Rybka: "I came to Nisa to sell and wrap floorball sticks"

What is Michal Rybka, former Czech national team member and current successful youth and women's coach in Switzerland, doing in the SALMING NISAOPEN souvenir stand?

"The tournament director Vladimír Ježek and I, who currently lives in Switzerland, are good friends, but mainly floorball enthusiasts, so we came up with the idea that I would help sell promotional items for the event and we combined it with an offer for the players. If they buy a floorball wrap at our booth, I will wrap it for them because I have a lot of experience with that. I used to work for a company in the Czech Republic that made hockey sticks."

Your first day at the booth is over. With what success?

"We sold about twenty-five wraps and there was one group of guys. I wrapped the first guy's stick and suddenly everyone else wanted one. From that point on, word got out and then everyone who bought one wanted a wrap replacement as well, so good for me..."

They say you're really good at it and you don't even need to watch floorball while you work. What's your best time?

"That's a good question. I haven't had anyone measure the time it takes to do the whole swap, but it takes about 40 seconds to take the wrap off and a maximum of one and a half minutes to put the new one on."

You have been living and working in the land of the Helvetic Cross for twenty years. Why did you settle there?

"I played actively in the Czech Republic until I was 24 years old, and at that time some of the national team players started to go abroad and therefore also to Switzerland. I'm not saying I won everything in the Czech Republic, far from it, but I lacked the motivation to continue. I wanted to improve my quality of life, which I did."

You certainly remember the successful years of your career, what are your favourite memories?

"Definitely for the time when I was at FBC Pepino Ostrava. I would call it a team of crazy people. We were all wild and we experienced a lot together because of that. In the Czech Republic, people are passionate about sports and it's completely different than in Switzerland, where work comes first, school and sports are not valued as much."

Coaching is a hard job, how do you find it in Switzerland?

"In the Czech Republic, floorball works a little better in that the association or clubs are supported by state subsidies and clubs can afford to employ five or six people full-time, which is not possible in Switzerland because there is not much money in the sport. It is a rich country, but there is little investment in floorball. I am lucky, together with Tomas Chrápek, because we are both employed full-time at the club. It's only thanks to the fact that three clubs that are geographically close work together and contribute financially, otherwise it wouldn't be possible. There aren't many coaches who are employed full-time here."

You had a business in Switzerland outside of floorball for some time. I guess there's no time for that now, is there?

"I had a small private company that renovated apartments and houses, but the opportunity came up to get a job as a trainer, so I took it full on. I did go down in salary, but I'm doing what I came here to do and what I enjoy."

What kind of people are the Swiss and what is their sports mentality compared to the Czechs?

"I think it's common knowledge. Czechs are athletes who don't give everything in training, but they are more creative and talented. The Swiss just have it hard fought. It's also a given in social life, because if you achieve something in sport in the Czech Republic, you have a certain status, that you've done something, whereas in Switzerland everyone doesn't care. Of course, we're not talking about Roger Federer, that's a whole different level. Floorball is not as popular here as in the Czech Republic."

What do you expect as a coach in the nearest future?

"One of the teams that employs me is called Floorball Uri. I took over as coach of the women's team in the second highest league and we managed to advance to the top competition. It will make a big difference for us to play at the highest level, but the club is not pushing us to stay at all costs, which of course we all want. I think we can be competitive with teams that are between fifth and tenth in the table."