By Matthew K. Johnson
For at least 60 years, broomball has been a part of St. Paul. For decades, Parks and Recreation has organized men’s, women’s, and co-rec broomball leagues played at McMurray Fields in Como Park.
What is broomball?
Broomball is a sport played on ice. Like ice hockey, there are six players from each team on the ice. Former league manager Andre Lanoue described broomball: “You have elements of hockey, such as five-on-five with goalie, and you’ve got offsides. So you have some elements of hockey, but there’s a certain amount of strategy that involves soccer in terms of how you move the ball up the ice and even how you defend.”
Gretchen Dulinger first learned about broomball at the University of Minnesota where it was offered as an intramural sport. Dulinger stated, “There are no skates. You have special shoes that are squishy on the bottom.”
Co-rec team manager Jess Jerney competed in swimming and never played an outdoor team sport until some friends convinced her to try broomball. Jerney explained, “Broomball sticks previously were a broom cut off to the very end of it, so you have a little triangle at the end with a flat part at the end to hit the ball with. But there’s a lot of innovation in the sport. Now you can get a super light aluminum or titanium broom.”
Times They Are a Changin’
While broomball in indoor arenas is played year round, outdoor broomball is more popular. However, outdoor ice rinks have become harder to maintain.
Jess Jerney commented, “The St. Paul Park and Rec has done a wonderful job of investing in the refrigerated ice, and that has really kept the sport alive through some of the climate change that we’ve been experiencing. Last year, we were able to play, I think, all but one game of the season. In Minneapolis, we played one game, and then they had to refund our money because the ice was gone. So I’ve been really impressed with the North Dale and the Phalen ice.”
In recent years, St. Paul scheduled December games at the glycol-cooled outdoor rinks at North Dale, Phalen, and Palace recreation centers. Current league manager Auggie Garcia remembered a conversation with his two supervisors Jessica Williams and Mike Whaley in which they discussed using the refrigerated rinks until the weather got cold enough for natural outdoor ice. He added, “The people at Palace, North Dale, and Phalen have been great with our teams.”
Garcia also credited grounds crew leader Derek Hollanitsch: “Derek takes care of our ice rink out at McMurray, and he gets that prepared and to keep it running so well. He suggested we try the refrigerated ice for the beginning of the season.” Hollanitsch has been with St. Paul Parks and Recreation 37 years. He also has served on the District Community Council and as the president of the national Sports Field Management Association.
He grew up playing baseball at Rice and Hayden Heights Rec Centers. While in high school in 1987, Hollanitsch got his first job with St. Paul Parks. At St. Paul Saints baseball games, Hollanitsch would pick up half-eaten hot dogs and pop cups at Municipal Stadium, eventually renamed Midway Stadium. After graduating from high school, he got a full-time job with Saint Paul Parks and Rec as part of the grounds crew.
Around 2000, Hollanitsch became the crew leader. He has maintained St. Paul’s youth and adult sports fields and rinks. Hollanitsch said, “I’m a sports guy. I enjoy sports, so it doesn’t matter if it’s baseball, if it’s lacrosse, if it’s soccer, if it’s broomball, if my name is behind it, and I’m supposed to maintain it, I want to make sure that it’s maintained for whoever is using that facility.” He remarked about broomball: “As long as Mother Nature allows me to make ice and get it ready, the teams will have great ice to be played on.”
REFEREES
Broomball, like many recreational sports, doesn’t happen safely and fairly without referees. Many referees get their start in other sports. New to refereeing this year is Matt Smith, who comes from a background coaching baseball and hockey. He is being mentored by long-time referee Howard McNertney, who played broomball from 1975 to 2001.
Keith Purinton is the youngest of three brothers who all have refereed at McMurray in St. Paul for years. His oldest brother Kyle and next oldest Kevin both play broomball, as well.
Similar to how players recruit players from other sports, referees use their sports networks to recruit more referees. According to Ryan King, he met head referee Rodney Olson playing softball. King, now a long time referee, recruited his hockey friend Tito Escobedo. Escobedo said, “When I started up at McMurray leagues, King was so nice. I look at him as my mentor.” He added, “Reffing is not enough to pay for a full-time living. This is something you do for the love and maybe a little extra cash.”
Tangled up in broomball
With running on ice, weird-looking sticks, and a big orange ball, broomball is a unique sport.
Jerney exclaimed, “One of my favorite parts about broomball is that it’s kind of a silly sport. You are slipping and sliding on the ice. Everyone’s just trying to keep themselves up and move the ball towards the net. But there’s always some silly things that happen on ice, and generally, people don’t get hurt when they fall. There’s just that light-heartedness of the sport outdoors that I really love. Of course, it’s great exercise; there’s great friends that you meet, as well.”
Andre Lanoue described it: “The fact that you’re running around in these funny-looking shoes, chasing a small orange ball with a broom, kind of hard plastic stick: it’s an unusual sport. It’s a wonderful sport, but it’s not like anything else.”
Escobedo concluded, “The thing that I really do love about it is the close-knit community. With softball, it’s more variety. You get more people, more knuckleheads. But I love the fact that the broomball community is so clean. They look out for each other and help each other out. I love that atmosphere.”
From mid-December through mid-February, St. Paul holds men’s broomball leagues on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The women’s league and co-rec league play on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
The St. Paul Broomball playoffs are scheduled during the day Feb. 14-15 at McMurray Fields.
JasonB83
Excellent article. The refrigerated rinks and modern take on warming houses are an incredible asset for St. Paul. It has been truly sad to see the number of traditional outdoor rinks steadily disappear from suburban parks in Burnsville, Bloomington (R.I.P. Tretbaugh broomball rinks), and other locations throughout the metro.
It's astounding to me that a sport like pickleball has managed to generate widespread interest when there's no shortage of competing summer recreation options. Meanwhile, broomball goes widely ignored or unknown as an accessible winter recreation option at the lower levels. People are missing out on one of the best ways to survive the monotony of Minnesota winters.
Tuesday, February 18 Report this