Winter Sports: Broomball

Before moving to Russia, I was living in the tropics, and I've never lived in a place where winter sports were a part of life.  Arriving in Moscow and then talking to those around me about winter, it sounded like the thing to do was get out of the house and do things.

This year, one of those things became broomball.

I cannot remember the last time I played a team sport, although softball and soccer were large parts of my school life.  But, when the call went out for new players, I was amazingly intrigued.  I signed up, paid some money, and joined the Canadian team: Chicks With Sticks.

The Canadian in action. 

Fun fact: There is only one Canadian on our team.  She won best defensive player in the league. 

My first item of business was to get some equipment.  The team, which operates out of the school and consists mostly of women that I work with, has a handful of equipment that gets passed down from chick to chick as we come and go.  So, I went down to see Kate, the elementary PE teacher, and defense player, to get my Ikea bag full of stuff.

This bag consisted of:

Chest pad

Shin guards

Long hockey socks

Elbow pads

Butt pads (like in hockey)

Broomball shoes (which are flat and have circle treads in rubber)

Tape

Broomball stick

Helmet

I also ordered a jersey, which has my name on it.... in Russian.

I took my giant massive equipment home, and then made it to what I assumed was a warm up for everyone.  I took a cab to the German Embassy (where the play takes place, because they ice over the tennis courts, which are outdoors), and nervously got changed into my gear.  I found a place to get changed, and kept waiting for more ladies, either from my team or another team, to join me and change also.  I fumbled with all my equipment, and nervously stepped out into the action.  I was, in fact, the only woman there.  So, I ended up learning some of the basics of broomball from one of the men's teams, "It Disney Matter."  I even a borrowed a jersey from them, with a picture of Pumba the Warthog on it.

Stick Making Preparations.

As a pre-game event, we also had a broomball stick making party.  Our sticks are made from the straw of the brooms, bound together with tape, force, and will.  I used the stick that was already created, and just added a small piece of the brooms and tape to add some width to my stick.

After this first, relatively terrifying, experience... Broomball became a favorite pastime.

Many members of the team live in the same housing complex that I do, so we would pick a time to car pool over to the embassy.  We have to go through security, with our passports, and try to cram a bag full of the things from above into a tiny metal detector.  It is not always possible.  Sometimes, they take our scissors.  We are also in our winter clothes, and trying to do security when a person's coat is twice their size must just be impossible.  

Just look at our gear!

We migrate to the changing rooms and get into our gear as a team.  There is, I learned, an order to put on the gear which must be followed.  We start with some thermal gear, warm tights, and long shirts.  Start low, with shin guards (then tape them onto your body), socks (then tape them onto your body), then butt pads and shoes.  Go up to the chest pads and elbow pads and find a friend to help you with your jersey (because even after 8 games, I still couldn't do it by myself).  I wonder how many rolls of tape we went through... although I did end up with a garter belt for my socks later in the season.  It is both the first garter belt I've ever owned and the best garter belt I've ever owned.

Chicks. With. Champagne.

We head up to the ice.  There are two courts at the Embassy, and we often played while the men were playing on the other court.  The ice is tennis-court sized, with snow banks that build up between the courts and on the sides.  (In fact, running on the snow that falls from the banks is a big advantage, because running on snow is shockingly easy compared to running on ice).  The ice changes a lot through the season, from game to game.  Some days, it is quite slippery, and our game is slow, with lots of falling.  Some days, it is easier to run and move around, and the game is quite quick.  This is our game. 

Frozen Assets... The American team.

There are three teams that we played in our four-team girls' league.  We are the Canadian Chicks With Sticks, with bright red jerseys.  There are the Americans: The Frozen Assets, black with red and blue.  The Germans: Eishexen, black with yellow and red.  And the Finns: Finn Ladies, in bright blue.  Each of them has a different flavor, a different quirk to their play.  

Eishexen, the German team.  This game was our last.... and it was incredible and dramatic.

And then, the game goes like this:  2 periods of 20 minutes, with a five-minute break in between, then 2 periods of 10 minutes with a two-minute break in between.  There are six players on the ice at any given time, one goalie, two defense, and three forwards.  It is not unlike hockey, this game, with passing and the stick, although we are on ice with shoes and not skates.  The ice is considerably smaller than on a hockey rink, and without the boards, sometimes our ball just decides to vanish into a hard snow bank, or behind it.  

Oh, and our "puck" is a small, softball sized ball, filled with air, and often with a Disney character on it.  

The Chicks have Disney princesses on all our balls.

Action shot of yours truly, with the ball made of air. 

We play and play and play.  I'm proud to say that the Chicks ended the season undefeated.  At the end of each game, we have ourselves and ancient maritime tradition of cracking open a bottle of champagne and pouring it for the person next to us.  Then, often, we retired to the local burger joint to enjoy a hamburger.  

The Broomball Carnivale party, with all of us matching. 

The season was a complete blast.  We would finish the games, and our bodies would be in pain from stretching on the ice, from running around and falling on purpose or on accident.  There were a handful of injuries, as the sport is wont to have.  It is so much fun, though.  Amazingly entertaining, full of laughter and camaraderie, and a peppering of violence.