AI Olympic Quidditch
Broomball!
Back by popular demand--straight from Minnesota to Hogwarts its the 3rd
ever AI Olympic Broomball.
Vital Info:
Where: Spy Pond in Arlington (On a frozen lake like it was meant
to be played) Directions and safety
When: January 27, 10am to 1pm (including transportation
time)
How: Meet in the lobby at 11am
sharp and drive to Spy Pond. Each team will need someone to round up
drivers and try to get hold of one or two brooms (although we will
provide a number of them).
What on earth is broomball?
Broomball is the poor person's hockey. All you need is a frozen
lake and a broom. The following are the fundamental changes from
hockey:
- Tennis shoes replace ice skates.
- Brooms (yes, you can use the kind you sweep the floor with)
replace hockey sticks.
- A volleyball replaces the hockey puck.
- Fun replaces skill.
Equipment
Optional but suggested equipment
- A broom. We will try to provide some brooms. Broomball
brooms have very sturdy shafts and the broom part is made of
rubber. While they are not very useful for sweeping they can
apparently be used to terminate rabid foxes.
You are also encouraged to bring a sturdy broom from home. Don't bring a plastic one since they
break quickly. The old fashioned ones with a dense set of
bristles wrapped in duct-tape can go a long way.
- Warm cloths: It will be
cold out so dress appropriately.
- Gloves. Any winter gloves or hockey gloves should be
fine.
- Shin, knee and elbow pads are all good to have to cushion
your falls (which are often since ice is often a bit slick).
- Hockey pants are also helpful for protecting your keister.
- A hearty Canadian or Minnesotan accent (or just saying "aye" and
"you betcha" alot are a good start)
Forbidden equipment
- Ice skates of any kind.
- Any shoes with spikes or anything that might dig into the
ice.
- Broomball shoes. This sounds silly but they are a huge
advantage that not everyone will have so wear tennis shoes or boots like
the rest of us.
Some Important Rules
- There is absolutely no checking.
- The stick cannot be raised above your waist.
- You can use your hands to control the ball but you cannot hold
onto or throw the ball to a teammate or into the goal.
- You can use your feet to dribble and control the ball, as in
soccer, but you cannot shoot or pass to a teammate with your feet.
- Substitutions can occur at any time (including during the play)
as long as the exiting player leaves the ice before the entering
player.
AI Olympic Scoring
- We will be playing without referees.
- We will be playing with 6 players and a goalie.
- We will be merging two Olympic teams for each game so that all 4
teams can play at the same time.
- The scoring will work as follows:
- 1 point for each player that takes a shot. A shot
attempt, is defined as a ball struck in the vague
direction of the goal from within the offensive zone
(i.e. inside the blue line). In other words if you touch
the ball in the offensive end you are almost guaranteed to
get a point. :)
- 3 points for each goal scored.
- The participation score is for your team only. The goal
score is for the two Olympic teams that are playing
together.
- Your team's total score for the day is the sum of all of the
above for each game.
- Olympic points will be awarded as follows: 5 Olympic points to
the team with the best composite score, 3 Olympic points for 2nd place,
2 Olympic points for 3rd place, and 1 Olympic point for 4th place.
Links
Directions and Safety
The lake was very solidly frozen at the end of last week and it has
never been above freezing since then. It should continue to be just
fine throughout the weekend, but I'll try to keep an eye on the
temperature and conditions.
We will be converging at the lab at 10am and then driving together to
the Pond. The directions are quite simple. Take Mass Ave to
Arlington and take a Left on Pond Ln. It might be slightly faster to
take Beacon (becomes Hampshire), left on Somerville Ave which merges
into Mass Ave and then left on Pond Ln in Arlington.
Map of Spy Pond on Pond Lane
Arlington, MA 02474
Mike Oltmans (moltmans@ai.mit.edu)
Last modified: Mon
Jan 29 17:30:58 EST 2001