History

There is no known fully accurate history of broomball. However, the general consensus is that modern-day broomball originated in Canada by ice hockey enthusiasts who were not talented skaters. However, recent research indicates that a sport known as knattleikr was played in Iceland in the 18th century. The sport was almost considered warfare, with the occasional death not uncommon, and games could involve whole villages and lasted up to fourteen days. Writer Hord Grimkellson reported that, in a game between Strand and Botn, that "before dusk, six of the Strand players lay dead, though none on the Botn side."

The first recorded broomball games in North America were in Saskatchewan in 1909 and Ontario in 1911. From Canada the game spread quickly to the United States and became especially popular in Minnesota, where by the 1950s a broomball community was thriving.

Broomball was spread internationally over the following decades by ex-patriate Canadians and Americans and by the 1980s, organised broomball was being played in Australia, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland.