Observation

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Word count: 1,324

Broomball “The Game of Heaven”

The alarm clock blares loudly with music on a brisk Saturday morning in late February;

it’s almost noon, time to get up! With a fresh coat of powdery snow on the ground and frost on

my window, the anticipation inside me grows as I think about my upcoming afternoon. This

afternoon I’m going to play a game of broomball out on the lake with some friends. Though it

may be one of the lesser-known winter sport, broomball is one of the best. It is almost as much

fun to watch as it is to play. My youth pastor Jim used to always tell us that broomball is “the

game of heaven.” There’s no way to prove that, but there’s no denying that broomball is one of

the best outdoor winter games here on earth.

Broomball is not very well-known; outside of the upper-Midwest, not many Americans

even know that it exists. Broomball is a game similar to hockey in several ways. It is played

on an ice court much like hockey, it has the same goal cages as hockey, and uses brooms to hit

the ball much like the sticks used to hit the puck in hockey. There are a couple major

differences between hockey and broomball though. One of the most obvious differences is that

in broomball players can’t use skates. Another difference is that broomball uses a small ball

rather than a puck. Each broomball team consists of five players plus their goalie. The object

of the game is to have your team score more goals than the opposing team.

Gearing up for my afternoon, I remember to pile on the layers. Staying warm outside

won’t be a problem with all the clothes that I’m wearing. I start out by putting on a black, long-

sleeved shirt covered with a warm gray sweatshirt and I add the final layer, a fluffy coat. I put

on a pair of jeans and some handy-dandy water-proofed pants. I’m almost ready to step into the

frigid outdoors. All I have left to do is to layer on the wool socks, lace up my boots, strap on

my hat, and put on my new pair of gloves. “I better go out into the cold before I get too warm

in here,” I thought to myself.

I tromp through the snow and hop into my car. Other than to defrost the windshield,

there’s no need to turn on the heater in my car. My outfit is keeping me plenty warm on its

own. After a very short drive, I can see my destination. The big beautifully frozen lake is

covered with snow and has fish houses out in the middle of it. Closer to the shore is where the

broomball court is. The banks of snow act as the boundaries on all sides of the freshly-shoveled

court. The bright afternoon sun bounces steadily off of the clear, glossy court. The air sure is

cold out here, but what a wonderful afternoon for a broomball game.

I pull into a parking spot and hop out of my car. As I walk closer to the court, I quickly

grab one of the brooms out of the bright blue garbage can along the shore. I head out on the ice

to meet up with the rest of my team. I run across the snow and hop over the little snow bank.

Stepping onto the court I’d like to say that I gently glide to the middle, but I don’t quite make it

there. I fall flat on my back; the ice is a bit more slick than I thought it would be.

Unfortunately for me, a couple of my friends notice my not-so-graceful fall and laugh at me.

No hard feelings though; watching the other people slip and fall is just part of the fun of

broomball.

We compose ourselves as the two teams gather around in the center of the court;

everybody is geared up and ready for the game to start. As the players from both teams form

their huddles, the Mongoose team suddenly shouts out the infamous “mongoose cheer.” “M-O-

N-G-O-O-S-E go, mongoose, go!” With that, it’s time to begin the first half. The blaze-orange

ball is positioned right smack dab in the middle of the court. One player from each team goes to

the middle for the face-off. The count-off, “One, two, three, four.” Immediately the ball goes

flying across the court and the players quickly dart after it. Anyone within close proximity of

the court can hear the sounds of the players’ boots coming up and down on the ice, and the

brooms’ rubber ends hitting the ice as the players attempt to hit the ball. Players are only

supposed to use their sticks to hit the ball, no hands and no kicking. Again you see the bright

ball flying through the air as the players run back and forth on the ice. You can easily hear the

players sliding and colliding on the ice. Players often run into each other and fall over on their

own. Sometimes the falls end up looking pretty funny, and many times they leave their mark.

One of the most common broomball injury is the bruise. With sticks constantly

swinging after the ball, it’s not at all unusual for players to end up with big black and blue

bruises all over their bodies. From their elbows down to their shins, players are bound to end up

with at least one bruise somewhere. If a player’s not careful, he or she might even end up being

hit in the shins with a broom, or worse. With all the slipping and falling down along with being

whacked with sticks and occasionally being hit with the ball, it’s no wonder why there are so

many bruises. Even though they may hurt, they help add to the fun of broomball. In many

cases the bruises turn into kind of glorified battle-wounds. The player with the biggest bruise at

the end of the game ends up with the bragging rights.

With a short halftime, it’s time to finish up the game. The game is tied at zero; anything

can happen in the second half! Right away, someone breaks away and scores the first goal.

“Oh no!” yells one of the players as the ball darts into the net. The goaltender looks up

“whoops!” A few minutes later the other team scores. This second goal is a trickier skilled

shot. The game is going fast; there are only a few minutes left in the second half. The score is

still tied! In the last minute of the game, my team scores again. Victory! Shouts of joy echo

across the lake as our team rejoices in our win. With our rosy cheeks and with a few less layers

of clothes on, the game is all over. We all line up with smiles on our faces as we line up to

shake each other’s hands.

Immediately after the game, both teams join together around a bonfire so sip some much

deserved hot chocolate. As players go to sit down, some of them seem to almost hobble to the

tree-stump stools. Others are already starting to show off their newly formed battle-wounds.

“Ouch!” look at this one! The fun and fellowship that broomball brings continues off the court

as the players all talk about the game. “Did you see that awesome pass in the first half?” Both

teams laugh together as they remember some of the hardest falls, best shots, and the good time

that they had.

So is broomball really “the game of heaven”? I’m not entirely sure, but there’s no

denying that it is one of the best winter games here on earth anyway. With all the fun and

fellowship that broomball brings along with the slipping around and hitting the ball, broomball is

a winter sport full of fun and fellowship.