Broomball, anybody?

[Solaris]

We played it for our Mandatory Fun Day today. For those who aren't Alaskans, it's basically hockey played with brooms, a ball, and no skates. I played defense, running interceptions for the goalie (who we put in the spot 'cause he's not much use anywhere else). This involved a lot of jumping, diving, punching, and at one point I tossed my broom aside and took a flying leap at the guy's legs, leading to a three-man pileup. I also lost count of how many times I'd been beaten with a stick, kicked, punched, or plowed into all in the name of stopping the other team from getting a bright orange rubber ball into our goal. I thought I was in good shape, but right now I'm so sore I'm having trouble lifting my legs.

Anyone else played it before? It's a lot of fun.

[golentan]

No, but we played a game called indian ball where I'm from. Basically soccer in a room with sloping walls: if it bounces into the air and you catch it, you can run with and throw the ball, and it's full contact (anything goes as long as you're defending or attacking the guy with the ball).

Judo came in real handy: I'm not fast but when I was on defense nobody wanted to come within 40 ft. of me after the first time I floored the school quarterback so hard he took the rest of the game off.

[blackfox]

Played broomball for the first time evar last semester, ended up knocking over half the other team. The other half was smaller than me.

Also ended up with a nasty bone bruise on my shin that still hurts if I press it and that I probably shoulda had checked out by some sort of professional a while ago. But! It was loads of fun! And my legs were pretty colors for weeks afterwards! :smalltongue:

[Don Julio Anejo]

I played defense (snip).
This involved a lot of jumping, diving, punching, and at one point I tossed my broom aside and took a flying leap at the guy's legs, leading to a three-man pileup. I also lost count of how many times I'd been beaten with a stick, kicked, punched, or plowed into
So it's basically hockey? :amused:

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

We played it for our Mandatory Fun Day today. For those who aren't Alaskans, it's basically hockey played with brooms, a ball, and no skates. I played defense, running interceptions for the goalie (who we put in the spot 'cause he's not much use anywhere else). This involved a lot of jumping, diving, punching, and at one point I tossed my broom aside and took a flying leap at the guy's legs, leading to a three-man pileup. I also lost count of how many times I'd been beaten with a stick, kicked, punched, or plowed into all in the name of stopping the other team from getting a bright orange rubber ball into our goal. I thought I was in good shape, but right now I'm so sore I'm having trouble lifting my legs.

Anyone else played it before? It's a lot of fun.

Here in Minnesota, broomball is a pretty serious sport in the winter. Many high schools I know have rec leagues, and there are some real serious leagues around too. I assume you just played it with a normal broom and boots and not a broomball stick, broomball shoes, although it does sound like you played with a regulation broomball.

[Walrus]

I played it in high school gym class a few times, then played in league for a little bit after that. It was a lot of fun! I could never get the hang of the golf-swing slapshot, though. I usually played on the right wing and did the gopher work for my line (winning battles for the ball and getting it teammates to set up the play).

[Solaris]

No, but we played a game called indian ball where I'm from. Basically soccer in a room with sloping walls: if it bounces into the air and you catch it, you can run with and throw the ball, and it's full contact (anything goes as long as you're defending or attacking the guy with the ball).

Judo came in real handy: I'm not fast but when I was on defense nobody wanted to come within 40 ft. of me after the first time I floored the school quarterback so hard he took the rest of the game off.

... Now I wanna play indian ball on the ice rink. Everything's better when we're running around on ice with shoes that lack traction over normal terrain.


Played broomball for the first time evar last semester, ended up knocking over half the other team. The other half was smaller than me.

Also ended up with a nasty bone bruise on my shin that still hurts if I press it and that I probably shoulda had checked out by some sort of professional a while ago. But! It was loads of fun! And my legs were pretty colors for weeks afterwards! :smalltongue:

Hee. I was the angry little man who knocked over pretty much everybody who came on my side of the rink. Some of the guys sitting in the bleachers were shouting "Stonewall Schnepp!" whenever I stopped 'em from getting in or scoring with the ball... usually by diving in front of it and blocking with my face.
Protective gear would've been nice...


So it's basically hockey? :amused:

Yep. Hence me loving it. What can I say? I'm from Detroit. The only good sport is blood sport.


Here in Minnesota, broomball is a pretty serious sport in the winter. Many high schools I know have rec leagues, and there are some real serious leagues around too. I assume you just played it with a normal broom and boots and not a broomball stick, broomball shoes, although it does sound like you played with a regulation broomball.

Broomball stick, but only two guys had broomball shoes.
They got tackled a lot.
Our play, I'm pretty sure, was real far from regulation. We used our hands a lot. Often for punching, sometimes for passing the ball. Heck, I didn't even have my stick near me half the time.


I played it in high school gym class a few times, then played in league for a little bit after that. It was a lot of fun! I could never get the hang of the golf-swing slapshot, though. I usually played on the right wing and did the gopher work for my line (winning battles for the ball and getting it teammates to set up the play).

We figured out that it was best to go to your knees when swinging, as we had no traction and every time someone tried to take a shot he wound up falling on his butt... or run over by an angry little man. Broomball without proper shoes is definitely a sport where it's not good to be a big guy.

[Walrus]

Ah, yeah, we had actual shoes, so people could hit the golf-swing shot without falling over. I could hit it, it just never went where I wanted it to. I usually just tried to flick it over the goalie's shoulder.

And sports are more fun when there aren't those pesky "rules." I tended to get away with quite a bit in the corners (you'd be amazed how often one elbow is enough to give you space for the rest of the game).

[Solaris]

Ah, yeah, we had actual shoes, so people could hit the golf-swing shot without falling over. I could hit it, it just never went where I wanted it to. I usually just tried to flick it over the goalie's shoulder.

And sports are more fun when there aren't those pesky "rules." I tended to get away with quite a bit in the corners (you'd be amazed how often one elbow is enough to give you space for the rest of the game).

Lucky dogs. The Army could issue us a thousand and one items we never use, but not something like broomball shoes. >_<

Rules just exist to get in the way of fun. I'm more fond of taking a knee to the side of the other guy's, though. If ya do it right he'll be out a lot longer than a coupla seconds, and winning 'cause of casualties just comes naturally to us. :smallbiggrin:

[thubby]

so field hockey... with brooms :smalltongue:

[Solaris]

so field hockey... with brooms :smalltongue:

Field hockey... with brooms... on ice.

I'm still hurtin' and movin' like an old man. I think we should do this more often.

[Walrus]

Sounds like you had even less rules than we did, Solaris. I could get away with elbows on the grounds of "I was just playing the ball and he put his face there." Knees, not so much. This thread is making me want to look into joining a league again.

[Yarram]

I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to play a game like that. Sure hockey is fun... But usually in hockey I wear shin-guards, and you're not suppose to hit each other with your sticks... And hockey doesn't cause pain.

[Solaris]

Sounds like you had even less rules than we did, Solaris. I could get away with elbows on the grounds of "I was just playing the ball and he put his face there." Knees, not so much. This thread is making me want to look into joining a league again.

Knees we could do in the big ol' jumble that happened every time someone got within five feet of someone else. We were going with 'no blood, no foul'.
I know, me too.


I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to play a game like that. Sure hockey is fun... But usually in hockey I wear shin-guards, and you're not suppose to hit each other with your sticks...

Say what? Shin-guards? Not s'posed to hit each other with sticks? What kind of game are you playing?


And hockey doesn't cause pain.

... Only if you're doin' it wrong.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

We played it for our Mandatory Fun Day today. For those who aren't Alaskans, it's basically hockey played with brooms, a ball, and no skates. I played defense, running interceptions for the goalie (who we put in the spot 'cause he's not much use anywhere else). This involved a lot of jumping, diving, punching, and at one point I tossed my broom aside and took a flying leap at the guy's legs, leading to a three-man pileup. I also lost count of how many times I'd been beaten with a stick, kicked, punched, or plowed into all in the name of stopping the other team from getting a bright orange rubber ball into our goal. I thought I was in good shape, but right now I'm so sore I'm having trouble lifting my legs.

Anyone else played it before? It's a lot of fun.

I've played something like it.

My college had what's called Spartan MadBall. Thirty to fifty guys per team on a football field, with a soccer ball in the middle. The goal is to carry it through the space between the goal posts.

The Rules (Yes, all of them)
--No Weapons
--No Armor
--No Shoes
--No Live Animals
--No Motor Vehicles
--No intent to hospitalize the other players (i.e. no excessive brutality outside of the norm: tackles and punches are fine, but chokeholds, intentional face strikes, and the like are discouraged)

Game Ends When
--One team scores 3 points or
--Three hours have elapsed or
--Three players have been hospitalized.

Myself? One trip to the hospital with a concussion after hitting a man about to score the winning goal. I'm a lightweight guy, and he must have weighed 200+, but by that point there's so much adrenaline that I just floored him...and ended up under a forty man pile. Still, totally worth it (we won because of that block).

BRUTAL sport, but so much fun...

[blackfox]

Spartan MadBall *snip* THAT SOUNDS LIKE SO MUCH FUN.

[Ashen Lilies]

So I'm assuming whacking somebody with a dead badger from the back of a mountain bike is fair game? Or does the badger count as a 'weapon'?

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

THAT SOUNDS LIKE SO MUCH FUN.

Oh it is...it really is. There's not even a field so much as rough guidelines: we play next to an inlet of a bay and a hill the spectators are on. In the past, the ball has gone into the water (and become a partly aquatic sport), and once I was forced to run up a 50-60 degree slope (a really serious incline) to tackle a guy running along the top. We both rolled down about 30 feet of hill, and landed brawling in a patch of mud. It was epic.

According to onlookers, I went up the hill as if it wasn't there. That's how much adrenaline you get going. Catching a ball to see seventy people turn towards you as one unit is a scary, scary thing to have happen.


So I'm assuming whacking somebody with a dead badger from the back of a mountain bike is fair game? Or does the badger count as a 'weapon'?

Badger counts as a weapon, sadly. You're using it as one, ergo, it is one. Same with intentionally running people over with the bike, although it would be legal to have and ride.

[Boo]

Field hockey... with brooms... on ice.

So when's the musical coming out?

And I'm gone! *woosh!*