Broomball

Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and artificial ice allow more flexibility. Playing areas and fields consist of either snow or ice.

Artificial ice can be used to provide ice rinks for ice skating, ice hockey, para ice hockey, ringette, broomball, bandy, rink bandy, rinkball, and spongee in a milder climate. The sport of speed skating uses a frozen circular track of ice, but in some facilities the track is combined in an enclosed area used for sports requiring an ice rink or the rink itself is used. Alternatively, ice cross downhill uses a track with various levels of elevation and a combination of bends. Long distance skating (a.k.a. "marathon skating") such as tour skating is only performed outdoors and uses the available natural ice from frozen lakes, ponds, and marshes. Tour skating at times includes speed skaters, though tour skates are more common.

Spongee or sponge hockey is a winter sport and a variant of ice hockey that is played on outdoor ice rinks without ice hockey skates. It is played almost exclusively in Winnipeg, Manitoba, 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 ice hockey.

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 shoes instead of street shoes or winter boots.

An ice hockey rink is an ice rink that is specifically designed for ice hockey, a competitive team sport. Alternatively it is used for other sports such as broomball, ringette, rinkball, and rink bandy. It is a rectangle with rounded corners and surrounded by walls approximately 1.22 metres (48 in) high called the boards. There are two standard rink sizes: North American and international.