Tan Yi Ru takes over as women’s floorball team coach

During Singapore’s debut at the Women’s Under-19 World Floorball Championship in May, coach Tan Yi Ru led the team to a creditable 11th-place finish at the 16-team tournament in Finland, defeating Italy, Australia and New Zealand along the way.

Tan, 34, is now hoping to make his mark at the elite level, having been appointed as coach of the senior women’s team on a two-year contract.

With no major assignments left for the team in 2024, the former national player has set his sights on two targets next year.

First, to maintain the three-time defending champions’ supremacy at the SEA Games. Next, to go one better than their best finish of 12th at the 16-team World Floorball Championship (WFC), which was achieved in 2019 and 2023.

He is well aware of the magnitude of the task ahead of him, pointing to Singapore’s 13-1 thrashing by Norway in the 11th-place play-off during the 2023 world championship on home soil.

“The margin is too huge to look ahead of 11th realistically, 11th at world stage would probably be more measurable now,” he added. “So anything more is a bonus and a job well done.”

Two factors stand in his stead – his familiarity with the team, having stepped up from assistant coach to interim head coach after Lim Jin Quan left in February; and his knowledge of the U-19 players, some of whom are or will be with the senior side.

Tan said of Lim’s departure: “When he left, it was a big gap for me to fill because he has been holding on to the position for a while and he’s more familiar with the team.

“So during the transition to becoming head coach, I just rode on what he has been working on. I didn’t want to change much of how the team trained because I didn’t want it to be a drastic change.”

Tan’s immediate task will be to work towards qualifying for the world championship. To do so, they must finish in the top three of the Asia-Oceania Floorball Confederation Cup in early 2025.

While there is a clash in the 2025 dates for the Dec 6-14 world championship in the Czech Republic and Dec 9-20 SEA Games in Bangkok, he feels that there is still time to iron things out.

Singapore Floorball Association president Ben Ow believes that Tan has proven himself and it will give him its full backing.

He said: “Yi Ru has shown his aptitude in coaching on the international stage with the U-19 women’s team and he had stepped up during the interim after Jin Quan departed.

“Going forward, the association will support him in the next phase of his coaching journey with the women’s team.”

While it may be Tan’s highest coaching appointment, it would not be his first taste of international sport as he had represented Singapore in floorball (2005-2018) and hockey (2007-2019).

He has also been coaching various schools in both sports since 2011 and had been with the U-19 women’s floorball team since 2019, before wearing another hat as the senior team’s assistant coach 1½ years ago.

Veteran player Shannon Yeo, 29, said: “Yi Ru was previously assistant to JQ, so in terms of familiarity with us and the culture, I don’t think there was any gap in that sense, he took over quite seamlessly.”

Women’s captain Shermaine Goh also believes that Tan will do well in the role.

The 26-year-old said: “Yi Ru’s appointment to the main team has been in the making, because he has been the coach that has been working with the U-19 team for a few years, and in the main team (as the assistant) for 1½ years.

“I don’t think he will do badly in our tournaments next year and he’s definitely striving to be the best coach.”