When a person first hears of the sport “broomball,” they may imagine a knock-off Quidditch match. But rather than flying around a field, broomball takes place on ice and is an enjoyable pastime for many Northeastern students.
Broomball originated in Canada during the 1800s as an easy alternative to ice hockey because it requires no ice skates, just rubber-soled shoes. Like ice hockey, broomball is a physical and contact sport, requiring a long stick, called a broom, and padding. Teams play 6-on-6, with a center, right wing, left wing, two defense positions and a goalkeeper. The objective of the game is to hit the ball into the opponent’s net using the broom.
“Broomball is a sport no one has really played before, so everyone’s kind of on an equal playing field,” said Sara Wills, a fourth-year behavioral neuroscience major and a Cherrybombs broomball team defender. “It’s competitive and we get to have a lot of fun.”
This year, the intramural broomball tournament began with 13 teams competing for the championship. Teams tend to be creative with names — Club Penguin, Olaf’s Broom Brigade and Swiffer Sweepers are just a few examples. In the end, teams Cherrybombs and S Ferrante played against each other for the title.
“They don’t let us into Matthews [Arena] outside of broomball time, so we just show up for the games,” said Wills. “But I feel like since we’ve been playing this for a few semesters now we keep getting better and better.”
From Oct. 31 to Nov. 13, Northeastern hosted a seasonal tournament in which players could sign up as teams and compete to win bragging rights and a champions t-shirt. Dawning yellow jerseys, the Cherrybombs were ready to compete withS Ferrante for the crown.
For the first two 12-minute periods, the teams played strategically, matching each other in defense and offense, ending the frames tied at 0-0. Around the 12-minute mark of the third period, the Cherrybombs managed to score against S Ferrante, only for S Ferrante to tie the score in the final minute. The teams went into overtime, taking turns shooting at opposing goalies. In the end, the Cherrybombs came out on top with a final score of 1-1 tie in the game and 3-1 in the shootout.
“We couldn’t solve [S Ferrante] for two full periods,” said Nate Avish, a fourth-year physics doctoral candidate and a Cherrybombs center. “The stakes were raised above where we wanted it to be, but we got the elation and the release.”
Although practice time is very competitive and limited, the atmosphere of broomball is filled with laughter as teams cheer each other on.
“Everyone’s slipping around all the time, so it’s like everyone is at a disadvantage,” said Shane Ferrante, a third-year computer science and mathematics combined major, and S Ferrante center. “Then you can laugh about it and it gives it a kind of different edge.”
