The Canadian Broomball Federation is the official governing body of the sport of broomball in Canada. It aims to "provide leadership by promoting and developing broomball and by developing and coordinating programs and services designed to meet the needs of the broomball community." The role of the Canadian Broomball Federation is to provide leadership by promoting and developing broomball and by developing and coordinating programs and services designed to meet the needs of the broomball community. The philosophy of the Canadian Broomball Federation places the athlete at the heart of the organization. The Canadian membership is around 19,000 registered players with another 15,000 who participate on the recreational level which include all age groups and schooling levels including elementary school.
History of Broomball
Broomball can be traced back to the early 1900s when rail workers discovered broomball to be a productive way to pass the time during the winter months. The sport was played on icy surfaces about the size of today's hockey rinks, surfaces such as lakes, ponds and rivers. The exact origin of the sport has been difficult to pin point. It has been documented by Barrie, Ontario that locals used Lake Simcoe as a place for fun competition of the sport. However, the First Nations peoples in the area are believed to have passed the sport on to the settlers. The Canadian Broomball Federation was founded in 1976. During the 1975 "national broomball tournament" in Montreal, Quebec it was decided that the sport needed a governing body. The members of the Alberta Broomball Association met with representatives of other Canadian provinces and formed what is today the Canadian Broomball Federation. In the 1980s, the CBF developed the NationalCoachingCertification Program to focus on the youth in the sport.
Over the past half decade the sport has seen a great decline in participation, evidence of which can be seen in all age categories and levels of competition. Schools are showing less team development in both elementary and high schools in every province. At the Canadian Championships there are fewer provinces participating, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia/New Brunswick are currently holding the sport together while the remaining provinces; Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland and British Columbia - once big players in the sport - have taken a step back. The lack of participation can be blamed on lack of leadership at the higher levels of the sport. In turn, this is due to a lack of knowledge of the sport in schools across Canada. Adding to the problem is that broomball is often confused with ringette and curling. Parents tend to sign their children up for mainstream sports such as hockey, although broomball is more well known in rural areas but lacks funding to become more popular in urban areas.
Funding
Broomball is recognized as one of the first 6 Canadian heritage sports and thus receives funding from Heritage Canada to the amount of $105,000. The funding is meant to develop and build the sport as it receives little sponsorship from companies, the remaining income to the sport is from membership fees and workshops. To continue to receive funding from Heritage Canada, the broomball federation must continue to actively seek sponsorship from corporate sponsors. So, while the sport is strongly supported by Heritage Canada it would prefer to reduce dependency in order to more readily finance other initiatives.
