The Sport of the Future Today!

What Is Broomball?
The sport of broomball originated in Canada in the early 1900's. Since then, that crude form of the sport has grown into a popular sport on all levels. Men's women's and coed teams participate both competitively and recreationally.

Many of us have been exposed to broomball in an entertainment sense where, local media celebrities combat against one another on an ice rink where they play with house brooms and a recreation ball. However, when people witness the silly antics of their nightly news person slipping to the seat of his pants, few of them realize that what they are seeing is the crude form of an actual sport which is sweeping the country.

Broomball is played on an ice hockey rink with rules and strategies similar to those of hockey. Players wear padded sponge-rubber shoes, to enhance traction on the slippery surface, and strike a ball the size of a small soccer ball with specially designed brooms made of corn-straw dipped in rubber or solid molded rubber, trying to score into a net which is guarded by a goal-tender.

In Your Area
Ice arena managers across the country have discovered the benefits of adding a broomball program to fill vacant ice time. Arenas in shopping malls and close to college campuses have been especially successful in setting up recreational programs in consistently empty time slots, and find them expanding into popular attractions. This strategey is not exclusive to northern climates. In fact, some of the best young broomball programs exist in areas of California, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, and even Florida.

For Fun
Recreational broomball teams are easily formed since a skill such as skating is not required to participate, and initial equipment costs are relatively low compared to those of other sports. Also, due to decreased mobility on the ice surface, men and women are able to play on a more equal basis with the ice being a great equalizer, thus making the sport more enjoyable for all.

For Sport
For those who become more serious about broomball, there is now a circuit of highly competitive tournaments across North America. While many of these tournaments offer cash prizes for the winning teams to help decrease traveling expenses, they also provide intermediate, coed, and recreational divisions.

The Future of Broomball
The future for the sport of broomball is looking very bright with extensive play throughout North America, and great interest forming in Scandinavia, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Italy, and even the Soviet Union.

The sixth official world broomball championships are scheduled for November 2006 in Blaine, Minnesota. The above countries have expressed interest in participating and hopefully by then other countries will be able to take part as well. In the 2008 olympics, broomball is scheduled to be a spectator sport for the first time.

So whether you are planning a broomball game with house brooms on a frozen lake, or planning a strategy for your team for the world championships, enjoy yourself, because having fun is the name of the game in any sport.