect a chairman, draw up articles of association and create a legal entity and association. In the 2021/2022 season, Saros Olomouc enters the lowest 8th league.
“I wanted to take this step for a long time. The boys were still playing in the FBS Olomouc club. I was waiting for them to say they were going with me,” explains chairman Václav Venkrbec and Dominik Palásek nods in agreement, he too used to belong to the players of the largest Olomouc floorball club: “Me and the other guys playing at the same time in FBS started to wonder if we shouldn’t play more with a bunch of friends and start building something.”
Already in the first matches, it became clear that Saros was to be reckoned with, the newcomer finally advanced to the 7th league in his first season, where he is currently leading and fighting with Uničov B for promotion. An important tournament awaits them on November 19 in Litovla. “There we play against big teams at the top of the table, but we can do it,” Palasek believes.
It’s not just about running after the ball anymore. We are building the club, its name and a new generation
Today, the Saros jersey is worn not only by the founding A-team, but also by U23 players and children from the 1st to the 5th grade of elementary school. “We currently have 15 children registered, who are looked after by coach Vítek Kvapil. And we are still hiring more, probably in the middle of the year,” Dominik Palásek suggests building the next generation of floorball players and continues: “It’s great to see the enthusiasm, enthusiasm and camaraderie of the children. At the last tournament there was also the first success, a cup, medals and diplomas. That will also make you happy.”
Even now, new children are said to be coming to Saros, their first training sessions are free, they lend them a floorball and they can just play. “We don’t want to push children anywhere, come once, don’t come once, it’s nothing,” adds Václav Venkrbec, saying that they want to be an alternative to FBS Olomouc. Some people don’t want to focus only on floorball, but still have an interest and desire to play in a tournament, go to training, and improve. “We still subscribe to scouting, it’s our roots. That is why it is important for us, even in sports, to teach children fair play, play, friendship and cooperation.”
Even so, both representatives of the club do not hide the fact that they also have sporting ambitions. “We have the strength to go up a few leagues with the team we currently have,” says Dominik. According to Palásek, it is no longer just about running after the ball, they want to create new children’s categories and build a club. “There is room for Saros in Olomouc, because there is only FBS and Droždín here. In this regard, our city has the potential to continue to grow,” concluded the chairman of Saros Olomouc Václav Venkrbec.
