Broomball is a popular recreational ice sport often thought to have originated in Canada and is played in many countries around the world. It is played on a hockey rink, either indoors or outdoors, depending on climate and location.

Players - of which there are six a side including the goaltender - hit a small ball around the ice with a stick known as a 'broom'. The broom may have a wooden or aluminium shaft and has a rubber-moulded triangular head similar in shape to that of a regular broom, hence the name.

In a game of broomball there are two teams, each containing six players, a goaltender plus five outfielders. The object of the game is to score more goals than your opponent. Goals are scored by putting the ball into your opponent's net using your broom. Tactics and plays are similar to those used in sports such as ice hockey, roller hockey and floorball.

Broomball is often mistaken for the sport of curling, a popular misconception, although the sports are almost nothing alike.

Equipment

The basic equipment most players use include:

• Helmet
• Knee/elbow guards
• Broom (stick)
• Shoes
• Gloves

Goaltenders are permitted to use a blocker, a specially-designed rectangular attachment to their glove used to block hard shots.

History

There is no known, fully accurate history of broomball. However, the general consensus is that modern-day broomball originated in Canada by ice hockey enthusiasts who were not talented skaters. However, recent research indicates that a sport known as knattleikr was played in Iceland in the 18th century. The sport was almost considered warfare, with the occasional death not uncommon, and games could involve whole villages and lasted up to fourteen days. Writer Hord Grimkellson reported that, in a game between Strand and Botn, that "before dusk, six of the Strand players lay dead, though none on the Botn side."[1]

The first recorded broomball games in North America were in Saskatchewan in 1909 and Ontario in 1911. From Canada the game spread quickly to the United States and became especially popular in Minnesota, where by the 1950s a broomball community was thriving.

Broomball was spread internationally over the following decades by ex-patriate Canadians and Americans and by the 1980s, organised broomball was being played in Australia, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland.

Famous teams

United States

• USA Blue
• Minnesota Red (formerly USA Red) [2]
• Inferno

Canada

• Le Frost

Australia

• ACT Flames

World governing body

The International Federation of Broomball Associations (IFBA) is the world governing body of broomball, with its headquarters based in Canada. Under current President Rick Przybysz the IFBA has taken the sport to a greater global level, pushing broomball to a status which may soon see its presence in the Olympics.

Every two years the IFBA sanctions the World Broomball Championships (also known as the Challenge Cup), an international event where teams from around the globe enter. Historically the Championships have been dominated by the stronger North Americans teams.

Around the world

Broomball is now an established international recreational sport, played in many countries around the world. Canada and the United States are the 'powerhouse' nations of the sport, with their local representative teams often battling it out in prestigious tournaments held annually across North America.

Broomball is becoming more popular internationally as well. In Japan, some top teams and players are attracted to regular tournaments. Australia holds its annual National Championships in centres across the country and is continually growing its number of players in a country where ice sports are not considered popular. Switzerland and Italy produce some fine players and regularly send representative teams to tournaments in North America.

Links to external broomball sites can be found at the bottom of this page.

Variants

There are three basic forms of broomball: men's, women's, and mixed.

Each of the single-sex forms can be split further into checking and non-checking categories. Most of the world plays single-sex competitions as checking, but the United States prefers non-checking.

Mixed broomball is losing popularity on a global scale and involves games between teams with an equal number of male and female players on the ice. These events are non-checking and at the highest level, are decided by individual skill and tactical nous.

The future of broomball

Presently broomball continues to grow globally. With a firm foothold in Canada and the United States and an established presence in other significant nations, the IFBA is now talking of taking the sport to the Olympics. Already the Canadian Broomball Federation is a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, the first such national broomball body to achieve this, and it is expected other federations will soon follow.

The future of the sport looks bright. Marketed as 'the alternative team sport on ice', broomball offers a less-confrontational alternative to sports such as ice hockey. At the elite level broomball is fast-paced, highly skillful and is a great spectacle, while at a social level broomball is very enjoyable for all players regardless of sporting skill.

Links

• USA Broomball official site
• Canadian Broomball Federation official site
• Broomball in New South Wales, Australia
• Broomball in North Queensland, Australia
• Broomball in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States