The sweat on that community broomball helmet might have come from the head of your university president.
Initiated and named by Miami University's new president, David Hodge, and including 22 administrative faculty of Roudebush Hall, Team Rowdybush is registered in this season's co-recreational beginners' broomball league.
This past Sunday the team played their first of six games. Although the Reinhardt Express first-year team won, it was a "moral victory" for Rowdybush according to Hodge.
"We surprised ourselves by being tied 2-to-2 with about two minutes to go," Hodge said. "Then our goalie caught the ball, went to throw it to the side and promptly threw it in the net."
Hodge added with a smile, "He's been fired, it's OK."
Contributing to the Team Rowdybush sense of humor, Hodge said the goalie went to the other side and high-fived the team.
Broomball goals aside, Hodge outlined his larger goals with students as president of Miami.
"(I want to) contribute in every way I can to strengthening the sense of community within the students, within the student faculty and staff groups - the whole shebang," Hodge said.
He said he decided to play broomball after he saw the "phenomenal" level of participation the sport drew.
"It is kind of a signature of Miami University, one of those things we do as a community," Hodge said. "... I mean (the sport) stresses that you don't have to have a lot of skill to have a good time, so I thought that was good."
Yet the skill level of Team Rowdybush came as a surprise to many.
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"The entire team showed excellent athleticism," said Aaron Gates, assistant director for programming at the Goggin Ice Arena. "Had you not been around when they took their helmets off, you never would have known they weren't a freshmen dorm team."
Executive secretary to the president, Deborah Mason, had three or four saves that kept the game tied in the second half, Gates said. Hodge and Staff Auditor Joan Walker scored the two goals in favor of their own team.
"The president is extremely aggressive out there," Mason said. "I think everybody was surprised about that too. They were like, 'Gosh, he's all over the place!'"
"Yeah, and now he's got a pulled hamstring," Hodge noted with a smile.
And just as the team is living up to the "rowdy" nickname, the games seem to be living up to their intended purpose of bringing the community together.
"As president he's at an almost untouchable level because he's so important," said Geoff Reinhardt of the Reinhardt Express team. "But him starting his own broomball team allows him to identify with students and become a more approachable guy. I definitely feel like I could, if I saw him on the street, say 'Hey how are you?' and have a conversation."
By building relationships off the ice as well as on, camaraderie has been growing within the administrative faculty also.
"Some of these folks that you see everyday or that you walk back and forth to the parking lot with, you just don't really have a chance to do something fun with them and get to know them on a more personal level," Mason said. "It just changes the way that you deal with people and the way you work together ... Now we see each other walking to the parking lot and say, 'Oh my gosh, did you believe that game!'"
Mason suspects that Team Rowdybush might be the beginning of a new craze. "We've already had other buildings say, 'if you guys are going to play, we're going to get a team and start a rivalry,'" she said.
King Library Special Projects Officer Jason Jackson said there are no current plans of starting a "King Kong" team, yet some staff might be up to the challenge.
Gates also mentioned that although adult broomball teams are typical, they are usually comprised of professors or alumni and very rarely of high-ranking administrative officers.
"I think it's one of the coolest things I've seen at the ice arena since I've been working here for three years," Gates said. "It just shows how open-minded and willing to take challenges the president is and how well he's adapted to the student body ... That's proof right there that he's not just talk - he's action."
Action indeed, Team Rowdybush did not let their opponents win without a fight.
"It was pretty frustrating when the president blocked my shot," Reinhardt said.
"The other team didn't have the shoes on and they took a number of pretty spectacular spills. It was quite fun to watch," Hodge recalled. "We promptly tried to take advantage of it, but it didn't help us any."
Yet as the players continue to improve (and continue to rent the broomball shoes), Gates and Reinhardt agree that Team Rowdybush could make it to the playoffs.
Reinhardt also sees Hodge as having the right skills - on and off the ice.
"(I'm) excited at how friendly (Hodge) is and looking forward to seeing how he's going to lead the university," Reinhardt said.
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