So you’re short on cash and coordination, meaning the prospect of competing at a local ice rink is out, right? Not in the strange sport of broomball. The coed game is a combo of ice and floor hockey, but with a tape-wrapped broom and a rubber ball—and sans skates. The winner, of course, is whichever six-player team scores more goals. Canucks supposedly invented the game more than a century ago, and it’s since spread throughout the world, with the World Broomball Championships hosted every two years.
Jen Wilken, a long-time broomball player who lives in St. Louis, won second place in the 2006 Women’s World Broomball Tournament. The Minnesota native is hopeful the sport’s popularity will grow in St. Louis. “When it comes to real competitive broomball, it’s mostly in Minnesota and Canada,” she says. “But we’re trying to get it out to other states. My hope is that someday we can send a team from Missouri as well.” For most St. Louisans, however, it remains an informal affair, with locals rounding up teams and playing at local rinks, including Steinberg and iceZONE at St. Louis Mills. For details, call 314-863-5635.
