Complete prior to game day:

• Contact the ice rink as soon as you can to find out if the desired date is available to play. The Cary Ice House and the Garner Ice House are just about the same distance from campus so either one of them will work.
• Begin announcing the event two weeks prior to game day. Announce the cost per person and give people a time to arrive at the ice rink (it should be at least 15 minutes before the time you have the rink reserved so that you can divide up into teams and give people a chance to pay). Also, give directions out to the ice rink. Ed should be contacted about the event going in the announcement section of the bulletin. Another good way to advertise the event is to make a flyer for it and put the flyer in the bulletin.
• Purchase an air horn. This will be used to signify the beginning and ending of game play. Also, it can be used to get peoples attention if you need to announce something.
• Ask someone to be in charge of collecting money.
• Ask someone who is full of energy and enthusiasm and has a loud voice to pull everyone together on game day and give announcements and go over rules.
• Make a poster board with says which teams will play for the whole evening. This makes the event look more organized. For example, the game schedule could be (if you are playing for 1.5 hours):
  • team 1 vs. team 2
  • team 3 vs. team 4
  • team 1 vs. team 3
  • team 2 vs. team 4
  • team 1 vs. team 4
  • team 2 vs. team 3

Do at the ice rink on game day:

• Get broomball sticks and balls from the Ice House staff. See if they have different colored jerseys that we can wear to differentiate teams.
• Around 10 or 15 minutes before game time, pull everyone together and go over the following rules and announcements:
  • If using one ball, announce that after a score the ball will be started from the middle of the ice rink.
  • If using two balls, announce that after a score the goalie will put the ball back into play.
  • Broomball sticks cannot be swung above the waist.
  • You may not pick up the ball or kick the ball.
  • Announce length of each game.
  • Game play will begin with someone throwing (dropping) the ball(s) into the center of the ice.
  • Air horn will signify start and end of a game.
  • Who is collecting money.
  • This is not our equipment. Treat it with respect.
• After announcements, with everyone pulled together, divide up into teams.
• Say which two teams will play first.

Wisdom gained from organizing previous broomball games:

• Previously, the Cary Ice House had around 25 broomball sticks, but the Garner Ice House had around 35. When I told the Cary Ice House how many people we were expecting (around 60 and we would divide up into four teams), they told me they could go to the Garner Ice House and get a few more sticks. It would be a good idea to ask the rink how many broomball sticks and balls they have.
• We had two balls on the ice at the same time so that the game moved at a faster pace and more people were involved in the action.
• Last time, the Cary Ice House was $200/hour and the Garner Ice House was $230/hour. At the Cary Ice House, we charged $5/person and rented the Cary Ice House for 1.5 hours.
• We have found that it works well to divide up teams by getting people to move to an area of the room. For example, team 1 will be everyone in this corner, team 2 will be everyone in that corner and so on. This allows people to be on a team with their friends and it does not take as much organization on your part. If teams are pretty uneven after this, then you can adjust some things by moving people around.
• Depending on the number of people divide into 2 - 4 teams (a good number for each team is around 10-15 people). If there are two teams, then they play each other the whole time. If there are three or four teams, then rotate who is playing each other by having time limits for each game.