An Inside Look
Welcome back Everyone! With spring Intramurals already underway I want to introduce you to another championship team, The Collaboration. This team is under the captainship of Jeff Ginter and made up of many members of the Men’s Lacrosse team on campus.
When I think of Collaboration I think of two things coming together as one, so of course I had to investigate how the team got its name. “Our team name came from the combination of two teams and it stems back to our first season in 2005-06. In our freshman year at River Falls the lacrosse team decided to create a broomball team, our name was ExLAX. We ended up winning the championship that year, but not before defeating our good friends in the playoffs. When the next year rolled around and it was time to begin our annual broomball drafts, we decided that we would join forces with the previous years 2nd place team. We picked up a few free agents and our team was no longer all lacrosse players, so naturally a name change was called for. Our new name would soon become obvious to all other teams. After winning the broomball championship for the second year in a row, there was no mistaking who we were. We were The Collaboration; the collaboration of two broomball powerhouses into one legendary team. Now in 2007-08 we are back for a third season as a team and our second as The Collaboration. We once again had our annual draft, we picked up a few rookie free agents, and we are ready to test our luck against what seems to be some of the toughest competition to date.”
The Collaboration has been competing in intramurals for about four years and is their third season as a team, the second season as The Collaboration. Why don’t we see this team on other UWRF Intramural fields? I asked Jeff the same question, “Broomball is really the only Intramural sport our team/players can compete in. Since the majority of our players are on the UWRF Men’s Lacrosse team and we play all year around, we can only participate in IM’s during the winter. With all this said, when broomball comes around, we take it pretty seriously. But, we have won the broomball championships in 2005-06 and in 2006-07.”
Over the years a team should know each other fairly well, when I asked Jeff what other players bring to the Ice he gave me the breakdown, “Josh Grover is a brick wall in net. During the 2006-07 season Grover was only scored on twice in our 11 game march to #1. The two goals against came late in the season. Trask Reed and Corey Loesch are offensive threats as our team’s top two forwards Ryan Dunbar and Ryan O’keefe are The Collaboration’s top mid ice players. Together they will ensure that our team stays on the attack the whole game. Matt Ribar and Jeff Ginter, playing defense, complement Grover in net. They guarantee that no one has a free shot on net.”
On game day what is the atmosphere? “The day of a game,” Jeff explains, “is spent in anticipation. Everyone is always psyched to play! We will usually arrive to our game at least 30 minutes early to watch the team before us play, this only adds to our excitement. And, as soon as the game before us is done we are on the ice running around and warming up, usually we are ready to play even before the officials. As for how we prepare over the long January break, it is no secret. We just keep playing. Most of our team resides in the Twin Cities and over break we all get together and play broomball. Our January training camp is in Trask Reed’s backyard on Bald Eagle Lake in White Bear Lake, MN. With nothing else to do over break, much of our time is spent playing broomball late into the night with all of our friends.”
Is there any celebration after victories? “Since broomball can be go so late, there usually isn’t more than congratulating each other for celebration. But, after winning big games, especially the Championship, we will all get together and hang out. Usually after big games you are so filled with energy that sleep is not an option, so there is nothing else to do but celebrate.”
I asked Jeff how it felt to be champs and besides the huge smile his face he explained, “ It feels really good. Winning as freshman was a huge accomplishment and then to come back and win for a second year was even better. It feels good to know that all other veteran teams are out to get you. With everyone wanting to beat us it makes the competition really good, and that is what it is all about, the great competition.” So Is the championship in your future again? “We hope so!” Jeff said,” We feel that we have the team to prove ourselves once again. We have a few rookies that will need to shine, but the talent and drive is there. We are on a mission! We want that championship and we want to brand our name, The Collaboration, into UWRF Broomball history. In our minds our hands are on those #1 IM shirts, all we need to do is prove ourselves.”
When looking at other teams this year I asked Jeff how the competition looks Jeff replied, “The competition looks really good. For one thing there are a record number of teams signed up and all have deep rosters. I look forward to playing in some close games this year.” So do you have any advice for new teams this year looking to start a legacy like The Collaboration? My main advice would be to have fun. Broomball is one of IM’s most popular sports and there are a ton of good teams this year, so if at first you do not succeed don’t give up. Keep playing hard and eventually you to win have your time in the spotlight. Also, a piece of advice that all teams should heed is SHOW UP TO YOUR GAMES. There is no better way to form a poor report with other teams than not to show up and forfeit your game. If you don’t want to play, don’t sign up!
So Jeff is there anything else you want to throw out there for people reading this article? “After last year’s Championship win and our team’s second championship, we decided to create something special to commemorate our efforts. We purchased a plaque and had both championship teams’ names engraved on it. In addition, my Dad created a trophy case for our team that now sits on the wall in our house. We have filled two of six spots on the plaque and we hope to add a third this year.” Wow! Jeff that is dedication to Intramurals I like it!
University of Wisconsin-River Falls