Pro Leagues or Regional good leagues?

[KenFas]

Guys believe me when I tell ya I hope NARHL and IHI become major players in our sport. I also think some great things are happening for the future growth of Inline Hockey. It does however appear that the only way any pro-league is going to make it is for smaller regional leagues to be successful first. Pro roller hockey cannot have a better organization than the Buffalo Wings trying to make inline hockey successful. They are obviously taking the correct steps in forming a regional/pro league by one, Playing in the summer, and two, keeping travel time down. It appears NARHL is trying to accomplish the same. The one mistake to me appears they are attempting to play in the spring. Since all players have other full time jobs won't getting time off be a problem? Attracting top starsin the spring when many good players may still be playing Ice could also appear to be a problem.Maybe the way to put together a real pro league would be to start a Summer Pro series of tournaments that would play the first couple of years in the hotbeds of Roller Hockey. Have teams play exibition tournaments in Florida, SoCal, Texas, New York, Virginia, New Jersey, and St. Louis. 6-7 tournaments in the early summer would more than fill a schedule for teams to play. Maybe even have a west coast and east coast series with the winners meeting in a season ending tournament. Heck maybe we could even tie in some of the tournaments that already exist to allow all players of all age groups to see the great ones play. If you could set rosters for pro teams and put them in a series of tournaments you could eliminate a schedule that would be drawn out and let them play where ther will already be a fan base. In a sense they would play the feature games at a quality amatuer tournament. Sponsors would benifit and the younger players will see the stars.

Just an opinion
Ken Fasnacht
Jax Jokers