Shawna Bleecker | Capital Journal staff

PIERRE — As more people kept streaming onto the ice, the broomball players started getting excited. Perhaps there will be enough players to play a game.

But even if more people hadn’t shown up, the few hard-core broomball enthusiasts were still going to play.

Shawna Bleecker | Capital Journal Tony Mueske (from left), Ryan Huber and Ruth Howell hit the ice for a game of broomball at the Pierre Area Youth Skating Association’s ice rink behind Wal-Mart. Advertisement

In a typical game of broomball there are two teams, each consisting of six players: a goaltender and five others.   

Some nights the new-to-Pierre sport can only garner seven or eight players.

“It’s hard scheduling-wise to bring everybody together,” said the sport coordinator Ruth Howell.

Howell recently moved to Pierre from Wisconsin to take the position as the wildlife biologist for the Department of Transportation.

“A friend who played in college got me into it,” she said. “When I moved here I decided to give it a shot.”

Broomball is played much like ice hockey, roller hockey and floorball. Goals are scored by hitting a large ball into the opponent’s net using a broom.

Just like any sport, enthusiasts can spend as much or as little as they want on the sport.

Howell said most people get a broom from Wal-Mart and wrap the sweeping-end in a heavy-duty tape and just use that.

As broomball is gaining popularity around the world, Howell is trying hard to garner the same for Pierre.

“It seems like the interest is there but it’s a matter of getting people to come,” Howell said.

When people can’t make it to a game, the price goes up for those still wanting to play, as they have to rent the ice rink for $85 an hour.

“It’s a lot of fun and it brings people together. It also is a family-oriented sport,” Howell said. “So if you have kids who are 10-12 years old, bring them out and let them hang out on the ice for an hour on Thursdays.”

Players meet at the PAYSA rink at 7 p.m., Thursdays.

For more information on broomball go to www.usabroomball.com, or e-mail Ruth Howell at howel2re@yahoo.com.