In Line Hockey General

[Craig]

Does anyone have any quality information about the trends of in-line hockey? I am looking for particpation by state, demographics (age, income) of avg. players, percent increases over past 5 yeas and projections for next 5 to 10 years. Also looking for qualitative information about in-line's barriers, possibilities (growth), etc.. Any help would be appreciated!

[GoalieRick]

Try the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Assciation.
http://www.sgma.com/index.html

[RichardGraham]

Hi Craig,

One of my goals with the Inline Hockey Central North American Tour, "Nothing but Fun in 2001," was to try and gain some real figures on inline hockey's current strength.

I've seen a lot of numbers thrown out in the nine years I've been involved in this sport, and I think most are completely bogus; or at best, blindfolded guesses with darts.

My GUT feeling is that the grassroots continues to grow, but that manufacturers are blinded by the "glory" of dealing with elite players, and expend most of their energies toward preaching to the already converted, who don't even buy their own equipment -- they get it for free.

I was recently told that a major inline hockey company wasn't in trouble, but that they were simply "stepping back from offering things for free to inline hockey players; ice hockey players have never expected to get equipment for free." LOL. It took a major manufacturer this long to figure out that giving away the store wasn't a good strategy?

My advice is not to rely on figures given out by the industry -- instead, take the necessary time to talk to as many people as you can before making any hard-and-fast decisions.

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/images/editphoto2.jpg

[reaper_rider]

Richard,

My experience thus far has been rather confusing. Even though I have the internet at my fingertips I've seen a lack of "complete" organization in part of grassroot play. For example, I found a inline rink (nice facility actually) 15 miles from where I live in Kissimmee FL. If you see the site (http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=KIHL) you'll get the impression that this is a pee-wee league only organization. I decided to visit the rink a few days ago (first time in a rink and actually got to shot agains a goalie!) and noticed a bulletin board. There it listed ADULT leagues and GAMES!!! So I decided to go tonight and check out the games. I ended up watching THREE games the last game being a Czech team agains US(?, again no idea what was going on). It was absolutely AWESOME! The Czech team was simply amazing. But the webpage gives the impression (perhaps I didn't look hard enough. It is a nice page) that only children play.
I think the web is an extremely powerfull tool that doens't get utilized often enough. Imagine a page for each town that had a league going. Im sure people would donate their time to collect data and statistics. Better yet, a bulletin board for the newcomers like myself and recreational player to schedule games would be fantastic.
Im new to the game so forgive me if Im not contributing directly to the root of this thread, but when I saw the lack of support for grassroots players I had to post:)

[RichardGraham]

Hi Reaper,

First, I must tell you that there are a lot of great things happening in the sport, with many different organizations attempting to help it grow -- don't get me wrong.

However, if inline hockey is about teamwork, those ostensibly running our great sport have found the ME in TEAM. It's apparently, "ME first, what's important to ME and what have you done for ME lately."

While I am excited to learn that the Federation Internationale de Roller Skating and the International Ice Hockey Federation are now on speaking terms, this is something that should have happened years ago. We've lost precious time and opportunity to grow the sport while it was "hot" in the public's eye, and that chance may never come again.

Let's get NARCh talking to AIRHS, USA Hockey InLine talking to USA Roller Sports, and the NCAA and AAU talking to everyone previously mentioned. Then watch out! Inline hockey could become what many of us die-hard inline hockey fanatics hoped it might become several years ago.

As for the Internet, you must remember that it, like inline hockey, is still a baby, relatively. Many people who are passionate about the sport, like me, are not "high-tech," and it takes us a while to catch up with all the bells and whistles the World Wide Web can offer. I hope that you will mention your ideas to the league organizers in question -- I'm sure they'll update their web site immediately upon hearing your suggestions.

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/images/editphoto2.jpg

[reaper_rider]

Hm, I wasn't aware of the "ME" factor:)
Is this why I can't catch inline hockey on ESPN2 these days?

I mentioned the BB idea to the KIHL website and so far I haven't received a response. I hope to hear from them soon.
Even though I plan on moving soon I would like to help the local scene.
P.S.
Heads up:
I sent you an email to your AOL account concerning.

[RichardGraham]

Hi Reaper,

Let me know if the KIHL web site ever responds.

Thanks!

/wtimages/icons/cool.gif

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/images/editphoto2.jpg

[reaper_rider]

Richard,

They haven't replied. I went tonite to watch the Tournament final and had a LOT of fun. It was fantastic. The last two teams were playing really hard. One of the Refs had some questionable calls that ended up hindering the white team but that particular ref seemed to be in his 70s *shrug*.
The winning team was this incredible Czech team. Apparently they are used to winning since they also wont the Ironman Hockey mens div (http://www.ironmanhockey.com/).
They are so good I wanted to beat them:) The other team did great considering the Czech team had a deep bench.