Go Blue! Broomball Event Pits Business School Faculty Against UMaine Women’s Hockey Team Jan. 29 at Alfond
Contact: Nory Jones, 581- 1995; Nancy Dysart, 973-5055; George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO–It won’t exactly be the Clash of the Titans, but a group of University of Maine Business School faculty have challenged the UMaine women’s hockey team to a 10-minute game of broomball, a fundraising battle on ice, Jan. 29, during the period breaks at the men’s hockey game against Northeastern.
The teams hope to raise $5,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network in Bangor.
The teams have recruited some heavy-duty coaching assistance for the occasion. Gov. John Baldacci and his family will coach the faculty players; Interim UMaine President Robert Kennedy and his family will coach the women’s team, which boasts a 9-5-2 record so far this season.
The Children’s Miracle Network saw 118,000 patient visits last year at network hospitals in eastern, central and northern Maine. It helped kids of every age and background with everything from broken bones and serious injuries to cancer, heart disease, asthma, cystic fibrosis, pediatric AIDS and muscular dystrophy. The Children’s Miracle Network uses 100 percent of locally raised money to fund local hospital treatment equipment and services.
Nory Jones, UMaine assistant professor of management information systems, came up with the broomball challenge with UMaine men’s hockey coach Tim Whitehead.
“A big part of the work we do in the Maine Business School at the university involves community outreach, consulting and collaboration with the state and local businesses, and we also wanted to model socially responsible behaviors for our students,” says Jones, who will be part of the faculty team. “This broomball game will get us out of the office and let us have some fun doing it.”
The broomball game will take place during two five-minute breaks during intermissions. The men’s game starts at 7 p.m. at Alfond Arena.
Throughout the entire men’s hockey game, however, volunteers will stand by at Buchanan Alumni House with a bank of telephones to receive pledges during the game. WABI-TV (Channel 5), which will air the UMaine-Northeastern game in conjunction with network affiliates at WMTW-TV (Channel 8 from Portland and Auburn) will scroll the telephone numbers for pledges across the bottom of the television screen. The pledge number for the broomball game is (207) 581-4880.
Additionally, Maine Business School student groups assisting with the fundraising event will collect donations before and during the game in various locations on the Orono campus. Prizes to be awarded during the evening include an autographed UMaine men’s team hockey jersey, a hockey stick signed by the team, two stuffed black bears, all donated by the UMaine Bookstore, in addition to a variety of other prizes, courtesy of Wal-Mart.
Among the faculty players planning to suit up for the broomball game are: Dan Innis, dean of the College of Business, Public Policy and Health; John Mahon, a business professor and current interim provost at UMaine; Gloria Vollmers, associate dean of the college and business school; and professors David Barrett, David Steiger, Marie-Christine Therrien, Bret Golann, Robert Strong, Sheila Pechinski and Jones.
Women’s hockey coach Perron is entrusting Bob Kennedy with some of his best players: Rachel Gettings, Emily Stevens, Cheryl White, Tristan Desmet and Laura Maddin.
Players with plastic brooms and sneakers, not ice skates, will square off at center ice for the beginning of each five-minute broomball period. A referee will drop a rubber ball between the two teams to start the action.
“We’re quite pleased with our lightning off-the-line response,” Jones says, “and we think our advantage will be in getting good team coordination and keeping the ball away from the Black Bear players. We’re pretty confident in our coaching staff and the collective experience of these seasoned faculty members.”
Guided by the rule that a team cannot practice too much, the faculty team has held one practice session in each of the last two months. They currently are resting up for the game. The women’s hockey team reportedly is not holding practice sessions, apparently guided by the belief that practice won’t be necessary to perform against players more than twice their age.
Men’s hockey coach Whitehead says he wishes both teams the best in skill, adding that his players currently are divided over which broomball team to support. The decision may come down to politics — whether to cheer for their female counterparts and friends or the faculty in whose classes some of them may sit the following Monday.
Whitehead, meanwhile, expects plenty of interest, and hopes for generous contributions to the Children’s Miracle Network.
“With the NHL lockout, we think there may be room at the national level for broomball,” he adds. “The faculty team may want to consider going on the road if they win this game.”
Further information is available by calling 581-1968.