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About two years ago, Larsson, along with fellow floorball enthusiasts Nigel Piggott and Daniel Fors, formed the Philadelphia Stormers, a floorball club with about 20 active members that practices on Wednesdays and Sundays at the North Light Community Center in Manayunk.
Floorball originated during the 1970s in Sweden as a way for hockey players to refine their skills during the offseason without risking injury.
Floorball "is something you play in school" in Sweden, said Larsson. "It's like baseball here, I guess."
Floorball players travel from as far as Wilmington, Del. to practice with the Stormers every week. Most Stormers' players-who are between the ages of 22 and 40-met each other through floorball Web sites, and through word-of-mouth advertising.
From April 14 to 16, the Stormers will compete in the Canada Cup, a tournament in Toronto that crowns the North American floorball champions.
Four Stormers' players are members of national teams-three play for the Americans and one plays for the Dutch.
Floorball players use a ball similar to a Wiffle ball, and they attempt to score goals by hitting it with sticks that are smaller and lighter than those used in floor hockey. The game is played between two five-person teams on a wood rink that is larger than a basketball court.
The rules of floorball prohibit checking, contact between sticks and raising the stick above the knees. The plastic balls-known as "floorballs"-bounce on the wood surface, and are more difficult to control than hockey pucks.
Floorball goaltenders wear facemasks and chest protectors, but they have less equipment than their hockey counterparts. Goaltenders in floorball don't have a stick or even gloves-they swat the floorball out of the air with their bare hands.
Floorball "is completely different from ice hockey, you have none of the same equipment" said Stormers' goaltender Matt Moyer, a resident of Chester Springs, Pa. who is a former ice-hockey goaltender for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
"In floorball, goaltenders are smaller and less mobile. You can't challenge shooters like in ice hockey."
Moyer is the goaltender for the U.S. National Floorball team, which will compete this May at the World Floorball Championships in Sweden.
"Sometimes it's hard to explain to someone that you're playing floorball with a little stick and a Wiffle ball. It sounds like something out of gym class," said Moyer. "But I like it better than ice hockey, I think it takes more skill. It's a finesse game and a speed game-you don't have the clutching, checking and grabbing."
"It's more of a pure sport, there's more creativity," said Moyer.
Nigel Piggott, an American who is half Swedish, spent summers in Sweden throughout his youth. Piggott played floorball with his cousins during these trips. As a teenager, Piggott brought floorball to California by organizing games at his high school gym.
Piggott and Larsson met while playing with floorball clubs in Silicon Valley. After moving to Philadelphia, the two players found each other on floorball Web sites.
Floorball "is a Scandinavian-dominated sport, but it's spreading to other countries," Piggott said. "The sport is breaking out of mainland Europe."
In the Austin Independent School District in Austin, Tex., floorball is a required part of the curriculum for all middle-school students. Next year, the sport will be added to the required curriculum in high school as well.
Jeff Morris, president of the Austin Floorball Club, says 48,000 students will be exposed to the sport in schools.
Floorball "is very easy to learn. It's very safe and it's inclusive," said Morris. "Boys and girls can play together, and a wide age-range can play together."
"The rules help tone down the aggression, and they cut down the possibility of kids hurting each other."
John DiCriscio, a member of the Stormers, grew up playing hockey at Venice Island Recreation Center. DiCriscio also played for the Tigers Athletic Club at the Dobson School in Manayunk.
"You don't have to worry about getting hurt or getting slashed" in floorball, DiCriscio said. "It's hard to find people who come out to play floorball and then don't want to play anymore. Once you play, you're hooked."
J.E. Hamer-Maansson, who plays floorball for the U.S. Women's National Team, also plays for a Delaware-based club organized by AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical company with roots in Sweden.
"It's worth the drive" to practice at North Light, Hamer-Maansson said. "The other team plays for fun. This one goes out and plays in tournaments."
"Floorball is pretty cheap to play compared to hockey. All you need is a stick and a pair of running shoes," she said.
In Sweden, floorball is known as "innebandy," a word that translates to "indoor bandy."
Bandy is a Swedish sport that predates ice hockey. It's played outdoors on a grass area the size of a football field that is covered with water and frozen. Bandy players wear ice skates, and attempt to score goals with a ball smaller and heavier than a baseball that they hit with wood sticks.
The headline at the top of the Austin Floorball Club's Web site claims floorball is the "fastest growing team sport in the world."
"The rapidly-growing areas are Western Europe and Asia," said Morris. "The women's world championships were in Singapore last year, and 100,000 school kids there play floorball every year."
"It's a great sport for intramural leagues, and it will do well in universities. It's got a lot of potential for growth in the States."
