Who is playing? What are the rules? Where did it start? On an ice surface 110 meters long and 65 meters wide (approx. the size of a football field) 10 skaters per side try and put a ball into the opposing team’s net. This roughly is the sport we call bandy!

Bandy has been played in Canada for many years (since 1980) and still exists there today. The team is formed in Winnipeg, MB and has been since it began. Canada will not compete in the World Championships in Finland, 2001, but are hoping to play again in 2003.Two Canadians, Sam Martin and Kasey Boisselle played division II bandy in Sweden with Skirö AIK during the 1998-1999 season.

The bandy stick looks like the ones in the photo, and are painted just like a hockey stick. Brand Names like Jofa and Kosa (the biggest brand in bandy) are found on the side. The sticks are about waist height and are swung almost like a golf club. Unlike the hockey stick, when playing bandy, usually only one hand is found on the stick at a time, except when shooting and passing of course.

The Bandy ball is orange, hard, and quite small. It travels very fast and in many different ways: with a full swing, a pass, or a chip shot (which can go the entire length of the field).

Each team has 12 players that play in almost every game and two goalkeepers. At each point in the game 10 players from each team must be on the ice. This only changes when one team or the other has a penalty (which lasts 10 minutes) or have a player who has been given a red card (ejected from the match).

The players can change with the substitutes as often as they like. Every player - except for the goal-keepers - should have a bandy stick, not longer than 120 cm. The goal-keepers have no sticks at all. Organize the teams into midfield-players, forwards and defenders -pretty much like a soccer team (this includes your sweeper, one of the main points to begin your attack from). The teams mission is try to and put the ball into the other teams goal, just like in hockey.

The players have to be extremely fit to last all 90 minutes since the speed of the game allows only short breaks. Bandy is a game with more intelligence than brutality, more brains than muscles -and the only allowed physical contact between players is when they're fighting for the ball, shoulder to shoulder. They're not allowed to use their sticks to hit another player, his stick, or to throw it at him or at the ball.

In 1891 the National Bandy Association was formed and national rules were decided. Some things were different from bandy of today: The rink was about twice the size of the rinks today, and the goal was slightly larger, but all in all the rules were pretty much the same.

1907 was the year bandy had its break-through in Sweden, and it rapidly spread all over the country. Later when ice-hockey became popular in the larger cities, bandy survived in small towns and villages like Bollnäs, Vetlanda, Örebro, Edsbyn and others.

For a long time there were no teams from any of the largest cities in the major league, "Allsvenskan", (the NHL of Bandy) but today teams are found all over Sweden, even in the big city of Stockholm.

There really are no fans quite like those at a Bandy game. They are often found drinking beer, Glögg (mix of red wine & spices), or other beverages, while singing and chanting constantly. They light off flares in their hands, wave flags side to side, and beat their drums like crazy. You never see that at a hockey game.

A short description of the RULES of BANDY is found here.