The History of Broomball
The sport of broomball appeared in Canada in the province of Saskatchewan in 1909, and was followed later in Newfoundland and Quebec in 1910. Particularly in Montreal, where employees of the streetcar system had friendly competitions, it was played using a #7 soccer ball and corn brooms whose real purpose was to clean the snow and mud from the tram (streetcar) rails.
Eventually, the skilled employees used this activity as a means of relaxing at noon hours during the long winter days, playing on the public squares. Shortly after World War 1, the game became an ongoing local pastime. The idea of broom and ball - even the size of the ball - was in keeping with the width of the streetcar rails and the goal post widths were measured accordingly. Broomball today, takes its origin from this popular leisure pastime of the streetcar workers in Montreal.
In other parts of Canada, the sport started as a recreational activity, which was played at winter carnivals in various towns, cities and on the Armed Forces Bases. Again very little equipment was used; the players merely wore winters boots and used ordinary corn or household brooms, cut off or frozen for a bit more stiffness. The ball was usually a soccor ball. It's popularity - because of the competitive aspect, as well as the recreational aspect - has made it into the sport that it is today.
This type of broomball played continued in various parts of Canada until the early 1960's, when the competitiveness of the sport led to the formation of leagues within the communitites. The skill level of the game was also greatly improved in the mid-60's by the introduction of the conventional broomball shoe, followed by factory-made brooms & balls.
As broomball moved into the 70's, it also began to move indoors, away from the cold and snowy conditions, which often affected the play of the game. The teams also began to move, travelling to other communities to participate in broomball games and tournaments. This led to a well known problem of rules being slightly different from town to town and region to region. The Western Canadian Broomball Association Championships were introduced in the 1970-1971 season. These championships existed until the Canadian Broomball Federation National Championships emerged in 1977. By the mid-70's, every province had an established Provincial Association to help standardize the rules and offer provincial championships.
In 1976, the first meeting of the Canadian Broomball Federation was held with representation
from the Provincial Associations . Through this meeting, the first Canadian Broomball Championship was organized for men and held in Calgary in April of 1977. Not wanting to be left behind, the women's category was introduced one year later in 1978. In 1980, the National Championships welcomed its first team from the Northwest Territories to compete, making for a truly national event.
Broomball today is being played in every part of Canada and is an exciting and competitive sport enjoyed by thousands of players of every age and ability.
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