Best described as a loose combination of ice hockey, field hockey and football, broomball is being trialled at the Dunedin Ice Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
Gone are ice skates. Instead, players wear special rubber soled shoes and the ice is prepared in such a way that it is smooth and dry, to improve traction.
Six players (including a goalie) per team are on the ice at the same time, attempting to hit a small ball with a stick called a ''broom'' into the net.
The broom may have a wooden or aluminum shaft and has a moulded rubber triangular head at the end.
The use of feet and hands are legal to pass or push the ball, but goals can only be scored by hitting the ball with the broom.
''Once you play it, you're hooked,'' Dunedin Ice Stadium board member Dan Mustapic said.
''It would be a great game for high school and university students to try. There is a lot of slipping and sliding without brakes, but that's what makes it fun.''
After this weekend's test run, organisers plan to hold some open nights to give people an opportunity to try it out.
''We've already been speaking to schools to have free times where we can get students to come down and give it a go. There will be some announcement when people can come down and give it a try,'' Mustapic said.
While the sport is only just being tried in Dunedin, it has been around for more than 100 years.
The first recorded broomball games were in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1909. From Canada, the game spread to the United States and took off in Minnesota, where a broomball community flourished in the 1960s.
It then spread internationally and organised broomball was being played in Australia, Japan, Sweden, Italy, Germany and Switzerland by the 1980s.
The first world championships were held in Canada in 1991, and a world event has been held biennially since 1996.
Canadian teams have won the men's division in 11 of the 14 previous championships, and have also dominated the women's and mixed grades.
As the sport continues to grow, the International Federation of Broomball Associations is pushing for it to be included in the Winter Olympics.
