This is the start of a new column for us here at We Love DC. We’re going to do pieces on a lot of the different “leisure sports leagues” that are organized here in this area. Sure, some of them will be more leisurely than others, and our starting sport is certainly one of the more intense ones. Are you in a leisure sports league? Are you interest in fame and fortune, though legally we can guarantee neither? Email us with your story at tom at welovedc dot com.

Swinging by tbridge

The drive up to Reisterstown to visit the Baltimore Broomball Club was nothing short of exhausting. 2 hours from door to door, in rainy traffic at first, and by the end a pea-soup sort of fog that hid the Reisterstown Sports Plex, except for a vivid fog halo from the lights. Inside, on the cold rink, hockey practice was ending, and the zamboni was on the ice. 25 people had braved the fog, the traffic and the late fall chill to come suit up and play Broomball.

Broomball’s origins are a bit blurry, but is said to have evolved in Canada, like most games played on an icy surface. It’s not to be confused with curling, though, which is a subject for a wholly separate story, as there is a DC Curling Team of some repute. The game is straight forward: think of Soccer, crossed with Hockey. Two 18-minute periods make up the game as a whole, and six players from each team are on the ice at any given point, one of which is generally the goalie. Each player gets a helmet and a “broom”, and wears special shoes that grip the ice a good bit better than your average hiking shoes. Continue reading →