Bandy in the United States

USA Bandy
The logo of USA Bandy
ABA = American Bandy Association
SportBandy
Founded1981; 43 years ago (1981)
LocationMinnesota
PresidentABA: Andrew Knutson
Vice president(s)ABA: Chris Middlebrook
(founded)American Bandy Association
Official website
usabandy.com
United States
Recognized as a non-profit corporation in 1983

Bandy in the United States[1] is played mostly in Minnesota.[2][3] The national team regularly plays in Division A of the Bandy World Championships. In terms of licensed athletes, it is the second biggest winter sport in the world.[4] Bandy is a team sport played on ice with ice skates, a ball, and a curved stick on a large sheet of ice called a bandy field. In the United States, the national governing body for bandy is the American Bandy Association (ABA), also called USA Bandy which was established in 1981, the same year it became a member of the Federation of International Bandy (FIB). The USA Bandy Hall of Fame is located in Minnesota.

The American Bandy League is played in Minnesota. It is the country's elite-tier of bandy played in the country with the league split into two divisions: Division I and Division II. The winner of the US Premier League wins the Gunnar Cup. The USA Rink Bandy League organizes the bandy variation known as rink bandy. The tournament for rink bandy in the US is the North American Cup.

In international competition, the country has both a men's and a women's national bandy squad: the United States men's national bandy team, and the United States women's national bandy team. The men's United States national bandy team has taken part in the Bandy World Championships since the 1985 tournament. The 1995 Bandy World Championship was played at Guidant John Rose Minnesota Oval. The United States national men's squad also plays friendlies against Canada in the Can-Am Bandy Cup.

The United States women's national bandy team has participated in every one of the Women's Bandy World Championships. The 2006 and the 2016 women's world tournaments were played in Minnesota.

  1. ^ "American Bandy Association". American Bandy Association. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  2. ^ Klein, Jeff Z. (29 January 2010). "It's Not Hockey, It's Bandy". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Sam Wigness (27 June 2016). "Bandy's growth is put on ice". sportsengine.com. Sports Engine. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Bandy destined for the Olympic Winter Games!". Worldbandy.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2017.