South St. Paul Native Excited For World Bandy Championships

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- This week, the "State of Hockey" will play host to a very different kind of winter sport. The Roseville Oval will be the site of the 2016 Women's World Championship of Bandy.

Teams from Canada, Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and even China will be here. And as David McCoy explains, Team USA is ready to put the sport the spotlight.

She took South St. Paul to state, then played at Princeton in college. But for Sarah Ahlquist Schneider, hockey holds an even more personal place in her heart.

"Naturally my passion for hockey led me to a guy who also is very passionate about hockey," Schneider said.

His name is Billy Schneider, his father is Buzz Schneider. As in, 1980 Miracle on Ice team member Buzz Schneider, who scored a goal in the famous game against the Russians.

"We have a pretty solid hockey family, that's what we do," Sarah said.

But it's another sport that holds her heart now.

"I've been playing since 2011 and trying to recruit people so I'm like, do you want to come play bandy? And they're like, what's Bandy?" Sarah said.

Bandy is best described as a cross between hockey and soccer. It's 11-on-11 on a soccer-sized field, with skates, a stick and a ball. It's extremely popular in Europe -- even more so than hockey. Men's pro leagues in Sweden, for instance, draw upwards of 40,000 fans a game.

It's making progress in America too -- especially in Minnesota, which is where Schneider and the rest of Team USA train and play.

"There's been a lot of support, and word of mouth traveling," Sarah said.

In fact, there's even a push to get it in the Olympics. Schneider knows well what that would mean: A chance to add another gold medal to the family collection.

"It's a dream. It's every little kid's dream, right? You want to represent your country in the Olympics," Sarah said. "And it was certainly my dream and I always envisioned it happening with hockey. But now there's another door opening up, perhaps. And that's a pretty cool thing."

The tournament begins Thursday and runs through Sunday at the Roseville Oval.