Midnight Broomball

Yep, nothing like a little midnight broomball to get a visit to Des Moines started.

Broomball? you ask. What is broomball? And why the heck were you playing it at midnight?

First thing's first. Broomball is played on the ice. Yep, ice. Without skates. You run around on the ice with your teammates (six players, including a goalie), hitting a ball with a stick that has a rubber triangle at the end (called a broom). The purpose? To score more goals than the other team. Aside from the lack of skates (and padding), it's a lot like hockey. And it's awesome.

Really, it's just a lot of running around on the ice, trying to stay on your feet, hitting the ball, body checking your opponents, attempting to score goals. If you're lucky, you have special broomball shoes to wear, which have rubber soles to give you a bit of traction. Otherwise, expect to spend a lot of time sprawled on the ice. (Although even with the shoes, falls are common.)

When I lived in Des Moines, we got a co-ed broomball team together to play in a city league. We were a bunch of rookies running around on the ice in tennis shoes with sweaty used helmets, competing against teams that had been playing together for oh, seven plus years, who all came decked out in matching jerseys, with their own helmets and shoes and brooms. Needless to say, the first year, we got slaughtered in every game. These teams were intense. Even the all-women team—you wouldn't want to meet those girls in a dark alley, trust me. So we got destroyed every week. But man, it was fun.

Enter year two. We recruited some new players, started to acquire broomball shoes (yep, I have a pair, along with some cheap knee and elbow pads that probably saved my life, or at least a few precious body parts), and got a bit more serious. We even won a few games. I attribute it to three things: (1) the broomball shoes, (2) they started serving beer at the arena, and (3) we got a new team name: Team Topanga. (Yes, after the girl from Boy Meets World.)

How can you not win a game or two with a team name like that?

Broomball was great. We'd play on Sunday nights, and as much as I dreaded going (Sundays are supposed to be lazy days, not days for intense games on ice), we always had a blast. We'd walk off the ice sweaty, out of breath, bruised, battered, and sometimes even bloody (if you've ever been whacked full force by a broom, fallen on the ice, or blocked a speeding broomball with your body, you'd understand why). But man, it was fun.

Now, next question. Why was I playing it at midnight?

Why not? It was a Team Topanga reunion, outdoors on the ice of Brenton Skating Plaza in Des Moines. We met up in sweats at the bar at 9, headed to the rink to take the ice at 11, and played until well after midnight. Full court. Ended up being an intense game too. I, of course, didn't score a single goal. Defense is my game, folks. I can't hit the ball worth a crap unless I'm trying to stop you from hitting it. That's just the way it is.

If you ever get a chance to try broomball, do it. Whether it's at midnight or not. You can borrow my shoes if you want.

(By the way, that isn't us playing above. But those mad defensive skills are so like mine. Photo: dailyinvention.)