Problems with roller hockey...

[PGHhockey]

As a new member, and going back and reading the interesting threads that have been written...it seems that there are certainly a lot of legitimate complaints about "what's wrong with roller hockey" and the "decline of the sport", and so on and so forth.

The PIHA sucks, MLRH sucks, certain venues suck, certain tournament series suck - ok, great. None of them are perfect, but they all provide us with a way to continue playing hockey.

But as SportsplexJeff recently pointed out in the PIHA thread - it's a lot easier to complain than to fix.

So, here's a thread to fix. This isn't designed to be a thread where everyone complains about a problem.

This is designed to be a thread where a problem is presented, and potential solutions are discussed.

I'd like to think of myself as the kind of guy with the work ethic, the contacts, and the resources to try and get some work done toward reaching the goals set forth by the numerous league directors, tournament directors, IHC founders, coaches, etc. to help grow and improve our game.

So...what are the issues, and what can we do to help them?

My experience is mostly in the recreational adult aspect of the game/business - but still well-versed in the Youth, HS, College, and Pro games.

My plan with PGH Hockey is to start locally by forming an organization that will cater to the rec adult player, as it seems most of the focus is on youth, high school, college, and the elite adult programs. But, I'm willing to look into those aspects as well.

[RichardGraham]

Hi Bill,

Great post. The trick will be to keep the complaints at a minimum and the solutions at the max!

I think a clue to some of the solutions our great sport is seeking comes from your comment that complaining is easier than repairing. I hope that people who post in this thread will keep that in mind...

I also agree with you that though there are issues that need to be resolved with many of the groups that provide us playing venues and opportunities, at least they are providing us those venues and opportunities! Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

'Nuff said. Let the suggested solutions begin!

[joisyan]

i think the easiest solution is...that the people who actually give a damn, need to hit the lottery. . . thank you

[SPORTSPLEXJEFF]

Thank you for the compliment PGHhockey.

I am going to not try and be to long winded in this post but here are things that I feel could help the growth of our sport.

Being involved in the soccer community as a player, coach, and club management there is one thing I have noticed when I tried to introduce inline hockey to my players and their families.

The first complaint was costs of equipment and that it is far too high.

My estimate for a new player to join this sport could be around the 600-700 dollar mark just for decent equipment.

Maybe if the manufacturers of equipment came back to reality and reduced their profit margins by 25% they could create an influx of new players into the sport. If they were potentially to due this in reality in they would continue their same profit margins they live so gloriusly off of. Thye might also make more money and have more people promoting their product.

I for one know first hand that at my rink if you asked youth players in our in house league who CJ Yoder one of the bigger names in the sport is they would have no clue. I would even say 30% of our adults don't know who he is or care. I do not blame it on CJ at all for he promotes himself phenominally and has always been a great amabassador for the sport of roller hockey.

You can also ask these players at my rink who the guys are from my team the Fury and they might know a handful. The only reason they know who are they are is because those players choose to help our junior teams at practice.

If all of us adults could actually get together and try and bring in more children to the sport it will become a viable sport in the future and not a shrinking one.

State Wars did a phenominal job of trying to get kids involved this winter with their 8 and under division. They were the only tournament this winter to even have that division. How they pulled it off you ask! Tim and Jason offered a significant discount for that specific division and they got 6 teams at the east coast event.

I think the new concept in inline hockey should be to make the sport more affordable and then you may see more adults and children enter this sport.

Jeff Haze

PS-Thank you Richard! As always you have given me a place to express my opinions whether you and others agree or disagree with them For those who don't like my opinion enjoy my new signature.

[Superstar9]

I completely agree and I too believe that startup equipment costs are a big problem in recruiting new players to the game. If one equipment manufacturer decided to make their entry level line ridiculously cheap, others would have to follow suit. There would be a lot more kids joining and they'll only stay in entry level gear for so long so, the manufacturers would win exponentially in the long run so it's not such a bad idea. Another avenue to take is for the manufacturers (or anyone rich enough that cares) to start a partnership/program that puts equipment into the rinks for kids to try the sport without having to fork out anything but the season and/or class fee. Both would work and make a difference. Sounds like a good non-profit project to me.

[PGHhockey]

joiysan: isn't that all of our dreams? haha

Jeff: I've been coming to your facility every March for Jamie Cooke's North American Championship dekhockey tournament, and will be there again this year. It's a top-notch facility and everyone knows it's one of the finest.


About the whole entry-cost thing:

1) The West Penn AAU (Jon Roux), along with CCM/Rbk was running a free Learn-To-Play program with 50 sets of full equipment that were donated by CCM/Rbk. We ran one at my rink with pretty good success.

2) What are the thoughts on used equipment? Play It Again Sports has always kind of been the big-name retailer of used goods. But, at least in Pittsburgh, they've disappeared. They got these huge storefronts on prime real estate, and they bought their inventory rather than putting it on consignment, both of which were cash killers.

I think it's 100% necessary for people to try on and feel out their equipment before they buy it, which is what I think hurts strictly online sellers of used equipment and places like Ebay/Craigslist.

[DannyG]

I hope to rebuild the youth, teen, adult recreation roller hockey community in my city. Accordingly, I have:

1. Built my own facility...a small-floor, wooden-dasher roller rink with a mateflex playing surface.

2. The small floor allows me to organize teams and leagues with as few as five players on a team.

3. I have 24 sets of equipment that any player is welcome to use until they acquire their own.

4. I have a relationship with a local sporting goods dealer to give 15% off any purchase to my players.

5 We play year' round. A player pays a membership fee of $49 for a three onth season. Games, open skate times, and hockey school are all included in the price.

6. I make sure that each player can play in at least two divisions of play each week...to become three this summer as we contiinue to grow.

[7. I also have indoor soccer which helps pay the bills...whenever I get 300+ hockey players, I will be able to be primarily a hockey-only facility]

8. I have a wheelchair hockey, and a blind hockey program.

9. I have a summer camp hockey program.

10. I plan on easing into the tournament scene with this new group...as of right now, I have over 85 players, some registered with USAHIL -need to make that demand on everybody- and not a single player has played for a full year.

11. we have all volunteer refs, and in the case of the adult games, we play without refs...and it works.

We encourage each player to also play a division/age group "up," so they can be a "big" kid in their own age group, and a "little kid" in the older one...some of the more ambitious ones even ask to play a second division older...which we allow on a case by case basis.

"More hockey for everybody" is our motto.

I welcome discussion on these and any other program components we have at the Xtreet Sports Neighborhood Recreation Center.

[DannyG]

...startup equipment costs are a big problem in recruiting new players to the game. If one equipment manufacturer decided to make their entry level line ridiculously cheap, others would have to follow suit. There would be a lot more kids joining and they'll only stay in entry level gear for so long so, the manufacturers would win exponentially in the long run ...

Wow, for once I agree with Chris on something!

After my initial response to this thread, I went back and re-read some of the contributions...I went to every player I knew...I personally asked them to get all the old stuff they had in their closets, garages, etc, and outright give it to me, so I could put it to use for little kids (and some bigger ones, too)...most were glad to help.

I am now in a position to say to any little kid, "We have all the equipment for you to use, just come on down and play."

This indeed eliminates the major objection to getting a kid started.

[PGHhockey]

I am now in a position to say to any little kid, "We have all the equipment for you to use, just come on down and play."

This indeed eliminates the major objection to getting a kid started.

Excellent work, DannyG. Every other major sport is so easy and cheap to get involved with...

Baseball: Buy a glove and a ball, go play catch in the yard with Dad.
Football: Buy a football, go toss it around in the yard with Dad.
Basketball: Buy a basketball, go to the local park and shoot around.
Soccer: Buy a soccer ball, go to a field and kick it around.

Hockey: Buy a helmet w/cage, elbow pads, gloves, shinguards, skates, stick, pucks, pants, jersey - then find a rink and pay them for rink time...you guys know how it goes.

And you know, I really don't think most parents (except, of course, the really unfortunate families) mind paying for kids' hockey gear if they're going to stick with it. So you give them the equipment for their first season or two, and then if the kid falls in love with the game (as many do), parents are more likely to shell out the cash to buy their own equipment.

[minutemen]

Yes PIHA has its problems, but every owner that I have spoken to are well aware. MLRH will be starting and might be a true professional league, but who will be playing, inline players or ice. Whatever the case may be, at least there is advancement for the young player in the country.

In my opinion what we have to worry about is the decline in youth across the country. If we do not build up the youth, then there will be no future. There are many reasons why for the decline, here are my top 3:

1. Too expensive (soccer and lacrosse are cheaper)
2. No true advancement (not a lot of High school teams)
3. Not a set national organization

I think there needs to be a set national organization, like other sports. They have regionals and a national champions like ice hockey. Then the sport needs to be recognized as a varsity sport for HS. The comments I used to receive from the parents at my rink is, my son is playing ice hockey because that is what he will play in HS, even though they love inline. Most parents like inline because there is no hitting. Now if this all happens kids have advancement up to PIHA and MLRH. In order for this to happen, people have to stop the talk on this board and start acting on the words. I think tall rink owners should have a meeting at a TORHS or NARCH national and spend the week trying to build the sport up.

Hey as a rink owner I think this is what needs to be done. Every rink has a lot of adult teams but youth is lacking. I became involved in this sport in 2003 and this was the first thing I was worried about. My rink had 42 youth teams like many others but the way the sport was unorganized, I could see that the numbers would drop off and they did. Now I am not saying that all states are like this I know the hot beds in the country. But why are CA, Pa and other states have a lot of youth teams? The main reason is they have an organized HS leagues. They may not be varsity but are organized.

Hey there a lot of good minds on IHC. lets set a meeting and start putting them to good use, instead of arguing on IHC. I have many ideas but too many to put on this board. One final note, I have to say about 90% of people that play inline hockey do not know that PIHA, MLRH, TORHS or NARCH even exist. I will leave it at that, because I could really elaborate on this topic.

[ACCCT2]

Yes PIHA has its problems, but every owner that I have spoken to are well aware.

Nothing that not paying $4,500-for-nothing wouldn't at least start to cure...;)



MLRH will be starting and might be a true professional league, but who will be playing, inline players or ice. Whatever the case may be, at least there is advancement for the young player in the country.

Who cares whether someone playing in "a true professional league" is an "inline" or "ice" player -- if they're playing at the highest level of "inline" then they're obviously a very good "inline" player. I think I agree with "FLATBALL39" (from the now locked-off "Mlrh" thread) with regards to the "inline-PRO-purity" of someone's alleged "professional" (or not) "talent":

"...Or is it really... Beyond everyone's childhood fantasy of being (good enough to be) paid to play a sport, is this obsession with mis-applying the word "professional" to a league like PIHA REALLY about average puck-heads wanting to go around saying that they play "professional" inline hockey in a "professional" league?..." --

Personally, I think most (but not all) of "the PIHA's" players and passionate defenders are clearly of this ilk, as any truly "professional" business owner, GM and/or player would surely recognize a vainly buttered-up and self-flattering "money-for-nothing" scam like most (but not all) of "the PIHA" really is -- it's like an "MLM" ("multiple-level-marketing") "ponzi-scam" --GEEZ -- without even any of the "multiple-levels" that most "MLM-scammers" would have in place before they let you talk yourself out of your hard-earned $4,500 -- and in any book (not just mine) that's called being an incredibly "easy mark"...!!!:eek:

[Superstar9]

C'mon guys, don't turn this into a Political PIHA thread. Let's come up with some answers to save the sport in the long term. We don't need every thread to be about PIHA bashing. It wasn't that long ago that everyone was singing the praises of PIHA and spent all their time bashing MLRH. Give it a rest and be happy we have anything at all, not to mention a work in progress that is leaps and bounds ahead of where either league was 4 years ago. Be positive and solve something!

[PGHhockey]

Great call, Chris. We are all aware that the PIHA franchise fee & marketing plan is very controversial. Quite honestly, I don't care and that's not the purpose of this thread. I (we) need new, fresh ideas and SOLUTIONS - not old re-hashed complaints about PIHA or whatever else.

I'll stick my neck out first and offer to do something:

I am more than willing to host a lunchtime meeting during my tournament in Pittsburgh this summer for anyone who's interested in meeting to discuss some grassroots/youth/adult development ideas that aren't currently being implemented by USA Hockey, AAU/USARS, or anyone else. Let's face it - the two organizations are never going to meet in the middle, or join forces or any pipe dream like that.

I will also (most likely) be attending an event at Sportsplex in Feasterville March 29-30 for anyone who would like to meet there.

If we meet at my tournament, I will provide lunch for everyone as well as a free drink at Jay's Sports Bar.

Please, continue on with the ideas...it will give us more to discuss...

[betteronice]

I think alot of the problems we see in professional roller hockey (popularity wise) is perhaps the rinks. . . I do not often see actual arenas being used to house large audiences . . and while the rent would be too high, and I dont know of a way to achieve this, I think that people would get more excited about roller hockey if there was a better venue to watch it at . . I mean, what is the average paying attendance of a PIHA game?

[socalhockey]

The solutions to the problem in the decline of Roller Hockey can not start at the top with either PIHA or the MLRH it must start at the ground level in youth hockey and move up to the Jr. High and then High School and to the Collegiate Level. To keep the interest growing, young players must have the opportunities to play in Jr. high and High school and then at the College Level or the committed ones will move on to Ice hockey like they have in the past. I believe that High School and College Roller Hockey are the two most important levels that the Roller Hockey community needs to focus on nationwide for the game to continue to grow like it did in the late 80's and early 90's. The opportunity for players to play for their school will be the driving force in helping re-grow the sport that many of us truly believe in and love.

One other note, for Roller Hockey to continue to grow the rinks must be supported and make money because with out the rinks the sport will continue to decline. And as someone posted earlier the sport needs to have one governing body like AAU, who promotes Roller Hockey as its own sport where as USA Hockey tends to promote Roller as the evil step child of Ice Hockey.

One major development out West, and by the way could be the biggest development the sport has ever seen is the Anaheim Ducks partnering with the new Anaheim Hockey Club in Corona where hopefully once and for all Roller Hockey will be recognized as hockey just like its counterpart Ice Hockey.

By the way, this is just one persons opinion!

[joisyan]

i think what this sport needs is a disney movie. nothing gets people more riled up with the kids than a good ol, well publicized, somewhat realistic disney movie. look what the mighty ducks did. they became a damn NHL team! if there was a movie about a little kid that plays inline hockey, and has all these things to get through; i dont know maybe throw in the parents divorcing and then getting back together when he scores in a championship shootout. that'd get all the kids out there riled up to play hockey. at least i think so...any else notice movie fads going off the charts? how bout dodgeball, our local sportsplex blew up w/ dodgeball a few years back after the vince vaughn film. thank you again haha

[zipyaj]

SoCalHockey - good call!

Yuppers, the Ducks have stepped up-to-the-plate to help put one inline rink back on track, but they'e a long ways away, possibly years, from getting their webbed feet, let alone their bills, into scholastic roller hockey.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not icing the idea and good intentions, but even So CAL needs more helps in fighting the waning numbers of roller hockey players. C'mon Mr. & Mrs. "S", we need your help!

Duckinline.com or not, they're not the first. If you pursue other threads in this forum you can read about the Hurricanes funding the high school league in Carolina, for example. However, do give the Ducks credit for bringing in thousands of elementary school kids into the arena with an instructional program designed to spawn interest in the sport and, maybe, some new hockey players. They and their fan development department are creaative and work hard.

Being an active, high school sports advocate, it's hard, and going to get even harder soon, for roller hockey to also compete with Lacrosse. As you know, in CA it was granted CIF sanction. And due the obvious transferrability of skill sets between the two, now roller hockey players are recruited by Lacrosse and Ice coaches. In our nearly 700 member high school league we are already experiencing an alarmiing rate of attrition as players can move to Lacrosse and become full-fledged, Spring sport lettermen.

Building the bottom of the pyramid in creating new skaters into the youth rec leagues and inviting their initial interest with no cost, low cost programs has worked very successfully. Once in, show them a growth path and an opportunity to play for their school's mascot, even if unofficially, will help keep them in the game. Look at Charlie Middleton of UCI, or Ryan Burrows of Long Beach State, for example - and there's lot's more! If they're hooked, they'll play and we can compete with Lacrosse by changing season schedules. Eventually, with less fragmentation (thanks to AAU's Keith Noll for that phrase), we may eventualy see our sport get CIF sanction beyond the San Diego section.

OK. Sorry for turring my two cents into a nickle... As said earlier, look to solutions!

Keep on turning in those great ideas for rink operators, parks & recreation department managers, school athletic directors and passionate hockey players to keep buiding this sport. Now that's a worthy cause!

See you on the rinks!
Jay

[GR8SK8r06]

I like DANNYG! Your the man dude! Good job on supplying the equipment and I believe you are on the right track. We need more people like you in this sport. With that philosophy along providing quality coaching you can get a boatload of players. Trust me man I know from experience!

[DannyG]

..as someone posted earlier the sport needs to have one governing body like AAU, who promotes Roller Hockey as its own sport where as USA Hockey tends to promote Roller as the evil step child of Ice Hockey...this is just one persons opinion!

I will respect Socal's opinion...however...

USA Hockey InLine has worked tirelessly for over 12 years to grow, develop, and benefit the sport for everyone, in spite of USA Hockey (ice)'s outright hinderence.

AAU came in as a johnny-come-lately in the early part of the present decade, and their admitted purpose is only to swell their membership roles.

If USA Hockey ever decided to really back their inline division, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

I speak as a person who was at the summit meeting, along with many on this message board, back a few years ago in Vegas.

I speak as a person who has had dinner with Keith Noll, and he explained to me how AAU came into possession of it's USARS franchise.

I speak as a personal acquaintace (and friend, I hope) of Gary DelVeccio, Jeremy Kennedy, et al...since back in Gary's NIHA days.

I have even had the honor of casual, informal conversation with Walter Bush, after the USAHIL InLine Youth National's opening ceremony...I was waiting for the van to come back to get me, Walter was waiting for his limo...

I am not certain that either AAU or USAHIL is capable of presently providing the full leadership necessary to carry forward and regrow the sport...

-but-

I will continue to support USAHIL in any way I can, as they continue to support the sport for the good of everybody, not just themselves.

[zipyaj]

Justin;

Thank you for your earlier comments, "Hey as a rink owner I think this is what needs to be done. Every rink has a lot of adult teams but youth is lacking. I became involved in this sport in 2003 and this was the first thing I was worried about. My rink had 42 youth teams like many others but the way the sport was unorganized, I could see that the numbers would drop off and they did. Now I am not saying that all states are like this I know the hot beds in the country. But why are CA, Pa and other states have a lot of youth teams? The main reason is they have an organized HS leagues. They may not be varsity but are organized."

Speaking for developing roller hockey programs in one community here in the "OC" of California, our home rink, The 949, hooks up with the City of Irvine with flyers and the City's online program (right along with everything from baseball to finger painting) to offer Summer Roller Hockey camps, After School programs and Free learn-to-skate programs to invite new youth players. They even distribute promotion materials to the local elementary schools. They also have gear to lend, although a limited supply and unlike the 50 sets of full equipment that were donated in PA by CCM and Rbk (hint!) mentioned earlier in this thread, to help those who don't have gear get a start. In their Pro Shop, they have some lower cost skates sticks, etc., and up to advanced models and high-end gear. Their in-house, Youth rec. program has shown tremendous growth over the past year after suffering significant losses to this program in prior years - mostly due to losing in-house club players to competitive travel teams as well as the attrition to Ice and other sports.

This facility also runs a very good, in-house middle school league and makes sure to schedule them near to high school games to assure that these players are exposed to the next level of the pyramid. While the facility also runs an in-house High School league in the Spring and Summer seasons, and with good participation I might add, the vast majority of scholastic High School teams are organized by a separate, competitive League. In this case, it is the Interscholastic Hockey Federation (IHF).

The IHF is a well-organized and recognized league. This season, 29 high schools from four counties (and in CA, that's some big turf!) leave their home rinks to join in the IHF's Fall-Winter season due to the high level of competition vs. the in-house league where team often play each other over and over and over. It takes three rink facilities to manage the load of 56 teams in four skills divisions. Our high school league also works hand-in-hand with the Collegiate league, in this case the WCRHL, to co-promote events, give collegiate exposure to high school players and even follow our illustrious alums into collegiate play (witness the recent WCRHL All-Star games and IHF alums in SHIFT HAPPENS published here at: http://www.inlinehockeycentral.com/article.php?article_id=52366).

Speaking on the importance of high school roller hockey, "It's the most important program in the state," said Joe Noris (credit to Richard Graham's forum thread "High School Inline Hockey" started in 2005). Norris runs the Skate San Diego rink in National City. Norris, who played for Pittsburgh and Buffalo in the NHL, the San Diego Mariners of the WHA, was president of the RHI's San Diego Barracudas and skated with the likes of Shayne Arsenault and Ken Murchison (ref: Anaheim Hockey Club of Corona in affiliation with the NHL's Anaheim Ducks) of the former Anaheim Bullfrogs and who are still active in our local hockey scene. Noris, along with Don Cerone, was also instrumental in developing the San Diego Metro League program; the only CIF sanctioned roller hockey league in California.

But as a rink owner, beware. The cost comparisons of the profitable Adult leagues will not be as high compared High School leagues. This is due, in part, to the high cost of operations for supporting better qualified referee staff and the added concerns that go with numbers of testosterone-overloaded high school players, scheduling and more. But the numbers are there for both a profitable enterprise and adding more roller hockey players to the sport.

I visited your website and didn't find any high school division information. You acknowledged that high school leagues can be a major contributor to the growth of this sport, and you're right! Playing with classmates for the school mascot and colors can be huge to keeping these players in the game and motivation for youth players to stick with it. This is especially true for those who prefer to play in non-traditional sports.

Our IHF high school season is winding to a close and we're making ready for our finale' All-Star games. One item on that agenda includes a used hockey gear donation drive asking all participants to go through the garage for old skates, sticks or pads so we can donate them to a smaller, less fortunate community in So Cal. We hope to help others build their youth programs to come compete with us someday in their future.

There's a wealth of information and resources to help right here in these forums, and even more if you reach out. Start rounding up your own volunteers and developing scholastic leagues at your rink. The earlier the better. Need more, just ask!

Good Luck!
Jay

[CUDangled]

i think what this sport needs is a disney movie. nothing gets people more riled up with the kids than a good ol, well publicized, somewhat realistic disney movie. look what the mighty ducks did. they became a damn NHL team! if there was a movie about a little kid that plays inline hockey, and has all these things to get through; i dont know maybe throw in the parents divorcing and then getting back together when he scores in a championship shootout. that'd get all the kids out there riled up to play hockey. at least i think so...any else notice movie fads going off the charts? how bout dodgeball, our local sportsplex blew up w/ dodgeball a few years back after the vince vaughn film. thank you again haha

As funny as this post was...it is also very true.

Another example... "Fast and the Furious"
Yes this fad was brewing before the movie, but after the movie this scene exploded!

Oh yeah...I am stealing your idea. I will start writing the script for the movie this afternoon. :D

[zipyaj]

Yuppers, the Ducks have stepped up-to-the-plate to help put one inline rink back on track, but they'e a long ways away, possibly years, from getting their webbed feet, let alone their bills, into scholastic roller hockey.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not icing the idea and good intentions, but even So CAL needs more help in fighting the waning numbers of roller hockey players. C'mon Mr. & Mrs. "S", we need your help!

OK. Now I stand to correct my own self The Anaheim Ducks have indeed put their feet, and a few bills too, into scholastic roler hockey!

Just over a week ago, the Ducks' Fan Development mgmt. team took action to participate in our high school leauge. And this during the start of the busy playoff season for them. I was dazzled to say the very least.

We're producing our inaugural High School All-Star event this coming Saturday and the Ducks moved swiftly, as Ducks can do, in creating an award for our Special Achievers - student-athletes who have made exemplary academic achievements and/or social contributions, which will be presented to 14 special young people. And this award by the Ducks general manager, Brian Burke!

What an encouraging start for our IHF scholastic league to be working with an NHL franchise. We're definitely looking forward to the off-season (right after a repeat Stanley Cup win) and wokring on more good things for next season.

Just thought I'd take a moment and correct myself.

Thanks for reading!

:) Jay

[RichardGraham]

Hi Jay,

That's great news! Thanks for sharing it. Also, thank you for your recent posts helping to answer IHC readers' questions. I appreciate it very much!

[zipyaj]

Thank you Richard!

Hockey's motto should be something like.. ONE SPORT. ONE COMMUNITY.

We gotta help each other to move forward.

Best!
Jay

[RichardGraham]

Hi Jay,

Great post. If we can just get more people to work together (and fewer people to moan and complain), maybe we'll get more accomplished.

Keep up the great work you do in the high school hockey area. With the NCRHA moving forward on the college level, and different groups working on the younger age divisions, we may very well see an inline hockey renaissance in the next few years. That'd be nice, wouldn't it?!

[sdcopp]

Interesting and good ideas all around. I think some of the true grassroots level is still missing from some of these ideas. Playing in SIHA in Colorado, we have Jr High and HS teams, the largest private roller hockey club in the US, blah blah blah. The best thing I've seen so far? The outdoor rinks at city parks. Kids and adults of all ages, all skill levels are at those outdoor rinks with every nice day available. That's where the focus needs to be, because if they stick with it, they start filling the leagues. I still see a few guys that I recruited from the parks playing leagues at the Tour arena.

I remember learning not in an organized league, but on my cul-de-sac with a pair of crap Variflex skates and an old wood shaft completed with Mylec screw-on blade, shooting a dead tennis ball into a small net with the other kids on the block. That's where we need kids to be to grow the sport again. Hockey both ice and roller has become so specialized in equipment and expensive that the entry barrier continues to rise. I remember my first pair of "real" hockey skates, Tour S274 with the white nylon/plastic frame and ran $75, decent entry level now runs $100 minimum, and don't forget the pressure to have the nicer, more expensive gear and OPS. I spent $100 to play street hockey all the time, now you're lucky to get away with decent skates for that much. What ever happened to the parking lot, ball leagues that travelled around in the summer? Things like this are the big gap.

[zipyaj]

The best thing I've seen so far? The outdoor rinks at city parks. Kids and adults of all ages, all skill levels are at those outdoor rinks with every nice day available. That's where the focus needs to be, because if they stick with it, they start filling the leagues. I still see a few guys that I recruited from the parks playing leagues at the Tour arena.

Outdoor rinks at city parks are great for recruiting new entries! It's the HOW TO at these facilities and others to get kids excited about and on-board as future roller hockey enthusiasts (the bottom of the pyramid).

Here's one example. Our High School league is helping a community park-based group over 100 miles away:
HOCKEY HELPING HOCKEY. ONE COMMUNITY UNITED.
Why not do some spring cleaning and clean out your garage of old, no longer used hockey gear and help us to grow our sport? The IHF invites your support of this valuable program by donating your hockey gear (roller or ice, for kids or adults) to the community roller hockey program of Chula Vista, CA operated by Jerry Nestlerode of San Diego's CIF Metropolitan High School Roller Hockey League*. Jerry and his volunteers will be present on Saturday, April 19th at the rink gates and grateful for your hockey gear donations to help the under privileged children of this community continue their participation in our sport.

Jerry, a 15 year hockey player veteran who also has a Masters degree in Athletic Directorship, conducts his roller hockey programs at the outdoor, lighted rink built at Castle Park High School in Chula Vista, part of Sweetwater School District. In addition to hosting district prep teams, the rink is also available to youth development leagues and learn-to-skate programs tapping into the popularity of extreme sports in this community.

Jerry's outreach programs serves the needs of an emerging group of kids, student-athletes and adults alike who view roller hockey as a fast-moving alternative to soccer. Through his efforts he's creating a new hub for the community and it's working. They're anxious to play roller hockey, stay fit and compete.

As more kids can be equipped with in-line skates and protective gear, this expanding group of roller hockey players see this as the wave of the future. Your help in keeping up that momentum is truly and greatly appreciated!
(read more at http://www.ihf-hockey.org/allstars2008help.htm)

Keep those great ideas coming!

[joisyan]

hey dangled, i dont care if you "steal" the idea, just give me a shout in the credits haha

[bkorea]

I think one major problem with the availability of the sport is accesibility of rinks. If you want to get out and play a pickup game of baseball football soccer or tennis you go out to the community park or a back yard. With our sport you have to find a tennis court that is either never in use or a rink that has hours for walk in play (which isn't always easy), and if you find one usually the rink is used for league play on most days of the week. We need people to go to their communities and try and build rinks for people to use. There are three outdoor rinks that i could drive to within an hour of my house but they are not easy to get to at least 30 miles away.

[DannyG]

...one major problem is the availability of rinks...we need people to go to their communities and build rinks..

I agree completely with the first sentence above.

I firmly believe you need to qualify that second sentence...

All you need is a flat surface that can be skated upon...once you have the tennis court, basketball court (the Santa Monica parking lot???), or any other asphalt/concrete/surfaced area, make the game happen...ball or puck doesn't really matter, the game is the game.

That's how it starts, then people come out of the woodwork, then you loosely organize, then you have even more fun.

Once you get a group of people that is willing to pay money, then you have some clout and you can get some facility to schedule you time, etc...

I own and operate a local rink. I have been in business for a little over a year, but I am hanging on by that proverbial thread. I offer open skate times every day, early morning, afternoon, night, 7 days a week. You pay a memebrship fee to be in our league, $49 per player (three months). All open skating is free, included in your membership player fee. I also host six other sports in club organizations (we even play Indoor Baseball, it's cool!).

If my rink fails in the next, crucial 6 months or so, the above is exactly what I am going to do...there will always be hockey for me, even if I have to make it myself.

[siberian khatru]

I think one major problem with the availability of the sport is accesibility of rinks.

Try finding a decent place to play roller hockey on the island of Manhattan. There's a great rink at a community giveback park (it was built on top of a wastewater treatment facility) called Riverbank but it's WAY uptown at 145th Street on the Hudson River. My league uses a small rink with boards and benches at 96th Street and First Avenue but weeknight games are a bitch for guys working downtown in the financial district. While roller hockey is played elsewhere it's playgrounds with nets and not much else.

The price of NYC real estate just won't allow a developer to dedicate the space needed for a roller hockey rink when he can throw up a building with million dollar condos. There's a good deal of demand from folks with stronger currencies looking for a Manhattan apartment so prices haven't plunged as in most US markets. No one is going to make decent money building a hockey rink in Manhattan.

-Mark Barbour www.manhattanrollerhockeyleague.com

[bkorea]

Another problem is we as a group have too few ways of meeting fellow inline players. If sites like this had a regional area to talk to and meet other players, I think the sport would grow just by word of mouth. I have tried to find people in the area to play pick up games online but it has been slow going because it seems like nobody else uses sites like this for that purpose. These sites would be perfect for networking as far as getting league teams together or just meeting up for pickup games in certain areas. I for one hope this site and others start working on starting sections of forums or threads for this purpose.

[PGHhockey]

I know it's so cliche, but have you tried doing some networking on facebook/myspace?

Probably fairly easy to find local, hockey-interested people in your area.

[bkorea]

I know that would probably work but I don't get on those sites at all. First reaason is the only time I get on the computer is here at work, needless to say those sites are blocked. Sites like this work just fine for me, and I don't get yelled at for having messages from fake women trying to get me to be their friend. That is a good idea, I am in no way trying to say that your idea is stupid, it just wouldn't work for me. I have four kids and no time once I get home to get online.