Word on the street is that the IFL will soon have a website with complete rules, team schedules and franchise infromation, so I won't spend too much time dicussing the details here. I will talk about the history of Foockey including the controversy surrounding the Foockey puck shape and the first fight under the "no-holds barred" rule.

A Pint of Ale

Gunder Ljungberg sat down with his friends in a local pub located in Östersund on a cold winter day. Known for his willingness to take any wager, his friend Ingemar Bergqvist bet Gunder a pint of ale that he couldn't turn a local fledgling ice hockey team into professional gridiron players. Gunder took the bet, and began coaching the team.

As bad as the team was at ice hockey, it was even worse at American football. Frustrated with his progress, Gunder was about to cede the wager when Ingemar jokingly suggested that the team might play gridiron better on ice. That very night Gunder brought the team back to the rink and had them play on skates. The team that couldn't find their footing with ice hockey or American football alone, somehow were able to play the combined sport with finesse. Gunder knew immediately that he had hit on something big. He practiced the team for another two weeks before inviting Ingemar and other friends to claim victory.

Stunned by the teams' performance, Ingemar remarked "You've created a bunch of Foockey players!" The name stuck, and his friends wanted to play. Soon thereafter five teams formed, Gunder got his pint of ale and became the charter president of the Swedish Foockey League.

Next Time: The Foockey Puck

All Hail Foockey!

Foockey started as a local phenomenon, but now it's grown across the globe with the launch of the International Foockey League (IFL). A combination of football and ice hockey, this no-holds-barred sport is destined to create a stir, and the co-ed teams make it the first to level the playing field.

Take a look at the perfectly executed Foockey Chute play on the right - now what other team sport can claim to award points for style, or for winning a fight? Foockey is the wave of the future!

Stay tuned for my complete history of Foockey, beginning with the initial teams from Sweden to the national stir it's creating in the USA.