Five Member Organizations Unite to Form NCRHA

**RichardGraham** · 08-08-2003, 11:26 AM

Hi Folks,

I hope to be able to once again update the IHC Home Page, but until technical difficulties are solved, I will post breaking news on the appropriate Message Boards.

***

August 7, 2003 ? Five former member organizations of the Collegiate Roller Hockey League (CRHL) have united and are proud to announce the creation of the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (NCRHA).

The participating member organizations of the NCRHA are the Atlantic Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (ACRHA), Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (ECRHA), Southwest Collegiate Hockey League (SCHL), Southeast Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (SCRHA) and Western Collegiate Roller Hockey League (WCRHL).

The CRHL has been an association of regional college roller hockey leagues with the chief purpose of organizing and administering a national championship tournament for the sport of college roller hockey. Financial and organizational decisions during the past few years have caused the short and long-term vision of the CRHL to significantly diverge from that of the organizations participating in the newly-formed NCRHA.

After months of discussion and negotiations with league representatives, the participating regional leagues have decided to part ways with CRHL, believing that a national governing body can and should provide more than a national championship tournament and that a not-for-profit corporate board structure with equality amongst all its members will garnish support and rebuild trust and communication.

Initial goals of the NCRHA include the standardization of rules, policies and documentation. NCRHA has already completed a successful campaign to unify web site content among its five member organizations, allowing players and fans to easily access league information and statistics.

NCRHA will maintain College Nationals in April as well as the National Conference for Collegiate Inline Hockey (NCCIH). The NCCIH will be conducted at the Regional Showdown which is a Regional All Star Event being held in the summer of 2004.

The NCRHA welcomes inquiries from independent or at-large teams, industry representatives, sponsors, media representatives, colleges and universities, and future players. More information can be found on the NCRHA web site at www.ncrha.org. The information is being frequently updated, so check back often.

Contact: Mike Burke
(516) 322-7111
[email protected]
www.ncrha.org

***

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

**cakeuneke** · 08-08-2003, 02:31 PM

Just to make it clear, there is still a CRHL, and there are still plenty of teams in it. The CRHL will be releasing information within a few days on the situation and the upcoming season.

**nayrbs** · 08-08-2003, 04:25 PM

So...pretty much the CRHL has lost all its teams except those in the midwest and great plains. Is there going to be any nationals or anything? Why did the other regions choose not to join this new organization? We do not need a bunch of governing bodies, one will do! I cannot believe that the NCRHA would leave those regions out, it seems to me that neither of these organizations (CRHL, NCRHA) care about the most important part of the game. THE PLAYERS!

nayrbs

**cakeuneke** · 08-08-2003, 04:53 PM

nayrbs, which team are you from?? What region do you play in? Great Plains?

Anyway, CRHL has lost all REGIONS except Great Plains, Midwest, and Rocky Mountains (a new region). Individual teams do have the ability to chose leagues, and at least in the CRHL if there are 3 or 4 teams in a geographic area they can create a conference very easily.

Speaking as the Midwest director, the Midwest teams did not feel there was any advantage to leaving the CRHL. Speaking as an individual with an opinion, either did I. The NCRHA has cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for leaving, and I really don't know what differences were irreconcilable because from my perspective we could have come together.

When it came down to it, it didn't make sense for the MCRHL or its teams to join a new league and have to start from scratch when the CRHL is already set up and moving to a new structure which gives all decision making ability to the teams.

I completely agree that we do not need a bunch of governing bodies. In fact, everyone does, even the NCRHA, and it's unfortunate, but they did have their reasons for leaving, and I don't want to speak for anyone as to what those reasons were. But let me say for certain that the NCRHA did not leave the other regions out, the other regions chose not to be a part of the NCRHA. After the CRHL releases officially their new structure and plans for the upcoming season, I hope that you will reconsider your statement about not caring for the players. Regions that are in both the CRHL and NCRHA (at least many of them) went directly to their teams and asked the teams what they wanted. If you were not one of those teams contacted, you should talk to your Regional Director.

All that being said. There will be nationals. Unfortunately, there may be two. I believe both organizations though are willing to let teams from the other organization qualify for their own national tournament. I know at least that the CRHL is, I don't know for sure that the NCRHA is, but I think they will be. Please ask questions to anyone in either league or here about what you don't understand.

Thanks.

**cakeuneke** · 08-08-2003, 05:22 PM

Now that I realize you're from the MCRHL, you need to talk to your team captain. The only teams that haven't replied to us in a while about this whole issue are Ohio State and Rose Hulman. If you're not on one of those teams, then I was directly in contact with a representative of your team, and they were fully aware of the situation and the choices facing us.

**bsurh35** · 08-08-2003, 05:29 PM

To reitterate Chad's point: Nayrbs, I do know from previous posts of yours that you play in the MCRHL. As the Assistant League Director for the MCRHL, I am backing Chad 100% that we had a conference with 8 of our 11 active members, and all 8 of them voted to stay with the CRHL. We've been trying to get ahold of all of our member teams, but either we don't have a contact for the remaining 3, or they decided to not participate in the conference. Please let us know which school you are from so we can be assured we are connected with your team.

The NCRHA did not leave us out. We are still very connected to the NCRHA in personal relationships that we built over the summer. From your reactions, it appears you haven't been to www.mcrhl.com, and you have been out of the loop. Please check out the website, and go to that message board as well. There is another discussion going on there about this topic.

**Rebecca** · 08-08-2003, 06:08 PM

Nayrbs

(speaking not on behalf of NCRHA, but as a person involved with this)....

NCRHA is a new name, but it is still the CRHL. The main core of the teams of CRHL are now NCRHA. No one has gone anywhere. Spliting and creating a new name was not something we took lightly one bit. It was not something we ever wanted it to come to, but after close to 2 years of our member teams not being able to find value for membership in CRHL beyond what is achieved within one's own Member Organization, it was the ultimate and final decision. Teams stand behind it like lead rocks. NCRHA sited "irreconcilable differences" simply to be polite, as most do when using that statement. Had the situation been easily remedied, there would not have been a split. It was a long time coming though for a few regions. To expose all the drama about it would only harm both organizations.

Taking it back 2 months: A letter was drafted to CRHL Admin and UNANIMOUSLY discussed and agreed upon by all 8 of the Member Organization heads, including MCRHL's. This letter stated what changes needed to occur in order for the CRHL to prosper. It also stated what the 8 Member Organizations would do in terms of working together, communicating, and trusting one another to work together creating national standards and guidelines as well as specific membership benefits. It also demanded certain changes be agreed upon by the CRHL heads. This included a cessation to the CRHL Premier Program and a re-evaluation of how and why it had to exist; a demand that CRHL heads do the foot work to communicate with the regions, and demand that CRHL show the benefits of being a member beyond that of a National Championship Tournament (which is paid for by teams 100% anyway). This action was quickly counter proposed by CRHL admin with a new structure rather then a compromise. It had some great ideas, but it lacked quite a lot. ALl these docs were made available to ALL teams (team reps specifically) of CRHL at the time. It is just a matter of whether teams wanted to partake in voicing options, helping, or standing ground on things. The info and all these docs is still available through your League Director. In most cases it appears on the internet through your region.

The counter proposal by CRHL was rejected by the 5 regions, but 3 thought they could implement it. While it was disapointing that it came down to that after all 8 had originally proposed a unanimous document, the 5 regions saw the reasoning in why the 3 regions accepted it.

I can only urge you to speak directly to your league directors, or even to the team's of other regions or to the league director's of other regions. Look around you and evaluate what you want out of a college program and how serious you are about the dream of a future as a true college sport.

This split did not occur over night and it was not done without the knowledge and input/suggestions/opinions of the member clubs. It only leads curious minds to know why the 5 large regions of CRHL felt the need to create a new name.

Continuing to post about it on public message boards will inevitably lead to outpouring and butting-of-heads that neither myself, Chad, Derek, Burke, or anyone want to engage in.

If anyone would like to discuss further, you may call any of the 5 NCRHA Board of Directors and are encouraged to visit all our sites and see improvement already or you may even call me directly. My contact info/number appears on the ECRHA website and on the NCRHA website.

Thank you Chad and Derek for everything. These friendships will remain and we will still continue to bring the members excellent programming, benefits, and leagues, just in different ways.

Thanks for reading.

Rebecca Breitel,
President Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association
<A HREF="http://www.ecrha.net" target="_new">http://www.ecrha.net</A>
<A HREF="http://www.ncrha.net" target="_new">http://www.ncrha.org</A>

Rebecca

http://community.webshots.com/sym/im...5LGfyvC_ph.jpg

**nayrbs** · 08-09-2003, 06:26 PM

Everyone who has posted, Thank You for the info about the changes in college roller hockey.

I am from the MCRHL, the biggest concern I have is this...When you are at this level of organized roller hockey you want something to look forward too.

The best way for me to explain what I mean is to relate this to travel roller hockey and tournaments like NARCH. A team forms to play in a region (comparable to our regions at the college level) the best teams go to nationals where all the best teams across the country play each other until the champs are crowned. From my view this is the best part of roller hockey! Being able to see other teams skills and how you match up against them is something any competitor treasures. (I know this is a little long but try to follow this.)

What are the teams in the CRHL or the NCRHA supposed to look forward too? I went to P.A. this past year, I loved it because I got to see at least one team from all over the country. We played teams from east coast, west coast, and the great plains. It gets boring playing the same teams over and over, and if those are the only teams that are going to go to nationals what is the point?

I know a lot of people are trying to make college roller hockey better, which is great, and I thank you for that. But everyone seems to have a biased opinion because they are involved. It is hard to see the big picture when you are part of the problem.

I would love to hear what others have to say about about the topic from an outside view.

(I am not trying to offend anyone, I am just trying to understand what is really going to happen in the future)

Thanks,
nayrbs

**hockeyplayer69** · 08-10-2003, 05:04 PM

As an outsider, I think that this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. At a time when the sport almost has a level (collegiate) where everyone is united, first the "premier league" joke comes up, and now this. It appears that there is a power struggle going on, a clashing of egos. Get over it people; no one wants to see two "champions" duking it out over IHC message boards on who's really the best team. I hope this doesn't go along the path of the "pro" level...

**cakeuneke** · 08-11-2003, 08:40 AM

Post deleted by cakeuneke

**MBurke** · 08-11-2003, 10:51 AM

If your true opinion of "united" is having nearly 80% of an organization dissatisfied with its leadership and paying dues for what they believe are little to no results other than the national championship tournament, then I guess you're right, but I personally think it's about far more than any kind of power or ego struggle.

As an outsider, it's tough to get a perspective on all that goes on behind the scenes in college roller hockey because we generally don't drag out all of our problems on public message boards, as is the case with many of the pro leagues.

This decision was not a rash one that was arrived at over a couple weeks. The major disagreement came over whether CRHL could actually fix the problems that EVERY region agreed it had. Some believed it could, some did not.

It might make some sense to look at the history of most sports in their fledgling developmental years. Any idea how many professional baseball leages existed around the turn of the century? (1900,that is, not 2000!) In fact, just about every pro sport that I can think of took from 15-20 years to shake out into one successful organization.

Mike Burke
Commissioner
Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association
http://www.ecrha.netEdited by MikeBurke on 08/11/03 10:38 AM.

**GoRangrHky** · 08-11-2003, 02:21 PM

Once the lobour strike sets in in the NHL, there will be a new professional ice hockey league, the WHA. So if an extremely establishd professional league, with national television boradcasts, 20,000 seat venues, and multi million dollar contracts can't get their $#!+ together, then it does not suprise me that a college club program couldn't. But it eventually will, as college rolelr hockey on a big time level is still only 5 years young. But more progress has been made in a month than there has been in years. Look at www.ncrha.org . Then look at www.crhl.net . This is where a majority of team's $185 went last year. And we haven't even cut a check to NCRHA, and it's done.....

http://www.pride.hofstra.edu/~afrey1/ecrhasig.gif

**nayrbs** · 08-11-2003, 06:21 PM

I see a lot of the opinions on here are from the ECRHA, who seems to be the ones trying to take over the CRHL and all the teams that it has put together. I played in the MCRHL, which was run terribly, we did not get anything. We did not have all-stars and I do not even know if the regional champions got a a trophy. But it did not matter that much because I knew that if my team was good enough then we would go to nationals, where everything is bigger and better. Why does the ECRHA and NCRHA think that things are so bad? What was so wrong with things? If possible post a few problems that needed to be fixed that were a necessity to the future of college roller hockey.

**Rebecca** · 08-11-2003, 07:11 PM

<blockquote>In reply to:<hr>

I see a lot of the opinions on here are from the ECRHA, who seems to be the ones trying to take over the CRHL and all the teams that it has put together.

<hr></blockquote>

WOW, that was an interesting statement. It also shows that you are possibly threatened by some phantom 'invasion'. The people who post here are very involved with ECRHA because they are leaders. They have built their clubs and now help build the ECRHA and will continue to help build the NCRHA. They excel in most areas. The ECRHA is also the largest group so therfor has more people involved and more vocalism. So you are to find fault with those who want to build College hockey simply because they come from ECRHA-area?? ECRHA is not trying to take over anything....and you can even ask your own regional directors about the help we have given to to other regions from simple verbal support and interaction to actual tangible documents and assitence with business procedures. To say that ECRHA is trying to take over is ludicrous. Care to explain? CRHL had nothing left to offer us that our members were not already paying for within us and also receiving and that was never debated by any CRHL director.

As far as the second part about "taking over all the teams that CRHL put together", that's crazy too since I don't know of any teams that CRHL built. I am sure that RMCRHA can vouch for that even though they remain in CRHL. I only know of teams that were built by players and helped along by dedicated League Directors. CRHL was only an association.

<blockquote>In reply to:<hr>

Why does the ECRHA and NCRHA think that things are so bad? What was so wrong with things?

<hr></blockquote>

Why ask this only of ECRHA. All regions had problems and felt things were wrong, ALL OF THEM. Where have you been for the past few years. Did you not think there were any problems?

Rebecca

http://community.webshots.com/sym/im...5LGfyvC_ph.jpg

**hockeyplayer69** · 08-11-2003, 07:20 PM

"If your true opinion of "united" is having nearly 80% of an organization dissatisfied with its leadership..."

If you read my statement again, you'd see that I was referring to the period before the "premier league" joke came about. If I recall, most of the leagues seemed to get along quite well before that period.

"As an outsider, it's tough to get a perspective on all that goes on behind the scenes in college roller hockey because we generally don't drag out all of our problems on public message boards..."

I agree with this; I think "Rebecca" (who I'm guessing is the head honcho here) and the rest of NCRHA management should not have posted problems going on in the league on a public message board. It only invites criticism and informs the whole roller hockey community of problems the CRHL and NCRHA are having. While explaination is certainly warranted, certain things said were not.

"The major disagreement came over whether CRHL could actually fix the problems that EVERY region agreed it had."

This is where I think the power/ego struggle comes into play.

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