This small-town Sask. broomball team is hoping to bring home its 4th national championship
CBC
A village in northern Saskatchewan with a population of 327 has been breeding national broomball champions.
Players on the Debden Roadrunners, a U20 women's broomball team from Debden, Sask., roughly 180 kilometres north of Saskatoon, are amped to start the campaign for a fourth consecutive national championship in Valdor, Que., at the end of March.
Dean Demers, one of three coaches, said the team's success comes not only from their hard work, dedication and love of the sport, but because broomball is a part of the culture in Debden.
"Everybody who lives here has grown up with broomball," Demers said.
He said the girls are talented athletes.
"They're a perfect team," Demers said. "We have 18 players, 3 coaches, 21 of us all together on the same strategy all the time."
Peyton Turner, who plays on the team, said broomball has been passed down from generation to generation in Debden.
"It's just in your blood here," said Turner.
The sport came to Debden in the early 1970s and took off like wildfire.
"Back then it was the adults," Demers said. "There used to be adult teams around Debden going to other Saskatchewan towns playing broomball, but eventually they got kids programs going here."
Close to 50 years later, the town has a national champion team. Demers said the first national win in 2022 was amazing, each addition win has been great, and a fourth would be the cherry on top.
"We were just the Saskatchewan team that had never won before," Demers said of the team's beginnings. "This year, you know, everybody's going to know who the Debden Roadrunners are."
Chad Schneider grew up in Odessa, Sask., another community where broomball is popular. He started playing when he was 15 years old and fell in love with it.
Now, Schneider is the president of the Saskatchewan Broomball Association and Broomball Canada.
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