I can't believe the rink I play at

[JohnHockey1798]

They have some of the worst refs I have seen and the management evens says it but they will not hire or properly train there current refs. I don't see waht is so hard about this concept. I told them I want to be a ref but all they said was sorry. Now that I have some time I will work on getting a city funded rink.

John

[columbus_RHstar]

Sorry about your bad refs but good luck with getting a new rink. Is your rink/league USAHIL AAU or anytihg else sanctioned? If it is they should provide training for the refs, AAU provided our referees a training manual and a guide for our league president to run our clinic, maybe they could help y'all out too.

[Titan55]

Your problem with the refs could be easily solved. Make them take a test. I am a level 2 referee here in Ontario, and I have to take a test every year to make sure I am upto date with the rules, and still know the old ones. What they should do is have a clinic, afterwards make the referees take a test, and determine different levels for these referees. Obviously the ones who score better are going to be the ones who are capable of handeling the better and older teams. Also make sure the referees are as old, or probably even older then the level that they are reffing. Another good idea is to have a set passing grade. Mine here was a 70%, and if you wanted to achieve your level 2 you have to achieve a 90+.

I hope this helps a bit.

Phil Christie

[missionhockey21]

Nothin worse than a bad ref. Just to tell you it is VERY hard to get a city funded rink. About five years ago one of my coaches wanted to get a rink up at a park where tons of the kids who play hockey live around, so we can practice for free, whenever we want etc. Anyways it took quite a while and he got permission to put a rink up in one of the old tennis courts that nobody used, and had very little finacial support from them. After a long hard summer of working on it we had a very nice full size hockey rink. I just hope that you are dedicated and know you will probably have to shell out some cash if you want a nice rink. Our city wouldnt let us put up lights for the rink if that lets you know how difficult that they can be. If you need any funding ideas we did a few things that worked quite well in paying for most of it. Anyways I hope you have more success than we did and you get yourself a properly reffed rink :)

[JohnHockey1798]

If it was up to me the refs would have to take a test and go to clinics. If i can get the public run rink Iwill suggest they get sanctioned through one of roller hockeys governing bodies. All the current rink says they follow NARCH rules.

John

[missionhockey21]

True, we have had 14 yr olds reffing adult games. I did too at 14 and even I will admit the game would had been better reffed if a veteran guy was out there and not me, but I have gotten better over the years, at least for my age.

[DannyG]

two things,guys:

1. I would assert that the refs are probably doing the best they can, and the refs themselves would probably welcome some sort of organization training. If the players begin to approach the guys in striped shirts as though they were friends, everybody would probably have a lot more fun...frankly, the original problem sounds like competitive egos not held in check...

2. some ways to get a public rink:

a. find a parks & rec employee to champion the cause,

[in my city, that's me...I can tell you that none of our operations would have happened if I didn't care about the sport. If another Parks' Department employee, who knew nothing about hockey, were in charge, the program would have died long ago]

b. approach the citizens' advisory board (most municipalities have one or more),

[Our municipal CAB has tremendous power in deciding what get's done, and what gets money priority...this is an important group of people who can help you]

c. have an organized, non-profit group to approach the governmental bodies,

[example, in our community, "the soccer people," as I fondly call them, are lobbying to get an 11 million, two location, 22 field complex built...their main "selling point," one that the local media is championing like gangbusters, is that they (the soccer organization) will maintain the place if the city/county will build it]

d. as mentioned above, be willing to do a lot of the work yourself,

[if the goverment built you a rink, do you have and organization that could maintain it, out of players fees, if nothing else?]

e. find out (from the Parks' department head honcho if necessary, but your city council representative should know) when the next municipal bond issue, or public election is happening & campaign for a rink to be included.

[This is where the $2.55 million is coming from that is currently constructing our new rink, which will become "the" state-of-the-art when we skate onto the big blue floor in June...keep in mind that this process -a bond election- takes years and a lot of work to pull off, but man, is it going to be worth it in five months!]

All the above have worked for us in my city, both to acquire and develop our present program, and our upcoming, expanded, new-facility program. In August, I will have a videotape (with other media materials) put together as kind of a "how to" manual that ANY PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT IN THE COUNTRY COULD USE TO DO THE SAME THING THAT WE HAVE DONE! Let me know & I will make sure that you get a copy of it.

Bottom line, the "powers that be" in your local municipality must come to believe (be made to see the light?) that the inline hockey players in your community deserve(!) a place to play just as much as all the other players in the other sports already have.

Good luck, and the above invitation is open to everybody, anywhere in the country...

Let me know how I can help.

Daniel T. Guard,
Recreation Services Coordinator,
El Paso Parks & Recreation Department, Texas
email: guarddt@ci.el-paso.tx.us

[Huck]

Mr. Guard:

Interested in the details on your facility, such as number of rinks, locker rooms, snack bar, etc.

Thank you,
Huck

[DannyG]

John, everybody calls me Dan...regarding the amenities, admittedly, that's why I usually put "The" state-of-the-art in quotes...we will probably not have either a food service or an equipment store...presently, I am told that the municipality does not want to get into retail sales situations, but we might farm it out...other than those two omissions...185x85 standard rink, Sportcourt, Border patrol Pro 5000 dashers, Daktronics scoreboard, 537 countour, segmented bleacher seats, 5 permenant dressing rooms, two additional locker rooms w/showers, three administrative/media studios, 100' by 60' area, convertable to 16 additional temporary team dressing areas, parking for 3,000 vehicles...that's about it, what we are really happy about is what it is not, which is a "converted-something." Like you John, I have played in converted -bowling alleys, -airplane hangars, -warehouses, -movie theatres, -tennis clubs, on and on...this buidling is designed and built specifically to house an inline hockey facility, and nothing else...the newly constructed part of the building is actually an addition to an existing gymnasium/recreation center structure, which lends itself to the additional spaces and uses...I could even show you the racquetball court which (then Texas Gov') George W. Bush used as his ready area for a pubic bill signing.

Note to all facility administrators...if you give a key to the Secret Service, you aren't going to get it back again, ever...but I digress, even more than usual...hope that gives you a general answer, John...

[RichardGraham]

Hi John,

About 13 years ago, my nephew played inline hockey in Las Vegas. They played in a parking lot at Wet & Wild, with those foam 12-inch high Border Patrol rinks, and a ball. They had a lot of fun, but none of the parents knew anything about the sport, and things died out because there was no one with passion to keep things going. I wish you good luck with your endeavors in Las Vegas. Look for me at the sports bar at the Crystal Palace this weekend for NARCh. I'll be the guy drinking milk. ;)

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

[JohnHockey1798]

Thanks for all your help. I was sent some phone numbers from the county parks and recreation that I am going to call on thursday when I am not at NARCH or the orthodontist.

John