January 16–22, 2008, Number 477
What is Broomball?
As your student returns to Michigan Tech, the buzz around campus is about classes and snow statues but also a lot of emphasis is on this sport called Broomball. Some of you are probably wondering what this sport is and what it means to our campus. This article is going to talk about some of the facets of broomball and also point out some avenues for checking out more information.
With the start of classes came the start of the broomball season for the Inter-Residence Hall Council (IRHC) leagues, with a special exhibition game that was held Jan. 14 in the early evening between last year's champions. To tell you more about the IRHC league, it starts around the beginning of the Spring semester and continues till about the middle of February. IRHC leagues are different from the Winter Carnival broomball games, because Blue Key runs the Winter Carnival events. The IRHC broomball website discusses the leagues, schedules, forms/rules, contact information and updates to the sport. The leagues that are a part of IRHC Broomball consist of: McNair, DHH (Douglas Houghton Hall), West Wadsworth, East Wadsworth, Women, and Off Campus. The teams are categorized into these leagues based on where the players live. Another cool website to check out is the webcams that they have in place.
The key to broomball is the equipment and a good attitude. Your student is usually required to have a broomstick covered in duct tape, regular street shoes (no shoes with special grips—it's against the rules), and, if they feel the need, hockey shin guards, gloves Warm clothing is a plus and provides some protection. Since hockey shin guards can be slightly expensive, what I've used in the past has been regular shin guards (for example: ones used in soccer) and volleyball kneepads to protect myself. Also another vital piece of equipment is a hockey helmet. Each rink has hockey helmets placed out for the use of the players, or buying your own is nice, because then you know that it can be used for all the years they are at Michigan Tech.
The sport itself is played very similar to hockey, with the exception that the goalie is on their knees and the goal is actually a box shape. The players have to move on their street shoes across the ice and use their broomsticks to shoot a broomball ball into the goal or defend the goal. It can be difficult to get around on the ice, especially when there is a lack of snow, but overall the experience is one of laughter and enjoyment. The teams can consist of a minimum of five on campus residents and a maximum of five off campus residents to be eligible. At any given time each team is only allowed six players on the ice. There are always referees at the games that check equipment and gear for any illegal practices and to manage the game.
One of the exciting changes to this year's broomball season has been the addition of another full-size court. This allows for the addition of over two hundred teams and around two thousand players! Two of the three courts are located across from Wadsworth Hall on the lawn to the side of the Walker/Rozsa buildings, with the additional court set up closer to the parking lot of the Rozsa building.
I've played for the last two years, and from experience I can say it is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I'll be on the sidelines cheering teams on this year due to a knee injury that occurred at the beginning of the school year. I'm looking forward to this exciting and thrilling time that gives us a break from our studies. I highly recommend that any parents interested in seeing broomball take a weekend to come up and visit. The games go on all weekend long and are a lot of fun to watch. You can really get caught up in cheering on the teams, even if you don't know the players.
I hope this article gives you a good insight for the game of Broomball, but as always if you have any questions about the article or any comments please feel free to email me and I'll be happy to respond. Any suggestions about future ParentNet articles are encouraged as well.
Until next week,
I'd like to thank Megan Gayeski, Broomball Public Relations Manager and the Broomball Daily for the information provided in this article via the email that Megan sent out to the ParentNet email list on Dec. 18, 2007. For a copy of this email contact me and I can resend it to you personally.
- Michigan Technological University
- 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931-1295
- 906-487-1885