Certain towns in the metro area are known for their success in certain sports - Edina for tennis, Apple Valley for wrestling, Hopkins for basketball.

While Richfield has a wide variety of sports programs, the town has had perhaps its greatest success in an obscure winter sport - broomball.

There are a number of world-class players living within the city limits and some of them will play in the World Broomball Championships Oct. 31 through Nov. 4 at the Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine.

Kevin Denesen, a 1995 Richfield High graduate, is one of those players, and he is also the president of USA Broomball.

"At the highest levels, the competitive division at the world tournament, broomball is a great sport to watch," said Denesen, who plays for a team called the Minnesota Hitmen. "At the world level, broomball is a full-checking, full-contact sport."

The Hitmen have 10 Richfield High graduates on their 17-man roster. In addition to Kevin Denesen, the local players and their high school graduation years are: Pete Kraker and Paul Lindstrom (1986), Paul Gregersen (1988), Jeff Denesen (1992), Jim Lunderby (1995), Mike Schwalen (1997), Matt Karnas (1999), Ta Ho (2001) and Matt Moseley (2002).

Don Westergard, a 1960 Richfield High graduate, serves as coach. Jeff Denesen, Kevin Denesen and Craig Ballensky are team captains. The goaltender is 42-year-old Al Stauffacher.

Three of the top players from Richfield play on a rival team, Densen noted. Dave St. Aubin (1983) and Richie Schrick and Jim Kallstrom (1986) are with the Smart Mortgage Blues, who are first in the Minnesota men's rankings.

Mortgage Blues is ranked No. 1 in the nation and the Hitmen are ranked No. 7.

"I started the team in 1995," Kevin Denesen said. "We wanted to come up with a name that was intimidating and unique, so we chose the Hitmen. Most of us started playing in intramurals at Richfield High. The seniors played the faculty during Fire & Ice week every year. And the sophomores played the juniors. It was passed down through the years.

"Broomball was always a phy-ed unit for us in junior high and high school. That was our introduction to it."

"When we started, we played in an outdoor league in Richfield," Denesen said. "We joined the prestigious Augsburg League in 2000. We are currently ranked seventh in the nation."

Broomball is a winter passion for the Hitmen, who also play softball together in the summer.

"We play for the love of the sport," Denesen said. "If you start playing at the age of 18 or 21, it usually takes you five or six years to become really good at it.

"The big thing is making yourself available for practice. Then, it takes a lot of patience to learn the game. We have later practice times at Bloomington Ice Gardens and we play 60 to 70 games a year."

For the Hitmen, the dual objectives are to have fun and win.

Broomball was invented in Canada by streetcar workers in the early 1900s and Canada remains a power in the sport.

Teams from Japan and Australia will attend the world championships, Denesen noted.

The sport is most popular in cold-weather climates, where ice arenas and outdoor ice sheets are plentiful.

Presently, there is no feeder system for Minnesota's men's, women's and co-rec teams because youth hockey eats up almost all the ice time at local arenas, Denesen said. Adult broomball is thriving because adults can play and practice later in the evening.

"The sport works from the top down," Denesen said. "USA Broomball had its first college national championships last year. I would like to get a Minnesota high school state tournament together for intramural teams."

While he figures out a way to coordinate statewide high school broomball competition, Denesen wants to keep the sport strong in Richfield.

He said he is optimistic for the world tournament, even though the Canadian teams may come to Blaine as the favorites.

"The top Canadian teams are phenomenal," he said. "But we hope the Minnesota teams will compete very well with them."

Over the years, the Hitmen have had several sponsors, but have never changed their name. They are currently sponsored by Champps of Richfield.

Kevin Denesen's wife, Allison, has developed a Web site for the team, which gets hits from all over the country.

"We started the Web site because I got tired of calling people on the phone to give them results," Denesen said. "We have a weekly update and also sell our merchandise on the site."

To find out more about the team, visit www.hitmenbroomball.com. For national broomball and world information visit www.usabroomball.com.

Broomball is a winter passion for the Hitmen, who also play softball together in the summer.

"We play for the love of the sport," Denesen said. "If you start playing at the age of 18 or 21, it usually takes you five or six years to become really good at it.

"The big thing is making yourself available for practice. Then, it takes a lot of patience to learn the game. We have later practice times at Bloomington Ice Gardens and we play 60 to 70 games a year."

For the Hitmen, the dual objectives are to have fun and win.

Broomball was invented in Canada by streetcar workers in the early 1900s and Canada remains a power in the sport.

Teams from Japan and Australia will attend the world championships, Denesen noted.

The sport is most popular in cold-weather climates, where ice arenas and outdoor ice sheets are plentiful.

Presently, there is no feeder system for Minnesota's men's, women's and co-rec teams because youth hockey eats up almost all the ice time at local arenas, Denesen said. Adult broomball is thriving because adults can play and practice later in the evening.

"The sport works from the top down," Denesen said. "USA Broomball had its first college national championships last year. I would like to get a Minnesota high school state tournament together for intramural teams."

While he figures out a way to coordinate statewide high school broomball competition, Denesen wants to keep the sport strong in Richfield.

He said he is optimistic for the world tournament, even though the Canadian teams may come to Blaine as the favorites.

"The top Canadian teams are phenomenal," he said. "But we hope the Minnesota teams will compete very well with them."

Over the years, the Hitmen have had several sponsors, but have never changed their name. They are currently sponsored by Champps of Richfield.

Kevin Denesen's wife, Allison, has developed a Web site for the team, which gets hits from all over the country.

"We started the Web site because I got tired of calling people on the phone to give them results," Denesen said. "We have a weekly update and also sell our merchandise on the site."

To find out more about the team, visit www.hitmenbroomball.com. For national broomball and world information visit www.usabroomball.com.