Editing Bandy (section)

===United States===
{{Main|Bandy in the United States}}
Bandy in its original, informal manner disappeared from the North American continent entirely once it and elements from the early game had become absorbed into a new sport of [[ice hockey]]. While ice hockey was growing and organizing in the United States, bandy was doing the same, but only in Europe and Scandinavia. It would not arrive in its organized format in the United States until the 1970s,<ref name="Sam Wigness"/> almost a century after its initial development.

Bandy has been played in the United States since around the 1970s,<ref name="Sam Wigness">{{cite news |url=https://www.sportsengine.com/article/bandy/bandys-growth-put-ice |title=Bandy's growth is put on ice |author=Sam Wigness |date=27 June 2017 |website=Sports Engine |language=en}}</ref> after its promotion by Russians, Swedes and Finns in an exchange with [[softball]], a sport which was promoted by Americans during the same time in the Soviet Union, Sweden and Finland. A key-person in the establishment of the sport in America was Bob Kojetin of [[Minnesota Softball]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usabandy.com/news_article/show/1135996 |access-date= 2021-09-01 |title=The Bandy / Softball Sport Exchange and the Origins of Bandy in the USA |last= Middlebrook |first= Chris |date= 2020-05-12 |website= USA Bandy}}</ref> The sport is centered in Minnesota, with very few teams based elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.usabandy.com |website= USA Bandy |title= Home Of The American Bandy Association}}</ref> The United States national bandy team has participated in the Bandy World Championships since 1985 and is also regularly playing friendly matches against Canada. The leading organization for bandy in the US is [[Bandy in the United States#Governing body|USA Bandy]]. The US has a [[United States national bandy team|men's national bandy team]] and a [[United States women's national bandy team|women's national bandy team]].

The first bandy game in the US was played in December 1979 at the [[Lewis Park Bandy Rink]] in [[Edina, Minnesota|Edina]], Minnesota. It was a friendly game between the [[Sweden men's national junior bandy team|Swedish junior national team]] and Swedish club team [[Broberg/Söderhamn Bandy|Brobergs IF]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usabandy.com/page/show/6273994-american-bandy-association|title=USA Bandy MIlestones|publisher=American Bandy Association|language=English|access-date=13 August 2021}}</ref>

[[List of United States bandy champions|United States bandy championships]] have been played annually since the early 1980s, but the sport is not widely covered by American sports media. The championship trophy is called the [[Gunnar Cup]], named after Gunnar Fast, a Swedish army captain who helped introduce bandy to the United States around 1980.<ref>[http://www.bandypuls.se/sport/bandy/gunnar-fast-tog-bandyn-till-usa-nu-har-missionaren-gatt-bort-han-tvingade-oss-att-spela Bandypuls: "Gunnar Fast tog bandyn till USA – nu har missionären gått bort" 21 August 2017 (in Swedish)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824052315/http://www.bandypuls.se/sport/bandy/gunnar-fast-tog-bandyn-till-usa-nu-har-missionaren-gatt-bort-han-tvingade-oss-att-spela |date=24 August 2017 }}, retrieved 23 August 2017</ref>

====Playing surfaces====
While North American ice hockey rinks can be used for playing the bandy variant of [[rink bandy]], places where the traditional game of bandy can be played require a larger sized playing surface, a [[bandy field]], and are almost non-existent in North America. [[Minnesota, USA|Minnesota]] is home to the only regulation sized bandy "rink" in North America, the [[Guidant John Rose Minnesota Oval]], commonly referred to as, "The Oval", and is also the largest outdoor refrigerated skating rink in North America. The rink is 10,219 square meters with more than 800 tons of refrigeration and 135&nbsp;km of pipes underneath the ice. The ice can be maintained in temperatures up to +10 degrees Celsius. The Oval can hold up to 300 spectators and has hosted [[ISU Speed Skating World Cup|World Cup Speedskating]], the [[2016 Women's Bandy World Championship]], and Aggressive Skating/Biking competitions. The Oval is used mostly for [[inline hockey]] during the summer.