Do you know how broomball became Michigan Tech’s winter tradition? Here’s what we have heard. Share your story.

The birth of Broomball at Michigan Tech! In 1961 a group of Canadians organized a Single Day Event “Broomball Round-Robin Tournament” at Dee Stadium. No pads, helmets, or facemasks! One team of students went around town asking stores, bars, etc. for any old brooms that they could part with and cut them down and taped them with hockey tape to make enough paddle brooms for the “Untouchables” who went undefeated.

The IRHC Broomball site says…”Broomball itself was invented in Canada some time in the early 1900s. Originally, the game was played with normal brooms and players wore normal shoes and no helmets. Today, professional Broomball players use specialized brooms and shoes, but Tech continues the original tradition with tennis shoes and duct-tape covered brooms. Although IRHC Broomball first began in the early 1990s, it was played informally on campus as evidence in previous yearbooks, though the earliest rules date to 1994-1995.” See more here.