A List of Kit needed for Broomball: 

A Helmet with face guard, Shoes, Broomball Stick, Hockey knee/shin pads, Hockey elbow pads, Hockey padded shorts, socks to cover shin guards, Team Jersey, gloves, optional shoulder pads. A resilient bag to put it all in.

General Description:

What Kit do you need to play Broomball?

Well, first off, you are REQUIRED to be wearing a HELMET with a face guard at all times when on the Ice. (the Grill type, no shield types of face protectors are allowed). Make sure this is comfortable and fits well. It must also have at least one strap to hold it on and hold the face guard in place.

Next you have to have a Broomball Stick!

This is made by the players, and only the following materials are allowed to be used in the making: Russian veniki or brooms (available at any outdoor rinok (market) such as by Kievskaya Train Station), string/twine, and tape. A broomball stick is REQUIRED to have a strong and resilient wrist strap. The strap can be made from shoe laces, or nylon type cord, but preferably something that will not break. The broom itself must be visible at BOTH ends. See below for some suggestions on how to make a Broomball Stick.

Then there are Broomball shoes. These are specially made for Broomball. Other types of recreational shoes are allowed, but no spikes, modified grit covered shoes, etc.  The type of Broomball Shoes that can be purchased (see below) are the recommended form of shoe for the game. (if you have to you can play in trainers, but they are not nearly as effective.)

Team Jerseys - there are several locations that can produce Broomball Jerseys, as they are based on Hockey shirts.

      One such location is the company Lutch.    Address:  Dinamo complex, LLC Lutch,  - tel. 213 16 01, Leningradsky prospect 36, office 8.

Directions: Go to the small stadium (from the Metro Dinamo, go right through the park), and round the street-side of the stadium, and you will find an unmarked entrance. Enter and go right till you find stairs. Lutch's office is located at the top of the stairs.

Other Kit: All other kit may be purchased locally at any of the major sports shops supplying Hockey Gear, including the Helmet, Shin/Knee pads, Elbow pads, Hockey Shorts, Hockey socks or tights to cover the shin/knee pads, and optional shoulder pads. Some men wear a protective cup. Make sure the gear fits comfortably. You will also need tape to help hold all this gear on, and a decent pair of warm gloves.

Where to buy?

Recommended Shops for General Hockey Gear are:

• Up by Metro 1905 Goda - go across the road from the metro, past the John Bull / Patio Pizza, and up the immediate next street. Go right. follow the street for about 2 blocks and you will come to a Sport Shop entry in the long building on your right taking you downstairs. This is a very good sport shop.

• Most Sportmaster or other sport shops supplying hockey gear. (All Hockey stadiums have several sport shops attached, including Dinamo's stadiums, Spartak's, etc.)

Broomball Shoes: These cannot be purchased locally. You have to order them from one of several foreign shops. Some of the more popular ones are:

How to Make a Broomball Stick:

Here are a couple of general description on how to go about making a Broomball Stick.

(You will need 3-4 brooms, plenty of tape- clear and coloured,, and twine or string / cord)

• Take the fan part of the broom apart. Then re-bind with tape tightly into three or more distinct parts. Take these partitions and re-bind with tape to give a shape somewhat like a Hockey stick - ie., handle and a bent blade-type of hitting end to it. Add additional brush from other brooms to strengthen and add length or width to blade area. Use tape to assist place-holding and shape-creating. Bind as tightly as you can with twine or string all the way up and down the stick. Work on the shape of it some more. Once you are reasonably happy with it, Bind over the twine with tape, to give colour and further tighten and protect from elements. Check for length and shorten handle or blade as necessary for comfort. Finally, the top of your handle MUST have a strap to keep the stick attached to your wrist. I would recommend using a nylon cord or other similar material for this. To ensure that this stays attached, check that you have sufficient length for a good strap (that you will need to get a gloved hand through!), tie one end tightly to about 6-7cm from the top of your handle, and then tie the other end onto the stick's handle and the original tie. Add a layer or two of tape tightly over the binding of the strap to ensure that it doesn't come adrift while you are playing.

• Take all brooms completely apart. Begin with selecting as much brush part of brooms as possible as this compresses less and will create a tighter, harder stick. Get rid of as much of the softer, spongier handle part as possible. Start by bunching opposing directions of brush, phasing it along your overall desired length for the stick. Next make a couple of tight tape wraps to hold it all in place. Now tape tightly where you want the centre section of the stick to be. Follow down where the blade part will be, curving and taping as you go to get a general shape to it. Once you have a general shape to it, tighten with tape, binding tightly as possible. Add small bunches of brush to give additional blade shape or height, taping and adding. Tape and add. Once you have a good basic stick, it is time to really tighten it all up. Use twine or string and bind all the way way down the stick, starting about 10cm below where you will have the handle, following all the way down the centre and down the blade. (Keep a close eye on the shape as you are binding and try to minimise the twisting, while keeping things as tight as possible and maintaining your curve to the blade.) Next, trim back the top and bottom of the stick to get the length you want. Add the strap to the top (see above), and then use the twine to bind tightly all the way up the handle part of the stick. Finally, several tight layers of tape (coloured will look best) will seal the stick and further tighten things down, giving a good, hard broomball stick that hopefully won't break too quickly.

A couple of suggestions - Try to not make it too heavy or two long. It won't do you much good if you are trying to swing a club out there, or in play if you have to use two hands to move your stick about. Light, quick, strong broomball sticks are best.