What does it take to become an “official” ISU student? Campaniling? Eating a gyro at 2 a.m.? Playing broomball?

All of the above.

Broomball is the most popular intramural sport at Iowa State. With 306 men’s and women’s teams taking the ice last fall, and another 176 competing in a co-rec league last spring, there were 130 more teams playing broomball last year than five-player basketball, the second-most played intramural sport.

“You just run around on ice, looking like an idiot, falling, having a good time,” said Tim Nevins, junior in management information systems, who played both men’s and co-rec broomball last year. “It’s not a normal sport.”

ISU men’s hockey coach Al Murdoch first introduced broomball to students as an intramural event in 1972 to offer added variety to the sports already played.

“It’s hard to imagine it getting bigger than it is [here at Iowa State], but it’s huge,” Murdoch said of the growth of the sport on campus.

Murdoch said broomball was initially popular with residence hall students and members of the greek community.

“We played from 9 [p.m.] to 3 or 4 in the morning at Hilton Coliseum,” he said.

Broomball is a hybrid between soccer and hockey. Played on a sheet of ice one-half the size of a standard hockey rink, each team has five players and a goalie on the ice.

Players use specialized brooms made of a metal stick with a flat, six-inch wide rubber head to hit a small soccer ball into one of two rectangular goals on either end of the ice. Each goal scored is worth one point. Like hockey, players serve penalty minutes for hockey-type infractions. Like soccer, players run around in shoes instead of skates.

“You don’t really care if you fall, because everyone else around you is falling,” Nevins said.

Garry Greenlee, intramural sports coordinator, said many people are attracted to the sport because they are unfamiliar with it. He said many students have never heard of or seen the sport until they come to Iowa State. Students hear about broomball from other people and want to give it a try.

Linda Marticke, intramural sports programs coordinator, agrees.

“It’s different,” she said. “Very few people play before they come to Iowa State.”

Murdoch said broomball is popular in Canada and the northern United States, and has been growing in popularity “anywhere there is an ice arena.”

“Ice arena managers are seeing it as an opportunity to fill up open ice time with a new, unique event,” he said.

Marticke said that the late hours also add to the aura of the sport. Games are played at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena, south of Towers Residence Halls, from 8:45 p.m. to 1:45 a.m. Sundays and 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays.

Becky Hanson, sophomore in hotel, restaurant and institution management, has played on three broomball teams while at Iowa State. She said the late hours help make it popular, because students have little else to do that late at night.

“College students are night owls,” she said. “There are so many other conflicts during the day with classes and work.”

Nevins said in his experience as a player, the late face-offs add to the “appeal” of the sport.

“It’s a goofy time for a goofy game,” he said.

Students don’t need to have any previous experience to play. Teams are placed into one of three divisions, based on the players’ overall playing experience.

The “A” skill level is for students who have played before and know what they are doing. It is the only skill level that allows the use of broomball shoes, special shoes with a sponge-like sole that improve traction on the ice.

The “B” skill level is for students who have some experience, while the “C” skill level is for students who are new to the game.

Even if students don’t want to play broomball, they can still become “official” ISU students by attending games, Nevins said.

“It’s as much fun to watch as it is to play,” he said.

Registration for broomball is due to 2220 State Gym by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24. The registration fee is $30 for each team. Games begin Oct. 1.