The 2016 World Broomball Championships are taking place Regina November 1-5 and a few Parklanders will be there.
Regina will host the World Broomball Championships this November, and some Parkland broomball players will be there.
A team comprised of members from Kelwood, Glenella, Dauphin, McCreary, and even as far away as Killarney, are calling themselves Team Manitoba and are entering the Masters Division (40+) at the competition. In that division they'll play against teams from Italy, Australia, France, and Japan.
Member of Team Manitoba says this is his first major competition.
"This is my first go," he said. "I've been playing broomball since I was 14-years-old, but this is my first serious competition."
Nathan Thacker of Dauphin will also attend Worlds as a member of Team Manitoba.
Burton has played at provincial competitions as a member of the Kelwood Legionnaires team, where he and his teammates have had success, winning in a couple of their appearances.
Broomball is a family affair for the Burtons. Earl's daughter, Amber, will also be attending Worlds as a member of a yet-to-be-named Mixed team from the same area.
Burton reflected on his family's involvement with the sport and the ability to attend a World Championship with his daughter.
"My whole family plays, both my daughters, my son, we all play, my wife plays. So yeah, it is pretty cool!"
Amber's mixed team was originally intended to be two separate teams, a men's team and a women's team; however, due to lack of numbers the two have combined into one.
Burton said his Team Manitoba 40+ team is headed there with a goal.
"I guess other than a bit of bragging rights we're trying to send the best 40-year-old men from Manitoba to compete in this thing."
"Hopefully we come home with something exciting. We've had a couple of team meetings, we're all old men of course, 40 and older, and we've decided we're not going to lose. We've decided we're going to at least compete, we're going there with a purpose."
Both full rosters will be posted closer to the Championships.
