Spongee or sponge hockey is a winter sport and a variant of

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

that is played on outdoor ice rinks without ice hockey skates. It is played almost exclusively in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada, and has been played by thousands of players in dozens of leagues. The sport takes its name from the type of puck used, which is soft sponge puck as opposed to the hard vulcanized rubber puck used in traditional

. Equipment is generally the same as that used in ice hockey but player positions are different. The sport excludes bodychecking and is non-contact. The sport was at one time called "Tweeter" because of the sound the early pucks made. Since spongee's beginning in roughly the 1950s, players have increasingly begun to use

broomball Broomball is a both a recreational and organized competitive winter sport, winter and ball sport played on ice or snow. It is played either indoors or outdoors, depending on the climate and location. It is most popularly played in Canada and the ...

shoes instead of street shoes or winter boots. Winnipeg's first organized spongee league was started in 1978 by Canadian, John Robertson, though the game itself is believed to actually date back to 1950s Winnipeg, making it younger than

but potentially older than the Canadian organized sport of

ringette Ringette is a winter team sport played on an ice rink using ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice surfaces. While the sport was originally created exclusively for female c ...

by about a decade. It is believed that the "Tumbleweeds" are Manitoba's oldest continuously active spongee team.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Sponge hockey rules

''Spongee: Checks Lies and Videotape'', Part 1

''Spongee: Checks Lies and Videotape'', Part 2
Ice sports