Broomball

Apparently working in the Athletic Department means that you often participate in "athletic-type" events. My first such event occured this past Wednesday night when the "Broomball 2007" battle was played. One of my co-workers, who used to play football at UVA and is now one of the Recruiting Assistants, organized the event which featured Football Office & Equipment Room staff, student workers, one spouse and a previous football player who happened to be in town. Keith was originally supposed to join us in the game, but he had not been feeling great that day, so he decided against it.

For those who don't know what Broomball is, the easiest way to explain it is that it is like ice hockey, but without skates. You play on ice with regular shoes on and use a "broom" which has a wooden or aluminum shaft with a rubber rectangular-shaped head. Instead of using a puck, a small hard ball is used, similar in size to a small soccer ball. Helmets are required but pads are optional (we didn't use them when we played). The Equipment Room staff made us all shirts with our names on the back and the teams were divided by those wearing pinneys and those not (luckily, my team won the coin toss so we didn't have to wear them!).

Our game was played on the only ice rink in Charlottesville - the Charlottesville Ice Park at the downtown mall. Due to it being a popular site for open ice skating and hockey team practices, broomball is scheduled fairly late at night - our game was at 11pm! Needless to say, we were all pretty tired (and a bit bruised up) on Thursday morning.

The game was really fun and at one point, I thought I was going to wet myself from laughing so hard. The best part was watching people try to "run" on the ice and end up slipping and falling. Not that anyone wanted to see anyone else get hurt, but the slips and falls were some of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. One particular participant, who is one of our graduate assistants who used to be on a practice squad in the NFL, was constantly falling! He would go for the ball or just be walking along on the ice and he would slip VERY un-gracefully! It was hysterical.

All in all, it was one of the most fun things I have done in awhile. I wish Keith could have been there, but it sounds like we have many more events planned over the next few months so hopefully he will be able to participate in those. Some of the future games include Volleyball, Softball, Flag Football, and possibly another Broomball game. Sounds like a lot of fun!