What could compel 14 adults to pile into two minivans for five days and to tool around on Canadian ice-wielding brooms for three?

Broomball.

But it wasn't just any away game that drove an elite squad of Homer broomballers sponsored by Duggan's Pub all the way to Whitehorse. It was a chance to see if Homer can compete with the best of them at the inaugural Bob Park Northern Cup Broomball Championship.

"It being a Canadian sport and them being Canadians, we were definitely curious how we were going to measure up," said team leader and Homer broomball godfather Dan Deschamps.

And the rag-tag team from Homer was right in the middle: what Deschamps classified as average to above average.

Broomball is similar to hockey, except players use a broom instead of a stick and a ball instead of a puck, and players wear shoes instead of skates.

Each team is about 15 players strong, but, like hockey, only five are allowed on the ice at any one time.

While there are normally three 20-minute periods in a game, a change at the Whitehorse tournament Nov. 13-15 reduced the time to two 18-minute periods to fall in line with the Canadian Broomball Association guidelines.

The rest of the game follows hockey guidelines, from strategy, aggressive action and flow of play.

In terms of Alaska sports, broomball has taken a back seat to more popular events, leaving Homer with one of the only programs statewide, with Anchorage and Fairbanks holding similar broomball seasons.

That means that competition is scarce, and it can be tough to gauge just how competitive a team is until that team takes their game on the road.

"I don't think they had any idea what kind of level of play we would have. Broomball barely exists in Alaska," said Deschamps.

Despite worries that the Homer team would get blown away by experienced competition, a team was drawn together and after a month of practice it hit the road.

Among broomball leagues, Homer's program is in its infancy. But, with three competitive teams of 15 players apiece, an official season from January to March and an end-of-the-season tournament, Homer is being looked upon as a serious destination for broomball and will host the Northern Cup Championship in 2013.

The Homer broomballers tried to make up for a lack of experience through sheer enthusiasm and speed, said Deschamps, and his team out-hustled all challengers.

As the new kids on the block, the Duggan's Pub team was surprised at the warm reception offered by its Canadian competition.

"I think it helped that we brought a whole bunch of halibut along and presented it to the MVP on the other team, and that became quite the thing," said Homer Broomball League organizer Catriona Lowe

Characteristic of many broomball teams in the United States and Canada, a substantial part of broomball is about socializing and having fun off the ice.

Impromptu games of broomball in the parking lot of a motel in Tok at -15 and colder are just par for the course.

"The Mystery Machine van was victorious over the A-Team van if I remember correctly. We had to stick with '80s references," said Stephanie Anderson, referring to the Mystery Machine van of Scooby-doo fame and the A-Team van from the action adventure television series The A-Team.

"There were Canadians in the A-Team van so we called it the Eh-Team van," said Anderson.

For the Duggan's Pub team the trip was nothing if not an experience.

"Basically what I got from the tournament was the confidence level. We came home and we could say that we stood toe to toe with the Canucks," said Brandon Grochow.

"When it was time to play we played and we played hard. All weekend we heard 'did you see that Homer team, wow, they're actually pretty good,'" said Deschamps.

There is room to improve, particularly in the execution of the flip pass, which sends the ball over an opponent's head to a teammate further down the ice, said Deschamps.

Perhaps the hardest lesson to learn, and what often separates experienced teams from inexperienced teams, is the same lesson that hockey players spend their whole lives perfecting: how to flow with the game.

"...We ran a lot and the more experienced teams ran when they needed to run and it was a more controlled position game," said Deschamps.

Overall, the broomballers played five games, and while they were only able to pull out one win with some impressive ties, they did manage to score five goals and were scored on only four times.

The only other Alaska team was out of Anchorage and gave up 18 goals in four games.

"We had the most fun out of anybody. Everywhere we went we were laughing and having fun and that, for me, was the best part of the trip," said Liz Villarreal.

Broomball in Homer is a co-ed sport and pickup games are already underway Wednesdays at 9 p.m. at the Kevin Bell Ice Arena. League play begins in January and games are held every Wednesday night through March.

For more information contact: homerbroomball@gmail.com and for game schedules contact 235-8ICE.