CHECKING IN ON AREA BROOMBALL

(Article in Times Argus on December 15, 2009)

Nothing stops the broomball gals of central Vermont.

Not treacherous driving conditions such as Sunday night's micro-blizzard.

Certainly not birthing – Melissa Richardson of the Ice Storms team had her baby in early November and by Sunday night was playing in her third game and scored a goal.

And they most assuredly are not stopped by the prospect of playing the year-after-year indomitable Pro-Heat/VT Audiology team with their current 10-0 record. They have scored 64 goals and allowed just four.

It's been a year since I last ventured to the Civic Center in Montpelier to catch a few broomball games, and Sunday night – braving the aforementioned slick roads – I caught two terrific matchups.

The first saw Jan Ruta Electric survive a furious last-second assault by Ice Storms, prevailing 2-1, and the second was a battle between undefeated Pro-Heat and second-place Forest Green/The Alchemist, with just one loss.

Pro-Heat beat the short-handed Forest Green team, 5-1, but the lone goal was an electrifyingly rarity nailed with just 42 seconds off the clock.

The Central Vermont Women's Broomball League, several decades old, has eight teams with a total roster of about 170 players. The volunteer league president is Jo Collemer, who, it is universally acknowledged, runs the operation superbly.

In the last two days, I spoke with or had e-mail conversations with six of the players and garnered a few pearls about their spirit of competition in a league where six of the eight teams have losing records.

Tracie Barney, for example, captain of the new Wilkins Harley-Davidson/Realbounce team, confessed to being originally "scared to death" before playing the Pro-Heat team. But the Harley gals, comprises veteran softball players, still welcomed the challenge.

"We had our best game the night we played them and lost 3-1," Barney said. "Before that game they had beat all other teams by six goals or more. Our goal was to keep them under four goals. We were extremely happy with our performance and the outcome of the game. We kept saying that we had never been so happy with a loss."

"With dominant teams like Pro-Heat and Forest Green," added Barney, "it definitely brings excitement to teams who like the challenge!"

Another team, Backstretch, coached by Jeff Alberghini, loves the challenge of playing the two top teams.

Sheila Lowe, a Backstretch player, said: "Our last game against Pro-Heat was 1-0 (they won) and we felt like it was quite the feat and a very well-played game by our whole team."

"Give credit where credit is due," Lowe added, "they (Pro-Heat) are a great bunch of athletes who play the game very well. There are many other fine athletes in our league that give quite the challenge as well. Our goalies are getting better each year and making it harder to score on them. Plus, we obtained new players from a team that was folding this year. They are a great addition to our team on and off the ice."

A player for the Ice Storms team had a somewhat jocular view on the challenge of playing the decades' dominate team.

"The Pro-Heat defense is so good that their goalie rarely gets to even make saves," she said. "We like to bang on the boards and razz Buffy (Garand, their goalie) and ask her if we can bring her tea."

"It's been like this for years," she added. "It's always a battle for the 3-4-5 spots going into the play-offs."

Linn Syz, with the other dominant team, Forest Green, said, "Even though the stats are a little unbalanced, I think that any team can win on any given night (maybe not against Pro-Heat, but we don't want that to go to their heads!). It has been a fun season, as usual, and very competitive."

Why makes Pro-Heat so darn good?

Passing for one.

"Nine of our Pro-Heat teammates have been playing together for ten years," said Joanne Mugford. "And one offensive line, Jody Pinard, Julie Martin and myself have played together all 10 years and we read each other so well."

They also do a fine recruiting job.

The second offensive line now includes newcomer Jordan Jiskra.

"She is only in her second year of playing broomball and is playing like a veteran," Mugford said. "She played hockey at Brown University, which has made the transition very easy."

"For Pro Heat/VT Audiology, broomball is more than about the competition in the league," Mugford said. "Some play for exercise, but mostly we all have fun playing the game. We are teammates, but after the games we are friends who like to go to McGillicuddy's for a beer to post-game talk and laugh with each other."

I think the spirit of the league is neatly summed up by Barney of the Harley-Davidson team, presently 1-6.

"We haven't won many games, but we have kept every game very close and haven't lost any game by more than two goals, which I believe shows how good we are going to be once we play together a little longer," Barney said.

And most certainly, nothing will stop any of the teams from showing up.