the state of our sport address

[KROMMER23]

Seriously, i think roller hockey is the greatest sport of all. i am a 100% roller player, i have played ice and it was fun but i really love roller better. i have been playing competative travel tournaments at the highest levels of narch airhs torhs usahi 6pac etc... everything for well over a decade. i have seen the rise... and now the decline of the sport.

but from all of my experience i beleive the sport is in serious trouble.

i have been checking out this website for over a year now and i think its now time to see if i cant stirr up some opinions on the state of the sport

declining numbers in usa hockey inline registration, rinks going out on a daily basis, (anyone checked ebay lately theres a new USED/bankrupt rink for sale every month) and other rinks around the country with weak travel teams, low house league turnouts and more tournaments than anyone can handle have all signaled to me that i need to write this and see what the inline community has to say about it.

heres what i think ....... is ruining the long term viability of this sport



Tournaments and travel teams and rink owners who allow these tourneys to happen. I love em! you love em! and they can be more fun than allowed for most players but they are no good and they distract everyones attention from what is important. Growing the sport. Not growing someone elses independant tournament business.heres what i think .........would really help the sport


If all of these tournament obsessed rink owners and players would focus on growing the house leagues up. if you have good management, organization, and good coaches theres no reason why every house league game weekend cant be as much fun as a (insert flavor of week) tournament.
before i go i want to make it clear that i love playing in tournaments and most likely will continue, i know by the number of teams that attended narch nationals this year that everyone else does too, the problem is that it has diverted everyones attention away from getting new people to start playing our sport.



i got lots more but i save it for a rainy day
the newest member of the inline debate club
-krommer

[RichardGraham]

Hi Krommer23,

Welcome to IHC. I hope you stir up a lot of debate. The sport needs it.

Even though I've personally bitched about them in the past, I now think that the various SUCCESSFUL inline hockey tournament series can't be blamed -- they saw a market, catered to it, and made a bundle.

However, why this sport's administrators/organizing bodies/governing bodies/manufacturers could not see that catering to the top of the pyramid would eventually kill the bottom of the pyramid -- after all the evidence of the past 10 years -- is inexcusable. It's just good BUSINESS sense to want to have the largest market possible.

This sport has shot itself in the foot for too long. The question is, is it too late to save it?

When will organizing bodies realize that they're killing the sport by not working together?

When will manufacturers realize that the only way to truly grow this sport is to bring more new players into it? What are they doing in that direction? I, for one, certainly don't see any large financial support for the grassroots by the major inline hockey manufacturers. I'll be gladly proved wrong -- I just don't see it.

I did see some positive signs this summer -- the largest NARCh tournament ever, the growth of State Wars, and the passion for the sport that I saw in the organizers and players at the NIHA-Canada National Championships, etc.

One man that I respect very much, Scott Hill, the manager of the Sportsplex facility in Langley, British Columbia, told me this past summer that he senses a potential inline hockey renaissance, partly because our sport is finally growing old enough to have parents who actually PLAYED the game, and who want to pass on their passion for the sport to their children. Scott also told me that "we've made so many mistakes; maybe we've made them all."

Maybe it's inline hockey's chance to grow again. I certainly hope so. But you certainly wouldn't know it by looking at the "leaders" of our great sport.

Which begs the question: Who ARE the leaders of our sport, and what are they doing to grow it?

[ACCCT2]

Definitely haven't "made them all" ("mistakes") and if there's one thing this sport HAS proven itself capabable of, it's of "making" even more you never thought possible or plausible...

Great thread idea (and Richard's right on about the manufacturers culpability/responsibility in particular), but I think the subject matter leaves way too much room for certain unprofessional "professionals" to once again over-sensitively turn it into an "us vs everyone" rant...

[KROMMER23]

yeah i know Scott and have played in Langley many times when i lived in the northwest. that is an increadible facility and they run a great program. of course it helps being in canada, even if its a stones throw from the border.

i hope the sport will resurge, however the right people need to be leading it in the right direction. hockey players are selfish, you have to be in order to be good at playing the game. the players who want the puck the most get it. what we have are a bunch of self cetered leaders who only want to make money and have fun doing it and only care about thier teams. to be honest i dont blame them. but it does need to change. some of our industries leaders need to look past thier own agendas and help grow the entire sport itself.

peace
krommer

[RINKRAT]

Man...my blood boils evertime this topic comes up. Like many of you I enjoy the tournament experience but as a league director myself for the last 10 years, I believe that the future of the league lies in the hands of the local rink owners and administrators. They are the ones that have to do something about it. I operate a very small program in South Louisiana (Yes, it's true...there is hockey in Louisiana). If you think it's tough keeping this sport alive in other areas of the country, try doing it down here where people eat, sleep and breathe LSU Tiger Football. Not that I'm not a Tiger fan myself, but most people in our area don't even know what hockey is. That makes it very difficult to keep what little hockey community we have alive when tournament hockey is the focal point of most our program members. And it's impossible for league directors like myself to get a handle on things when everytime you turn around there is another tournament series or another division for independent organized teams to play in. It's too tempting for the parents not to "chase the carrot" and when your numbers are low, there's not much you can do about it as a league directo. So the grassroots part of the program suffers. Here is what my program, along with other surrounding southern regional area programs have done about it. Check out this link: (www.ssiha.com) We formed our own travel tournament program for a fraction of the cost of traditional inline travel hockey. Also, for players to be eligible, they must have played in a house league session at least once within the previous year and can only play for their local rink to prevent recruiting from other programs while boostin local house league enrollment. Players pay a one time fee before the season starts that covers all 4 tournaments and each rink hosts an event and share in the profits, basically cutting out the middle man. We were also able to select and an All Star team to represent the league and send them to the Disney Inline Hockey Shootout in Orlando, FL. The League was a success, best of all, anyone that wanted to play could so it wasn't a "members only" club. All they had to do was register, which means no one was exlcuded. This alowed grassroots level players to enjoy the tournament experience, not just elite. We had 4 programs involved last season (Gulfport, MS - Lafayette, LA - Shreveport, LA & New Orleans, LA) and hope to expand to 6 next year with the possible addition of programs from Houston, TX and Pensacola, FL. It didn't solve all of our problems but it was definitely a healthy start. Some of the elite players didn't play but so what. We had no problem filling any of the rosters and kids got to PLAY HOCKEY!!!

RAT

[skooled]

Rat, that is great thinking. But make sure you stick to your guns!!! they tried to say that here in aus, you had to play club before states, and state before nationals, but the selfishness and arrogance of some people finally won, and that system went out the door

[KROMMER23]

That is a great idea, it hits all of the right points and i hope that it continues to bring good grassroots success in.
I agree that league administrators and rink owners need to front this change but that will not happen because as you said its hard not to chase the carrot of tournament play.
The change needs to come from higher up. like maybe usa hockey inline. (ohh im sorry but thats harsh) seriously, i know those guys, they are great people, and they are doing what they can but its not enough. there needs to be more than just three people in the ranks of usainline trying to control a sport. lets face it this sport needs an actual governing body to control it. i hate to say it and sound rediculosly democratic but free enterprise cant help the sport. The way things are now are far too fragmented, everyone is doing thier own thing. and tournament directors (whom are typically high end players) are far better suited, and know how to appeal to kids rather than someones rich dad who puts up a rink and cant figure out why kids arent signing up to play. in roller hockey if you build it they wont come. period. i have witnessed this happen. There needs to be structure and control. there litterally needs to be a formula for how to grow and maintain this sport. and research needs to be done for what that formula is. theres a formula to McDonalds success and Starbucks, the same is true for the sport of roller hockey.

one thing i know for sure is that everyones house league would be better if it were more fun. what if you could build up all of the excitement that you see when you go to a big narch regional and direct it into every weekend of house league play? lots of prizes, awards, stats (kids love stats), build that fun culture, heck even create cool looking banners, equipment companies banners hanging around. part of what the kids love so much about the big tournaments like narch and torhs etc. is the circus that surrounds it.

When was the last time anyone was around for the dawn of a new sport? its been a while basketball, baseball, football, since they started. how did the godfathers of those sports do it?

-krommer

[skooled]

how did they do it???

their sport is a cheap game to play. even to play a pickup game is expensive. chewing through wheels, stick blades, gloves etc. they are definately not cheap to buy. this is what is helping to kill the sport. equiptment prices need to be reduced somehow, to bring in more players. top of the line baseball cleats, or basketball shoes are not even as expensive as some bottom line skates.

yes, a merge of your tournaments, associations is definately needed to keep the game viable. each of these has their own vision for the future, and a path to get there. if they were working together, it would definately make a difference.

-Strong, unified leadership
-Competetively priced equiptment
-a new "mighty ducks"esque movie, as wierd as it sounds, watch what it will do. there has to be a story of a school team, or college team that can be used like all the footbal and basketball ones that are aout there at the moment. even though it would probably be a movie about Ice, it will bring kids in like the last movies. I know it brought alot of kids in here in australia when they were first released...

[TULaw]

haha I can see it now "D4: Mighty Ducks Inline"

[skooled]

well I did hear rumours about one, with jessy jackson??? coming back as a coach bombay sorta figure...

[DannyG]

my 2 cents...those of you who know me know that I have been working on this sport for fifteen years...I have left my cushy government job to start a rink as a multi-sport recreation business...

my thoughts:

1. the sport sells itself...the sport is fun to play...when you learn to skate, you are cool, you can do something that the star athletes in other sports cannot...

2. if the rink has the equipment to use for FREE, so any kid can learn to play BEFORE spending a ton of money on gear, no other parental hesitancey/objection will stand up...

3. If kids learn about it, they will think about it...if they see it, they will want to try it, if they try it, a high percentage will love it...

At the moment, in my rink, I am working hard on number three...if every kid knew about my place, I would have hundreds of kids in here...as it is I got about 150 over the past four months...I need to double/triple that to make money...if I can hold on til I get that number than it will work...This season, I even have the numbers for and under-6 league set, believe it or not...

Anybody got ideas for free promotion/publicity...I am doing a bunch of things, but can always use some new ideas!

That two cents above is about all I have after sinking every penny into this...

I'll let you know how it goes...

[RichardGraham]

Geez, Danny, what can I say but good luck? Let me know if there's anything I can do.

[skooled]

Danny, I have one word for you. SCHOOL. Go offer your local schools a free programme for a month, as part of their sport programme, and whatch them fly in the door.

[KROMMER23]

get coaches who have more than a clue about the sport. strickly ice coaches dont get it, and parents are even worse. good coaching can take any league and make it more successful, because its a lot more fun for kids when thay know what they are doing and can see progress.

and always keep your league fun!!!!! prizes go the longest way with kids.

[skooled]

That is true. do you have training courses for your coaches???

[m98burch]

Well, I'm not sure that a D-4 idea is quite right, I think it might be a better idea to try a "we are Marshall" concept. We could make it a contest among schools. I'm not sure we would even want to limit the contest to the roller teams. I mean keep it focused on them, but for the idea, go to the schools themself, describing the winner as the one who's story we use, and thus, the school itself gets advertisment to. We could creat a deadline for ideas, lord knows the might ducks series wasn't true (I don't think), and then on a certain date in a certain place after the deadline have the committee come together to grade the best one. does that make any sense to anyone?

[skooled]

nope, not really

[DannyG]

I actually like the school team idea...there are a couple of "this side of town" high schools, and then a couple farther away that might have a core unit of players to do this...maybe. I'm gonna give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes...

just for info for others doing this, in our locale, the state has a strict policy against private business using the school system to distribute "advertising" type stuff: flyers, etc. They do, however, leave it up to the individual school districts to judge if any community service merit is involved before discarding your flyers out of hand. The District leaves that decision up to each individual principal to decide about your business/flyers. Some send them home with the kids, some keep them in the office display rack, some in the hallway "community info table," some will put up a poster, some won't, and so-on...it's a crap-shoot if any given school will help you out or not.

[skooled]

I would be very intrested to hear how it works out for you

[Travel-Hockey]

RinkRat,

I added the past SSIHA tournaments (and rinks) to our travel-hockey.com list. Let me know your 2008 schedule and I'll add the dates, links to your organization, and results if you post them in a reasonable format.

Our rink locator is season based (specifically *this* season), so the only tournament that shows on our map is the Youngsville tournament. Select "Southern Snipers IHA" from the organization list at http://www.travel-hockey.com/rinks.php to see...

[joisyan]

I agree that nothing is harder than bringing people's attention to a sport they niether know about nor care about. but here in Winchester, in a football and hunting area, our inline hockey league has flourished and drowned over the past 10 years. When i started back in 93' it was truly the "Mighty Ducks" dream to play hockey and got kids into it here. We had a great coach and mentor in J.D. Lash, i dont know if anyone knew him (RIP) but he brought the old street hockey league that was played out in front of Kmart in the parking lot, into a skating rink. We had volunteers who helped build boards and everything. then the Winc sportsplex was built and got us where we are now. we were up to 6 teams for our midget age group, 4 or 5 for our bantams, squirts had 4 and mites and atoms both had 3 or 4 each. Then about 5 years ago our "senior class" of the players around my age got too old to play and the wave kinda died out. around that time the younger kids improved drastically and were competing in travel tournaments. They soon started to think they were too good for the house league anymore. they became reluctant to play with the kids that were just starting up; and now we barely have 6 kids in our atoms, 2 teams in our mites, and squirts and peewees are together to have 4 teams. and midgets have 2. not even a bantom anymore! Then the old MLRH Virginia Wings brought in so much to our area, and got people's attention about hockey again. we were filling the house up. at least 150 to 200 poeple (which doesnt sound like much but with how small our rink is that's shoulder to shoulder) then the MLRH fluttered and fell because of lack of commitment on the players part, not bill's fault with the maintaining of the league; just poor communication and dedication on the players of some teams, and no one cared about the Wings anymore. and we finally had a winning record! people watched more when we were getting man handled 26-2 haha. but all in all i think that there is truth to another big motion picture or at least a big attention grabber to let people know we're still here and we're only getting better. And i do agree that you need to get the house leagues built up as well. because that's your core. look at potomac, they run a fine house league and most of their players are from their house league and they can compete with the best.

[MajorTomFoolery]

I agree 100% on the importance of the house-league. Our organization (same as joisyan) came out from under itself, and yet the adult league stayed consistent all through the years, because:
1) Once you're old enough, you will always play in the adult league.
2) Adults already have set in mind what they are interested in. A teenager wants to do everything all the time, but adults are settled.
3) Because they are older, their skill level is higher and more well-rounded, and thus always at a level that's entertaining. If you were a twelve year old prodigy (and we've had our fair share), the house league wasn't a challenge, and you had to do travel hockey if you wanted to have fun.

[alawrence]

just for info for others doing this, in our locale, the state has a strict policy against private business using the school system to distribute "advertising" type stuff: flyers, etc. They do, however, leave it up to the individual school districts to judge if any community service merit is involved before discarding your flyers out of hand. The District leaves that decision up to each individual principal to decide about your business/flyers. Some send them home with the kids, some keep them in the office display rack, some in the hallway "community info table," some will put up a poster, some won't, and so-on...it's a crap-shoot if any given school will help you out or not.

Schools are tough because of all the local politics and the fact that the teachers/principals/administration are all stretched to the max and the last thing they care about is if the local roller rink has kids to play in it. However, there are many other organizations around that cater towards kids and are usually a bit more relaxed than the school system. Have you looked into any of the increasingly popular after school programs that are out there? They are usually interested in finding constructive things for the kids to do when they aren't there.

But don't only think about the kids. the more important people are the parents. Attending public functions and creating relationships is key. Every town has something that everyone in town participates in - go and spread the word about how you are starting up your league or you have a new instructional program you are really excited about.

And by all means don't forget the churches. Still some of the largest social places around. Talk to the priest/pastor/rabbi/whatever about what you can do for the kids and what programs you offer.

If there is anything I have noticed over the last 10 years or so it is that kids do not play backyard sports much anymore. They are participating in organized sports more and more especially now that parents are increasingly concerned that little jimmy sits in front of the TV to much. We need to be there to encourage the kids to accel in roller hockey.

[zipyaj]

Dear Forum Colleagues;

Your comments and suggestions in this thread regarding Schools and attracting new interest to hockey are all indeed excellent, to say the very least, and I personally challenge each of you to keep the spirit alive!

I realize that there are challenges and opportunities with each respective District and down to the individual Athletic Director or PTA event chair. On behalf of individual clubs and even groups of clubs, our organization has helped in creating awareness for the sport at each of these levels and to help garner appropriate recognition of roller hockey programs at the school and even district level.

For one example, we co-petitioned a school board that had 5-roller hockey clubs and over 200 players from their high schools for Varsity Club recogntion. At the presentation, several hundred hockey families showed up in colors to help demonstrate the popularity. With the success of this campaign it will help to overcome barriers for the middle school clubs who are also forming and will eventually mature to represent their high school mascots. A mere sliver of success, this is by far not the total answer.

Looking toward the big picture, as illustrated in numerous threads throughout IHC, the HOCKEY BUSINESS and PLAYER COUNTS for new entries are down across the roller and ice communities. Hence, we share a common problem with Big Brother Ice!

With that being said, creating new hockey interest at the youth level beckons that programs work closely together to keep the sport of hockey alive for next generation.

Consider if you will the fragmentation of interests, and even goals and objectives, within IHC and the many groups herein. For example, PIHA sets themselves up as one way for youngsters to see a growth path to the pinnacle and maintain their interest. The subject whether USA Hockey Inline or AAU is the rightful heir to the thrown, or should there be a third entity. And there's a litany of aches and pains expressed that need a solution. Consider further our common bond, a banner that unites, and a voice that speaks for the sport as a community of one.

While I do not pose to have that single solution, I would, however like to draw your attention to some industry efforts who recognize and are taking action to stimulate new youth entrants into the sport of hockey and at the school level.

As a matter of on-going research into this important segment, I can only share portions at this this time. However, as new programs mature or come forward herein, I would hope that we can all GO TO SCHOOL on the good ideas and efforts created.


PROGRAM 01. S.C.O.R.E. Street Hockey Program
Organization. Anaheim Ducks
Website. www.ducksscore.com/

The Anaheim Ducks S.C.O.R.E. Street Hockey Program is a FREE program designed to promote the game of hockey and physical fitness. The 10-day curriculum is intended to be taught as a module in your PE class, and is guaranteed to be received by your students with excitement. With the help of local educational organizations such as the Orange County Department of Education, the curriculum was created to follow the physical activity, fitness, balance, motor skills and movement concepts listed in the California Physical Education Standards for 4th grade students. Street hockey, according to these organizations, is an age appropriate sport for 4th graders as it addresses many of the physical and mental outcomes for these students. Schools that are admitted into the program will receive a FULL donation of street hockey equipment which includes sticks, balls, nets, goaltender protection and student instruction workbooks.



This representative example, the first of many, demonstrates the importance of youth market programs even by an NHL team. You may also recognize that the program didn't start with ice as the starting point. Instead, it used roller and a concept I'd like to refer to as the "Concrete Pond."

As you may be looking to attract new youth entrants into your leagues and rinks, consider that the time to do that is now! School season is nearly over for this year to help stimulate interest in the fall season. But it's not too late to get those learn-to-skate programs working for the summer vacation at the local schools, the City after school curriculum programs, the public parks & rec. district, outdoor public rinks and the Concrete Ponds of America.

Thank you for my time on this most valuable pedistal.

Keep those ideas flowing and actions implemented to help the sport of hockey.

Good Luck in all you do!

Interscholastic Hockey Federation (IHF)
Jay Piz, Dir. Media Relations
Irvine, CA

[DCbullets14]

I would disagree that tournaments are destroying the sport. The issue with the tournaments is that there are far to many companies controlling the tournaments. Each company must then have a few regional tournaments in each area. This allows kids to spend the summer traveling from regional to regional instead of playing in leagues (myself included).

If the smaller tournaments groups Narch, Torhs, AAU, etc. would combine and each focus on a single skill level the sport would be much better off. Basically instead of Narch running a silver gold and platinum; Narch would focus only on platinum level, Torhs gold level, and AAU silver level.

This would decrease the amount of regional tournaments and increase the amount of teams at each regional event. If the sport no longer has a weekly regional for a kid to attend then they will be forced to look for alternitive places to play, which will drive them back into house leagues.

The problem with our sport is simple.The people who truely love the game are often more skilled than the average house league player and therefore dominate their house league. When the house league becomes boring they are forced to turn to ice or tournament hockey. When you can create a leauge of elite players tournaments will die out.

[zipyaj]

DC Bullets 14;
Of the same DC Bullets who defeated the Stallions in PA in the Junior/Mens division at the 2005 NARCh regionals, or who sent Jake Truhlar and Pat Gieseke to Team USA, or who lost in 21U at the USARS Nationals to Team Zero?

If so, you have much to be proud of in tournament accomplishments and would be nearing the pinnacle of the sport making you a prime example of one who truly loves hockey and would'nt be found back in the house leagues.

I am curious, though, how did you get started in hockey? What stimulated you to try? What kept you playing, and how long did it take you to get invited into tourney gig and travel teams? How were you recruited? I am sure it would make for interesting reading.

And, can you also remember what ever happened to any of the boys or girls who may also have "truly loved the sport" but didn't have your talent? Are they still playing, or have they maybe gone their way off to seek some other form of amusement where they could have fun and stay active?

Realizing there's some possibility of Inline Hockey becoming an Olympic Sport in 2016, no matter how talented now you might be too old then, but those middleschool-aged kids today would be of prime age. That being said, having such talent as you obviously possess, and combined with a true love of the sport as you profess, you could make for a top-notch role model helping new kids learn and move forward to accomplish potentially great things! Even if not over-achievers on the rink, maybe they would just learn to love the sport and come back to volunteer and help some other kids when they got older.

As for having a true love for this sport, I have one remaining challenge: Does it have to be that an individual actually ever picked up a stick or strapped on skates to constitute having an appreciation (love) for the sport, or must they have on-rink accolades to be recognized by their peers as a hockey lover?

Respectfully Yours,
Jay (skateless) Piz

Interscholastic Hockey Federation (IHF)
Jay Piz, Dir. Media Relations
Irvine, CA

[Center_ice]

I thought that the NHL Breakout series did a great job of promtoing the sport nationwide. It introduced a lot of local street players to a more organized side of inline hockey that many street players did not know it existed.

[DCbullets14]

Thank you very much for the praise. Its nice to be reminded of how far my team has come however, it is also a reminder of how much further we have to go.
As for my background with hockey; I started playing rec/ house league roller hockey when I was in elementary school (actually i discovered roller through an advertisement in my school). My league played on an elementary school black top for about 3 years. The league was enormous and grew steadily each year. (The league was lucky enough to have two former UMBC ice players who dedicated enormous amounts of time and effort to make it successful)
When I was in middle school i attended numerous County Board meetings (in skates) and spoke to local officials about the need for a full size rink. Eventually (about 3 years later) my league got a full size rink where I spent every saturday and sunday. I should point out that I never got into ice I am for the most part a roller only player.
As middle school was ending I began to play in the local adult leagues and became friends with the the kids who eventually became some of the bullets players.
As the bullets team evolved we began to focus primarily on tournaments (originally we were a house league team) during this time I also voulenteered as a ref/coach/score keeper for the house league.

You ask me what kept me playing? Basically nothing could keep me from playing. Alot of credit should go to my parents who have been extremly supportive over the years. (my dad was president of my high school ice team and is now an assistant coach for the bullets and maryland knights)

The majority of the kids i have played with over the years have turned to ice or have given up the sport completly.
You ask if it is possible for a player with less talent to have an equal love for the sport. To this i can only reply that the talent and love come as a package. It is simple the: more you love the sport- the more you play- the more you play -the better you become. My team has reached the level which it is at because we love the game enough to make the sacrifices necessary to improve our skill level.
It is unfortunate that in my area roller has died not because of a lack of interest but instead the lack of structure. There are relatively no travel programs and few coaches capable of teaching the proper way to play the game. Eventually the local youth leagues had such massive skill disparities that the elite and lower level players dropped out and found alternatives to roller.
Again thank you for the compliments and that teeam zero game was one of the most exciting games ive ever been involved in second only to Mad Dogs vs Home Care at torhs nationals (we lost in ot with 5 skaters after leading the whole game:mad:)

[DCbullets14]

A large portion of this discussion has been about how to draw kids into the sport. Most people have been proposing the same old ideas (schools, talking to parents, etc.). I think that it is important to consider new marketing techniques when looking for ways to promote roller hockey. Itan Chivara should be given alot of credit for his use of youtube to promote the sport. Being able to show people (ice players) how exciting the game can be can help bring alot of kids into the sport. If a rink/ league director can find a way of promoting the sport in a similar fashion it could be extremly helpful to the sport.

The "triple deke" brought numerous kids into the sport a few years ago imagine what Itan's endless number of dekes could do.

[Superstar9]

I agree with a lot I see on this post. The problem of getting new players to try the sport lies with EVERYONE!!!!!!

I don't blame the Rink Owners for not trying hard enough. They have taken the time and money to build a rink in your city. That alone should show that they care about the sport, even if it may or may not be only for the reason of making their business profitable, they still care and we have places to play. So they aren't a problem but are a possible and probable willing partner to help GROW the sport.

I don't blame the equipment manufacturers. They produce a product, we need the product. If pitched right, they will likely see the big picture and already understand that their pyramid base is shrinking and will want to help. It's just a matter of pitching it right.

EVERYONE that profits from the sport NEEDS the sport to keep profiting from it. If you give them the right angle that they can help without giving money, they'll likely cooperate.

The biggest problem with growing our sport lies with 2 demons...

ONE: There is not enough exposure at the pro level for Johnny Football to even catch a glimpse of it and tell mom and dad he wants to try it.

TWO: Johnny Football can't get mom and dad to let him try it because it costs anywhere from $300-$1000 to even get gear and register. Plus Johnny tried Paintball last week and Lacrosse the week before because him saw em on ESPN2.

I am in the middle of producing a NON-profit that is going to nationally help get new players into the local rinks without physically costing the rink owners, equipment manufacturers, or anyone else any money. Just remember the name "Project RH" and keep your eyes open for it.

[Stampede#11]

Way back at the start of this post, someone asks "where are the leaders of our sport" .... from an outsider, looking in perspective, the real leaders of the sport must be on this board already?

That's the reason most come on here isn't it? Full of good ideas being done at a local level, looking for someone to pick those up and run with them at a national level? But all of your ideas are most likely to be marginalised by the existing set up you have to opperate in (not bashing any organisation by the way, just a generic comment usually applicable in these situations).

Why doesn't someone just come and grab it by the short and curly's and make it great? Why does everyone keep looking over their shoulder for this individual? If there is an individual like that, then he/she will already be on this board trying to make a difference to these discussions. And my suggestion would be that there isn't 1 person (due to time commitments required and then "the good" of all becomes blurred by the goals of one), but prob 4 or 5 who if they pulled ideas, geographical locations, skill sets etc etc ..all together, they could really have a strategy on how to move forward. But this also requires the existing guys to tip their hats and acknowledge they need some help.

In the life cycle of our sport i.e. boomed (arguably I know) in the 1990's with Mr X, Y and Z (irrelevant who this is) running the show ....

What make's anyone think these same people can/will/want to bring it back to increase the popularity? In my experience, in other circumstances, these individuals have a bit of a chip on their shoulder as to how many years they have been dedicated and not got anything back from it.

New blood, Young Blood (great hockey film of course) is what is needed to inject some life back into things, instead of the same old tired ideas & personal agenda's. I think many people on this board demonstrate they have the abilities to make it happen.

[Superstar9]

Way back at the start of this post, someone asks "where are the leaders of our sport" .... from an outsider, looking in perspective, the real leaders of the sport must be on this board already?

That's the reason most come on here isn't it? Full of good ideas being done at a local level, looking for someone to pick those up and run with them at a national level? But all of your ideas are most likely to be marginalised by the existing set up you have to opperate in (not bashing any organisation by the way, just a generic comment usually applicable in these situations).

Why doesn't someone just come and grab it by the short and curly's and make it great? Why does everyone keep looking over their shoulder for this individual? If there is an individual like that, then he/she will already be on this board trying to make a difference to these discussions. And my suggestion would be that there isn't 1 person (due to time commitments required and then "the good" of all becomes blurred by the goals of one), but prob 4 or 5 who if they pulled ideas, geographical locations, skill sets etc etc ..all together, they could really have a strategy on how to move forward. But this also requires the existing guys to tip their hats and acknowledge they need some help.

In the life cycle of our sport i.e. boomed (arguably I know) in the 1990's with Mr X, Y and Z (irrelevant who this is) running the show ....

What make's anyone think these same people can/will/want to bring it back to increase the popularity? In my experience, in other circumstances, these individuals have a bit of a chip on their shoulder as to how many years they have been dedicated and not got anything back from it.

New blood, Young Blood (great hockey film of course) is what is needed to inject some life back into things, instead of the same old tired ideas & personal agenda's. I think many people on this board demonstrate they have the abilities to make it happen.

Well Having heard that.....you're probably going to like what I'm going to post next....I've been working on an idea for a little while now and I decided it's time to do just what you said....keep an eye out for a new post called "The Future Of Our Sport- "PROJECT RH"