When writing this article about USA  elite bandy club, "The Sparrows", I considered titles other than "Nobody Else Is Doing This".  A couple of potential alternatives were "Sparrows' Bandy Sets A Very High Bar" and the Sparrows' theme and verbal motivator "Now We Go". Each would work but I went with "Nobody Else..." because the Sparrows are doing things no other US bandy club has done, not now, nor in the first 40 years of US bandy. The Sparrows(initially named The Dukes) also referred to as "The Purple" because of their team colors purple and white, were formed in time for the 2014-15 US season by John Arundel and Jon Keseley, after winning 4 US championships in 6 years with The Bandolier. Success immediately followed as The Sparrows/Dukes won the 2015 US championship(The Gunnar Cup) in their very first season. That same summer The Sparrows won the US Rink Bandy Championship(The Cannon Cup). In the fall of 2015 The Sparrows completed The Trifecta of US Bandy winning the North American Cup, now referred to by Sparrows players as "The Sparrow Slam". Sparrows' success continued on the ice as they won 5 consecutive regular season big ice bandy titles and have the best overall record of all US teams over the last 6 years. They have also won additional US and North American Cup championships in 2017 and two straight US Rink Bandy Championships in 2019 and 2020(where after finishing with a five hundred record in league play they blew all three playoff opponents off the ice). The Sparrows even won the inaugural Gornick Cup of rink bandy in June 2020, the first US bandy tourney to be played in Wisconsin. In sum, there is no question that The Sparrows have been since their inception a force in USA Bandy.

It is not, however, the on ice success of The Sparrows which inspires the headline "Nobody Else Is Doing This". It is what they are doing off the ice, as a team, as a bandy club, which is unprecedented in US Bandy. Let's start with the swag. T-shirts, crew necks, warmups, winter hats, all emblazoned with the Sign of the Sparrow. Almost all created and produced by John Arundel, known to the team as Skip because he is the captain of the Sparrows' bandy warship. John's creativity has started a swag competition with The Sparrows friendly rival, The Bandolier. In this escalating contest of who can come up with the most awesome team swag John has turbo charged plans including purchasing a small bus, painting it Sparrows purple with the team logo, and creating a mobile team clubhouse interior. Good luck topping that Bandolier. The Sparrows have also become known for their post summer rink bandy game gatherings of not only beer in the parking lot, but also barbecue and even a popcorn machine. Their opponents that evening are always invited, together with the game's referees. 

The Sparrows creativity extends far beyond bandy swag. They share pre game thoughts and motivations and post game summations with each other via email.  These are not short emails, consisting of quips and cliches.  They are literary gems and excellent reads even if the reader has no idea what bandy is.  Steele "Gero" Arundel is the Dostoevsky of many of these emails but the Sparrows across the board respond in kind. The Sparrows lay a strong claim to being the most literary US bandy club. The musical patriarch of The Sparrows creativity is without question Jeff Arundel. The father of Steele and the uncle of John, Jeff, in addition to beginning his 41st season of bandy in 2020, is an accomplished musician and producer(He also owns 3 Minneapolis restaurants, including Cafe Aster). Jeff's most recent album, produced in 2019, is titled "Now We Go", and has been adopted by The Sparrows as their motivational mantra.

In January 2020 The Sparrows played a friendship match against the USA Women's National Team to help the Women prepare for their upcoming world championships in Oslo. After the game the players from each team went to the Roseville VFW for pizza and beer where bandy stories were told and friendships made. The connection and respect between the two teams was powerful enough that several times The Sparrows competed in the US men's elite league with a goalie from the US women's team in the net. At the 2020 US Women's Bandy golf fundraiser The Sparrows sponsored a hole and provided a foursome. When the US women compete in the Bandy World Cup in Sweden October 2021 they will don the purple jerseys and  skate as The Sparrows. "We have immense respect for the USA women's players" states John Arundel. "As athletes and bandy players definitely, but also as great people". 

Summer dryland training as a club? Yes, the US men's national team ran a summer dryland program in the 80s and 90s(now replaced by the summer rink bandy league) and the women's national team off ice trains all summer and fall. But no US club bandy team has ever trained as a unit until this past summer of 2020 when The Sparrows began dryland training as a team. The summer training then led to the first ever training camp for a US club team. On the weekend of September 18-20 The Sparrows, hosted by Jeff Arundel(who is a bandy legend and story himself) at Encampment on the shores of Lake Superior. The players stayed in the iconic River Cabin, situated right next to The Encampment River. In addition to heavy training, including magnificent runs through the northwoods  and along the shore of Lake Superior, the team played golf and pickle ball and even braved the leap from the cliffs into the icy waters of the Encampment River. The physical preparation for the upcoming US outdoor season was in many ways secondary to the mental preparation, the team bonding, which is not only essential to success, but also as John Arundel states "Makes bandy more than a sport, more than a competition. The friendship and connection we all share on the Sparrows is priceless. We are all very fortunate to have bandy in our lives. We want it to be a great experience not just now but also something we take with us and cherish for the rest of our lives". And the capper for the Sparrows of the summer and fall of 2020? A formal Sparrows banquet, again hosted by Jeff Arundel, on October 3rd. A very high bar indeed but both an example and an invitation to the other US bandy clubs on how it should be done. All in preparation for the 2020-21 bandy season where The Sparrows will seek another USbandy championship but regardless will continue as Champions off the ice. Now We Go. 

Sparrows Roster for the 2020-21 USA bandy Season

John "Skip" Arundel-midfield

Jeff "Chief" Arundel-right halfback 

Steele "Gero" Arundel-left halfback

Scott "Stonewall" Arundel-left fullback

Adam "Meyers" Meyers-right fullback

Greg "G.O.A.T" Olson-Sweeper

Lucas "Shooter" Whelan-midfield

Ryan "Canadian Pharaoh" Jones-midfield

DJ "Ray Borque of Bandy" Jones-midfield

Tommy "Today" Morrow-midfield

Danny "Walshie" Walsh-forward

Tim "Bone Saw" Bonner-forward

Erik "Red Baron" Kraska-forward

Gavin "Michelin Man" Ancheta-keeper