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Men's club broomball wins championship

The men's club broomball team wins the national championship for the first time since it began competing three years ago.
The men's club broomball team wins the national championship for the first time since it began competing three years ago.

Dan Kukla

The men's club broomball team wins the national championship for the first time since it began competing three years ago.

While the Miami University hockey team fell short in its bid for a national championship, one other Miami team did manage to go the distance this spring.

The Miami club broomball team returned to campus as victors March 31 from the 2008 USA Broomball National Tournament in Fargo, N.D. Knocking off Bethel University, the tournament's defending champions, by a score of 4-3 gave Miami its first national championship since it first began competing in the event three years ago.

Even though the sport often takes a back seat to better known programs such as hockey and the women's basketball team, bringing home the hardware still means a lot to the players.

"I was thinking, 'Yeah, you know, it's just broomball,'" said junior center Ben Metcalf. "But even though it's a pretty obscure sport, being the best in the nation at it is pretty sweet. I was calling my dad about it. A lot of these guys have been playing forever and this is their chance to be the best in the nation at something. It's something that I'm not going to forget anytime soon."

To get to the tournament final,

Miami first had to battle its way through a grueling round-robin format. The team won its first two matches to secure a spot in the championship.

However, because they were only playing with three substitutes and were also playing other matches for the co-recreational team, fatigue soon set in. Miami fell to Bethel in what was a preview of the finals by a score of 8-1 in their last match before the championship.

"I didn't handle that (losing) so well," Metcalf said. "I was kind of pissed off because I was like, 'Oh this (the championship) is going to be a terrible game.' But two hours later everyone was like, 'Alright, let's turn it on now.' It was pretty intense which was weird for broomball because in intramurals most people are like, 'La dee da.'"

Club broomball is quite different from intramurals at Miami. The club team plays on a full ice rink, as opposed to the half court format used at Goggin. While intramural nets are 10 feet by 4 feet, the club nets are 8 feet by 6 feet.

Other rules that intramurals do not have are offsides and icing. The club team plays 18 minute halves under stop-time, unlike intramurals which plays 12 minute halves under a running clock. The differences create a new style of play that is very much like hockey.

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"I like playing on the open ice as a hockey player," said club president Dan Shugarts. "It teaches you to stick handle, pass and to make plays. On the small ice it's hard to create any kind of plays because there are so many people in such a small area."

To get to the tournament, the team had to travel 18 hours in a van over two days. While senior defenseman Steve Barone said that the ride up to North Dakota was not all that exciting, the team did have somewhat of an eventful tip home. Most of the players are loyal Miami hockey fans and trying to keep up with their tournament provided plenty of entertainment.

"Every time there was a (hockey) game we'd pile in the motor pool and go to the local sports bar and demand they put ESPNU on so we could all watch the game," Metcalf said. "(It) made the drive back take a little bit longer, but it was a blast."

When not competing in national tournaments, Miami holds weekly practices at the Goggin. The team also played in the Cincinnati Broomball Association's (CBA) Fall and Spring leagues. This was exciting for Miami, who has a limited number of teams to compete against who are close to home.

Looking back on their experience at the national tournament, it is very rewarding for some of the players to see how far they have come.

"It's overwhelming," Shugarts said. "It's pretty fun when you can play broomball for four years and go from playing in the beginner intramural league, where it's the first time you have ever played the sport, to learning a totally new style of play on full ice, and then taking that to the national tournament against other schools and (being) able to compete ... and hold up a big banner and a trophy ... because you're national champions."

Another rewarding aspect for Barone is the chance to compete as a Miami athlete, even if it is just at the club level.

"To bring (a national championship) back for Miami (meant a lot)," Barone said. "To say that I did it in the name of my school, I'm very proud of-I didn't do just for me I did it for my school. They put a lot of money into us without much return and we really appreciate that, (so) it's nice to bring home a nice big plaque."

The team will be graduating five seniors at the end of this year and will have some major holes to fill in order to defend their national championship. Metcalf encouraged anyone who is interested in playing next year to come to the team's drop-in practices on Sunday nights at the Goggin.