The popularity of broomball hasn’t diminished this year as 245 men and women’s teams signed up. The season has been going strong since the first week in October and will continue through the Sunday before dead week.

The intramural game is played on ice in tennis shoes instead of ice skates. There are five players on the ice at a time, but teams are six to 11 players deep.

“It’s just like hockey without skates,” said Larry Cooney, director of intramurals. “They have a ball, a stick, and a broom, and they have a great time. A lot of other universities don’t have the capability we have to maintain the ice.”

Linda Marticke, intramural coordinator, feels that students at Iowa State have adopted broomball as their special sport.

“It’s our biggest intramural sport,” Marticke said. “I think it’s popular because it’s unique.”

Many of the games are played late at night, with games going until 2 a.m., but that doesn’t seem to cause problems for students.

“They don’t have other conflicts other than sleeping,” Marticke said.

Broomball games have sometimes resulted in injuries, but it doesn’t keep the players away. Joe Bruner, a junior in computer engineering, was injured last year in a broomball game when he blocked a shot and landed on his arm.

“I was goalie and I went to make a save,” Bruner said.

Bruner couldn’t get back up after he was down, but he let the game continue because his teammate was going down to score. Finally when the ball was dead, Bruner told the referee he needed some help. “I could not get up. I was pale white, and just moving made me sick.”

The ambulance had to come and Bruner was carried off the ice.

He was able to recover and still participate in intramurals again this year, including broomball.

The team he was on, the Igloo Clowns, won the championship broomball game on Monday night, 3-2 in overtime.

Ryan Dahlby, a junior in mechanical engineering and a member of the Igloo Clowns, said it was a pretty competitive game, but they managed to squeak out a win.

“We had more shots than they did, but the two they got went in,” he said.

Teammate Jon Johnson, a senior in electrical engineering, thought their team dominated the game.

“It shouldn’t have gone into overtime,” he said.

Throughout the tournament the scoring list was pretty balanced.

“Different people stepped it up and played big in different games,” Dahlby said.

Broomball is popular among its players for different reasons. Johnson said he plays because it’s an enjoyable sport and it’s something different.

“Broomball is one of the best intramural sports ever created,” Johnson said.