Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | spring 2006

SPRING 2006
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MIDNIGHT MADNESS
3,632 BROOMBALL PLAYERS CAN'T BE WRONG

It's 1 a.m. and students are pulling on sweats, grabbing gloves, and crowding into cars, undaunted by the cold or the hour. Why? When else can they play a sport that involves running on ice, sliding on their knees, and smacking balls with sticks?

Broomball – a game similar to hockey, played with gym shoes, special broomball sticks, and a ball – is the most popular intramural sport at ISU. Games are scheduled weeknights from 11 p.m. - 2 a.m., which students agree is a great time to be sliding around on the ice. Students from residence halls, Greek houses, academic clubs, and groups of friends form teams for friendly competition, and – if they’re good enough – a coveted intramural champion shirt.

“Broomball is a really fun break from studying,” said Kat Cheney, an architecture student. “We are usually at the studio until 2 or 3 a.m., and it’s nice to take a midnight break for broomball.”

On this particular night, women’s competition begins at 11 p.m., with games going on at both ends of the Ames/ISU Ice Arena. Pink T-shirts bearing team names like “Ice, Ice Babies” and “Chicks with Sticks,” pulled over sweatpants and boxers, are the uniform of choice.

The women’s games constitute a lot of giggling, nervous shuffling over the ice, and a few spectacular slow-motion falls. Black and white helmets slide around rosy, sweating faces, as players struggle to swat at the bright orange ball. They totter apprehensively across the ice and slide into each other, laughing at their mistakes and high-fiving all around when they get off a good shot. Though some teams clearly move better on the ice than others, the game is all about fun.

Their team chatter is positive: cheering, joking, and offering encouragement.

After two rounds of women’s play, the guys enter the arena, and the noise triples.

“Yeah, we’re Team Awesome,” someone boasts.

These guys don’t lack any confidence, and while most of them are primarily looking for a good time, many are quite competitive. There is no nervous shuffling in this game; the men aren’t afraid to pick up their feet and run, play defense, and knock heads a little. Their broomball sticks make a distinct thwack as they connect with the ball. They actively attempt to steal the ball from each other, and occasionally sticks are lost in the mix-up. This fast-paced game is punctuated with coaching from the sidelines as team members talk strategy.

Broomball is a tradition at ISU, one of only a handful of northern universities nationwide that play the sport. Al Murdock, ISU Hockey Club coach, started broomball at Iowa State in 1972. At first, students played the game outside on an ice rink north of Beyer or in Hilton in the middle of the night. Broomball really began to take off in 1979, when teams could finally play indoors at an ice rink. Last year, 285 men’s and women’s teams and 169 co-ed teams competed at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena, with an average of eight players per team.

“I think broomball attracts people because it is such a unique sport,” said Linda Marticke, program coordinator for Recreational Services. “It is a sport most people never played in high school or in physical education classes. The majority are playing for the first time, so everyone is on equal footing.”

And equal footing comes in pretty handy on the ice.

About the Writer | Michelle Kalkhoff is a junior journalism and mass communications major from Spirit Lake, Iowa