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WHY IS BROOMBALL DYING IN THE WEST???
As we begin another season of Broomball here in the Reno/Truckee/Lake Tahoe we are again faced with the annual problems of getting decent ice times, recruiting players and generating interest in a sport that has very little exposure in this area.
Looking
to re-build for this season, the task this year seems more daunting than ever
before. Where we once had 28-30
people playing on four local teams, we are now lucky to have 6 or 7 players show
up. Truckee players are not so
“hardcore” dedicated to the sport, since most of them have only played 2
seasons[12 games] or so. Most of
the players from the old Sparks league have been unable to continue to play for
one reason or another. Looks like “deja-vu all over again”
Hopefully,
we have learned something from what has happened to us in the past.
We must start from square one all over again.
What we had in 1990-91 at the Sparks rink was rink management that
realized all of their programs needed to be built and supported for the future
of their business. Lord knows we
have paid the price dearly when management does not support programs for the
future. What does that mean?
What
it means is that a new rink must absorb a quarter [or 2] of losses to create a
demand for your product in the future. Then,
once you have a league in place you don’t split the membership against itself.
That is, you keep your membership together.
After all, the larger the number of players, the more impact [cash flow]
they will have into the business.
Do
you know that at one time there were 48 teams that were playing league
broomball in the Cleveland OH league for several years running?
Wow! Guess how many are
playing this season? Give up?
They will be starting to rebuild their league all over again this year
too, same as us. What happened, you
may ask.
Something
far worse than ever imagined here in Reno.
Of course, [as usual] it was disputes between league leaders that led to
power struggles, alleged mismanagement of funds and even a lawsuit filed to
prevent one team from using their own logo!
So even when there are years of success and many teams playing, certain
league officials can still screw up a good thing. Wouldn’t you love to have the problems of running a 12 team
league, let alone 48!
I
think the only hope of reviving a broomball league here in the West is to find a
public pond that freezes good enough to play on so that beginners can try the
game for free [ which cannot be done at an indoor rink]. Can you imagine the
looks you’d get if you asked current rink management that due to the fact that
the sessions they gave us in the past pretty much killed all of our previous
membership levels, do you think you could give us FREE sessions for the rest of
the year so we can rebuild what we lost? I
think hell would freeze over sooner than that would happen.
Oh well, it’s not like they ever said “yes” to us that often
anyways the last few years, eh?
Another
frustrating thing for me has been the inability to find this suitable pond.
Temperatures in Truckee get 55-60 especially in direct sunlight so the
pond must be completely shaded if possible.
This has made finding an accessible pond very difficult.
But I am still looking [and sometimes trespassing], searching for that
“golden pond” where we could play for FREE all day on SATURDAYS, without
getting “bumped” by an 8 hour youth hockey session or a public skating
session that draws 8-10 skaters.
Ah
yes, searching for that intrinsic beauty that can only be found in the great
outdoors, where broomball began and where it REALLY IS meant to be played.
See
you in the woods, Coach Lou