Broomball

Murrumbidgee Broomball Club

Incorporating the Ramjets and Vikings Broomball Teams

What is Broomball?

Broomball is a team sport played on an ice rink with rules similar to hockey and soccer. Players wear soft-soled shoes to run on the ice as well as protective padding and compulsory helmets. They hit an inflated rubber ball with a broom (wooden or aluminium handle with a rubber or plastic paddle-shaped head) and try to score more goals than the opposition team.

Although there is some confusion whether the sport of Broomball originated in Russia or Canada, it is generally accepted that the sport we know today began in Montreal, Canada in 1911. Local streetcar workers started hitting a ball between the streetcar rails with the brooms they used to sweep snow off the tracks. It has now grown to be the second most popular team ice sport in Canada and is played in over a dozen countries around the world.

MurrumbidgeeBroomball Club

In 1995 the first formal Club was formed within the A.C.T. Broomball Association. The Murrumbidgee Broomball Club (M.B.C.) started with one of the foundation teams from the A.C.T.B.A., the Ramjets, and has grown to include a second team, the Vikings.

The ideals of the M.B.C. are to encourage equal participation from all Club Members in Club activities and develop the playing skills of Club members oriented on a team first approach. The Club has a fundamental philosophy that players should enjoy their sport first and always.

The Club participates in fundraising activities from its base at Lanyon Sports Club, assisting in the meat raffles on Friday night's and appreciates the support of The Vikings Group.

Current Team

The Ramjets have enjoyed several strong seasons in a row now with 2 grand final appearances in the last 3 season. Their successful recruiting of young players has bought about a fluid style of broomball that has proven very difficult for opposition teams to match. The addition of players such as Ashley Grimmer, Bryce Marshall, Jai Hill and Tynan Whight, who have all gone on to represent the ACT at the elite level in Australia, coupled with the experience of Anthony Drabsch and Alison Fry gives them a line up most teams could only dream about. The first season that these players took the ice together, Summer 06/07, the Ramjets took out their first premiership ever beating powerhouse team, The Animals, 6-0 in the decider with Jai Hill being awarded male rookie of the year making it back to back rookie awards for the Ramjets who also had Tynan Whight receive this honor the previous season. At the culmination of this season the national titles were held in Canberra with the ACT reclaiming the mens elite title from NSW, both Ashley Grimmer and Tynan Whight were in the starting line up and were instrumental in this performance, Tynan Whight scoring the Golden Goal in the grand final and being named in the All Star line for the tournament

The following season, Winter '07 the Ramjets found Adam Evans, welcomed back Dave and Debbie LeMond and picked up where they left off storming to the top of the ladder with their trademark exciting brand of broomball and never looking back earning the Minor Premiership in the process. Unfortunately they were unable to go on with this and lost out on a grand final berth in a nail biting semi final. In September of 2007 Australians first international broomball tournament was held in Sydney with Ashley Grimmer, Jai Hill and longtime stalwart Jeremy Agerbeek all representing the ACT as they took out the silver medal. An international match played betweenAustraliaandCanadasaw Ashley Grimmer handed his first international cap asAustraliasurprised a strongCanadateam 4-1. The beginning of the summer 07/08 season saw the Ramjets recruit further talent with Scott Ryan and Alex Slattery joining the roster. This, along with experience gained by all members of the squad saw the Ramjets put together their most consistent season yet with the combined efforts of Bryce Marshall, Alison Fry and Alex Slattery who all shared goal tender duties making the Ramjets defense the tightest in the league. After making light work of opposition in the preliminary and semi-finals the Ramjets faced their toughest test again arch rivals the Animals in the Grand Final. In an absorbing match worthy of a decider the game was tied at full time sending it into Golden Goal extra time where, against the run of the play the Animals scored amongst confusion from both sides and the Ramjets had to make to with second place. The Ramjets dominated the end of season awards; Jai Hill who had again shone from midfield earned himself "Highest Male (assists)". For the season, Scott Ryan and Alex Slattery gave Ramjets a clean sweep of the rookie awards but the highlight of the night was Ramjets leading goal scorer Ashley Grimmer being awarded the competitions MVP.

The current season, Winter 08 sees the Ramjets on top of the table having the best offensive record of any of the teams, Ashley Grimmer being the competitions leading scorer and Scott Ryan on top of the assists.

Contacts

Anybody interested in becoming involved in Broomball should contact:
Bryce Marshall on 0405022983

Or email ramjets@live.com.au

Or visit www.actbroomball.org.au/joomla/