USARS/AAU & NGB status...

[DannyG]

Following is the email I sent to Lou Marciani:

Mr. Marciani:

Howdy! from the Nations-Tobin Hockey League in El Paso, Texas. We are interested in information regarding the USARS regional, national, and international inline hockey competitions and programs for youth and adult players, both male and female.

With the opening of our new inline hockey facility in El Paso, Texas, we are also interested in information regarding our hosting events within the USARS program.

Our program is operated by the Parks & Recreation Department of the City of El Paso, Texas. Our local house program set is strictly recreation-level, inline hockey play. However, we also field competitive teams and players that have participated in other regional and national competitions.

We take particular interest in your internet site notation regarding USARS as the "National Governing Body of Roller Hockey." It is our understanding that, while "short stick," or "harball" roller hockey has indeed been part of the national and international scene for some time, this is certainly differentiated from the present-day form of inline hockey. By using the notation "of Roller Hockey," is USARS indicating that the Congress of the United States, the IOC, the FIRS, or the USOC has extended the title and responsibilities for our inline hockey sport to USARS?

We understand that USARS has presently operated the USA inline hockey representative team that has participated in the FIRS operated Pan American Games. We also understand that FIRS has been designated by the IOC as the host-operating organization to hold the World Games inline hockey competition. Is USARS, through FIRS, anticipating that this relationship with the IOC will continue to exist when and if the Olympics ever should host an inline hockey competition? Or has such a designation officially been made by the United States Olympic Committee? Or the U.S. Congress?

We hope you understand our defined interest here. We hope you understand that we are not inquiring as a member of the disinterested public, but rather as core group membership from a very specific sports interest. May we expect more than a simplistic, general-answer-for-the-unknowlegeable-public in this instance?

To be honest, to date, both USARS and AAU have only shown an interest in working with private rink operators, whose interest in the sport is soley to make money. The very fact that USARS is not running it's own operation, but has deliberately chosen to farm it out to AAU holds the competency level of such an operation as highly suspect. For the past 16 years, we have not seen any indication that USARS (or precedent USAC/RS) has made decisions that will further develop the sport. We hope that, perhaps, this new "partnership" as you have characterized it, between USARS and AAU will move the organization in a better direction to help develop the sport for all players, not just a select few.

You can see from the above that we have some concerns. Please give us any information you can to help us allay these concerns. We are very interested in setting up a dialogue and establishing a relationship that will benefit all the inline hockey community that we mutually serve.

Sincerely,

Daniel T. (Dan) Guard,
Recreation Services Supervisor
El Paso Parks & Recreation Department

<font color=purple>DannyG</font color=purple>

[sactosaxons]

Can't wait to see how Mr. Marciani handles that one! Great letter Danny.

[MDE3]

Will be interested to see as well. Hopefuly they do not see it posted in here first.

Righteous letter Dan!!

[GROWL]

Well I for one enjoyed that letter. I was under the impression that the El Paso league was where the Polar Bears travel club was from. If I am not mistaken they had a 17U team in North Carolina last week. As I recall, wasn't the league down there sanctioned with USA Hockey Inline, why the sudden interest in other organizations? I'm not trying to talk you out of it, but just curious if you had a sudden problem with the boyz from Colorado.

Now let me give you my thoughts on this USA/RS marriage with AAU. As a person who was at both last years USA/RS National in Rochester and at this yrs event in Raliegh, let me speak volumns about the huge improvement from one year to the next. USA/RS was a very strong influence in the Northeast zone, because of there relationship with Deptford Skating Center and Charlie Kirschner, but after last year it seemed that USA/RS was dead in the rest of the country. Since the Olympic's recognized them as the governing body for inline sports however, they merged with AAU, but had to keep USA/RS alive in name. I also know there is something preventing AAU from being an official governing body of a sport. So therefore you really have everything being run by AAU, who has proven to me atleast, to be doing a good job, and USA/RS hockey hanging around cause they are the governing body. Atleast that is what I've gathered on my own.

[MDE3]

I think maybe you should read it again for the "tone" lol

[NLane]

I think the AAU is directed at 20 and under without much to offer adults. I need to experience a tournament where adults are allowed to enter. Last AAU held around here didn't allow adults to play. And if it really means AAU then can all MLRH, SPEEDHOCKEY or PIHA players be allowed to play? I know there were pro ice players on USARS North American Inline teams in the mid 90's so the Amateur thing has really been stretched. This is where the lines cross into grey area for me so I just kind of dismiss it all.

[MDE3]

There still are "pro" players on the USARS current team over in Czechoslovakia right now if PIHA and TORHS Pro as well as Narch Pro are considered "pro".

[NLane]

I have no problem if it's one of the Team USA things because other countries are going to throw their BEST at you, but are they listed as AAU? I don't think they are. The AAU championships were just held and there were NO adults divisions. If there are no adult divisions where do they pick the players for this USA team, or do the Jrs just "fly" up? Maybe that's why they teamed with USARS.

[NLane]

I think USARS always qualified the pro thing with as long as they are not paid to play the discipline they are skating, ie Inline hockey then they are considered amateurs. So any ice pro was eligible to play inline. But the winners at TORHS don't fit that definition anymore, do they?

[MDE3]

and Narch Pro has had prize money for a while too.

[MDE3]

Actually they have an invitational only try out for the USARS/AAU version of Team USA mens - where the coach(es) and league directors reach a quarum of whom they invite to the tryouts. It has been mostly comprised of Narch and lately Torhs Pro's - and a lot of the Tour Mudcats have been on the team over the past few years. Charley Yoder has been the coach(Team USA USARS)(CJ"s and Jaimies dad)- he was also the coach of the Mudcats as well for a while.

[NLane]

How many from the "open" tryout made the team?

[MDE3]

The whole team was selected during the tryout(as I understood it) - which was not open but "closed" as it was by invitation only. There were 30 invitees and the 14(12 skaters - 2 goalies) picked came from these tryouts.

The team picked by USA Inline for the IIHF Inline world Championships - has both an open tryout and a closed tryout. The men's "open" tryout is for 4 players who will then make it to the final camp which also includes 4 players from the U18 ranks. From this second "closed" (in a sense) tryout will Team USA Inline be picked. There will be 8 players total who came from "open" tryouts, and the balance of the - I believe thirty players at the tryouts - will be from selections made by USA Hockey staff. The 8 who make the camp from the "open" tryouts are not guaranteed spots on the roster - just a chance at the final camp to make the team.

This year the games are in Germany I believe, but are in conflict with TORHS and Narch Nationals where there is a purse. Because so many on Team USA (USARS/FIRS) play Narch and Torhs pro and the fact that so many players have just been over in Czechoslovakia - I do not believe any of the other Team USA will play for the USA Inline version of Team USA.

Lol. I hope I have made this clearer - not sure though.

[NLane]

I think I remember reading a list of names already considered part of the team (on a website) before the invitation tryout and I think the list of names did not change. I also think it cost $100 to tryout. Does this sound like invitational to you? Sounds like fundraising to me. I remember when some of our USARS players were invited to the Olympic Training Center for hardball hockey tryouts. It cost them to go and even tho one of our players had more points overall than the coach's son guess which one made the team. And the coach's nephew made it too. That level has always scared me. I'm just not the political animal needed to forward my kid's career. But I've heard alot of people know of him and that has to be from his playing, as it should be. Hope we do well in the C. Republic.

[Hystyk28]

Let me clarify this maybe a little further.

The FIRS national team(TEAM USA) was picked from all the people who attended last years USARS nationals. This is where the initial 30 or so invites come from. But since USARS has taken so much flack for requiring players to play in that tourney in order to compete in FIRS, they added an additional "open" tryout in Cali during this past April I believe. (This also offers a nice loophole for anybody they really want on the team to play) They offered some guys from this skate a chance to play with the big boys during the final cuts in Colorado.

I hope I helped.