Sisters bond through broomball

What do you get when you mix rules used in hockey with equipment used in curling? No, the answer is not "every Canadian's dream."\nIt's broomball.\nNew members from IU's sororities tried their hand at broomball the night of March 7 at the Frank Southern Center Ice Arena in Bloomington in a tournament organized by the Panhellenic Association's special projects committee.\n"We wanted to bring girls from different houses together in a competitive but friendly way," said sophomore Rachael Rose, PHA director of special events.\nThe rules of broomball are quite simple. Like hockey, it is a 5-on-5 competition, plus a goalie in each net. But in lieu of skates, the players wear shoes. The puck is substituted for a soccer ball. Players didn't don hockey sweaters Wednesday, but hula skirts or handmade shirts with their sorority letters. And, as the name broomball would indicate, sticks are traded in for brooms.\nThe competition was intense as several players slid across the ice to prevent a goal from being scored. But action was not exactly fast-paced -- people who hurried down the ice after the ball often ended up on their backs. \nWhile many players used a more finessed approach in attempting to score, others decided to try to power the ball into the back of the net by winding back and whacking the ball with all of their might. More often than not, the power technique led to the player landing on their posterior rather than scoring a goal.\n"It makes it more fun with everybody slipping and sliding," said sophomore Whitney Kincaid, PHA Director of Promotions and Event Development.\nPlayers were not the only ones getting into the games. Fans were as rowdy as a crowd at the old Chicago Stadium, pounding their hands onto the boards and making as much noise as they could to support their new sorority sisters.\n"The teamwork and sisterhood were really great," Kappa Delta freshman Darcie Ryan said. "The bruises hurt, but it was fun."\nAnd while fans and players focused on winning, the continual echoes of laughter raining throughout the arena served as a reminder that the activity was meant to be fun for all.\nThe idea for broomball was not motivated by the fact that it was an Olympic year. Rather, it was an activity that some members of the special projects had experience with in the past. \nBased on these past experiences, PHA Vice President of Special Projects Lindsey Fenton, a sophomore, said she thought the activity would work well in building tighter bonds in the greek community. \n"We wanted to cut down on stereotypes between houses and build a stronger greek community," she said.\nFenton also said the activity provided a positive outlet for the new members of the greek community to interact.\n"It provides a non-alcoholic activity for those under 21 in the greek community because there is not a lot of that right now," Fenton said.\nThe Special Projects Committee has already planned additional community-building events throughout the remainder of the spring and next fall.