Ask anyone who plays broomball in Yellowknife and they will tell you it's a tough sport.
Especially when you're playing both a women's and a mixed tournament on the same weekend.
Double duty was what some of those players did at the Yk Community Arena as the NWT Broomball Championships wrapped up on March 3. There were women's and mixed titles up for grabs with Millennium Technologies coming out on top in the mixed battle thanks to a 2-1 win over 62 Monkeys in the final while the Larga Clubbers downed the Nuna Logistics Nunatics in the women's final 3-0.
Tara Bower was one of the iron-women who played in both tournaments and said she's still feeling it.
“I'm still recovering,” she said with a giggle. “The legs are still a bit sore. When you're watching from the stands, you might think it looks slow but there's lots of running, more than people probably think.”
In the mixed final, Millennium held down a 2-0 lead late in the game but the Monkeys managed to pot one with two minutes remaining in regulation time to cut the deficit to 2-1.
From there, Bower, who played on the eventual winning team, said it was battening down the hatches and keeping the Monkeys out.
“It was all about playing tight defence and trying to keep control of the ball as long as possible,” she said. “We tried to keep them on the outside and control the play and luckily, it worked out.”
Millennium finished first after the round-robin and earned a bye to the final while the Monkeys had to play the semifinal against the Swamp Coyotes. That game went to a shootout after overtime solved nothing, where the Monkeys prevailed.
Bower said the extra bit of rest before the final was very welcome.
“It's always good to have fresh legs and all of us appreciated a break, I'm sure,” she said. “It's lots of games when you're playing mixed and ladies.”
Speaking of the ladies, Bower was part of the Clubbers team that won the women's final. The Clubbers built up their lead to the point where they were able to play a bit more comfortably in the second half.
“We played it safe and we were able to take some time to make the right plays,” she said.
The Clubbers had finished first after the round-robin to clinch a bye to the final while the Nunatics defeated the Sizzlers in the semifinal.
Tara-Lynn Andrew was the star of the show for the Clubbers in the final as she scored two goals to lead the charge offensively.
“She has a really good power shot,” said Bower.
When it comes to league play, the playoffs get going on Sunday with the mixed league starting at 5:30 p.m. at the community arena. Team Black will take on the Subway Swamp Donkeys at 5:30 p.m. while the Coyotes battle with Monkey Tree at 6:30 p.m. Both of those are the first game of a best-of-three series.