Winter vs. Summer: Which one??

[pburghbandits]

Okay, I know everyone is tired of the PIHA bashing threads, and while you do hear the same stuff over and over again at least it has generated some discussion on these boards.

My next question for everyone is this..

Would you rather have a pro inline hockey league in the winter, or summer? Im not bashing PIHA, or MLRH, or any other league out there, this is simply to generate more ideas from the player/owner standpoint.

3 reasons I would personally rather have a summer league.

1) I think overall it would be much more suitable to players and owners, and FANS for that matter. If we ever want a true pro sport, shown on tv or played on the radio nationally, competing with Ice hockey is not possible. Not to count the NFL, NBA, NCAA football basketball hockey. It is too hard to generate a fan base if we play during the winter.

2) Playing during the winter creates conflicts with ice hockey players. We have a couple players on our team who play college ice hockey, and if we played in the summer we would have a full team every weekend. But during the winter we dont ever have a full roster until March, and this is common with I bet 50% of the teams in this league.

3) Lets assume that, if we do move to a summer schedule, we will get a lot of ex NCAA D1, D3 players to come play. Along with some current ECHL, IHL, CHL, and other minor league players to cross over. By adding these types of players to the truly talented PIHA players, you could create an exciting league, with PARITY. Not games with 13-0 scores like we currently have sometimes.

things to consider:
TORHS, NARCh, AAU ( + about 20 more tournament series)... play during the summer.
Family vacations..

[silverman56]

It certainly would allow for more college inline players to participate. I think it is a great idea. Start in March and play until the end of August. I like the idea of no conflicts with college ice and roller also the weather is better for travel at that time of year.

[GoRangrHky]

Supposedly MLRH is going to be during the summer months to do exactly what you just said (get former college players, minor league ice guys).

[swampdonkey89]

I think the only problem with that idea is that many of the players spread throughout the country play on Pro Tournament teams, and during the summer months is when the national tournaments such as NARCH, TOHRS, USAInline and all the others really heat up.

[pburghbandits]

That was my only concern, which to me is not a very big one.

If a true pro league was formed there would not be as huge a need for TORHS and NARCh pro, and if neccesary you can simply schedule around the 2 events, each one is only 3 days long. Not a big deal..

And Im pretty sure USA inline doesnt have pro. I dont think they are even having a national tournament this year for youth teams.

If a solid pro league was around in the summer i wouldnt waste money to go TORHS or NARCh to play in the men's division anyhow.

[Dave Garland]

That isn't a bad idea. Plus worst case scenario is guys do play in those tournaments and miss a couple of regular season games.



Season could run from April (after college nationals) until September or somewhere around there.

[ACCCT2]

Okay, I know everyone is tired of the PIHA bashing threads, and while you do hear the same stuff over and over again at least it has generated some discussion on these boards.

My next question for everyone is this..

Would you rather have a pro inline hockey league in the winter, or summer? Im not bashing PIHA, or MLRH, or any other league out there, this is simply to generate more ideas from the player/owner standpoint.

3 reasons I would personally rather have a summer league.

1) I think overall it would be much more suitable to players and owners, and FANS for that matter. If we ever want a true pro sport, shown on tv or played on the radio nationally, competing with Ice hockey is not possible. Not to count the NFL, NBA, NCAA football basketball hockey. It is too hard to generate a fan base if we play during the winter.

2) Playing during the winter creates conflicts with ice hockey players. We have a couple players on our team who play college ice hockey, and if we played in the summer we would have a full team every weekend. But during the winter we dont ever have a full roster until March, and this is common with I bet 50% of the teams in this league.

3) Lets assume that, if we do move to a summer schedule, we will get a lot of ex NCAA D1, D3 players to come play. Along with some current ECHL, IHL, CHL, and other minor league players to cross over. By adding these types of players to the truly talented PIHA players, you could create an exciting league, with PARITY. Not games with 13-0 scores like we currently have sometimes.

things to consider:
TORHS, NARCh, AAU ( + about 20 more tournament series)... play during the summer.
Family vacations..

GREAT post. Good thought-provoking logic and reasonings...

[InlineMBA]

Winter vs. Summer for PIHA.

NARCh Pro and TORHS Pro has some decent $$$ to be made there, for only 4 days worth of work. (Winters and Summer Finals/Nationals)

No way some of the top PIHA players would forsake NARCh Pro and TORHS Pro. Plus, you have to remember that there's a lot of guys playing PIHA that are still Juniors in NARCh and TORHS.

Sure you may pick up some of the college guys that are playing ice and roller, but by having PIHA during the college year, doesn't that give the opportunity to a bunch of other guys to play PIHA?

I think PIHA in the Winter works best. It doesn't compete against, NCRHA, NARCh or TORHS. Going head-to-head with these organizations would be bad for PIHA.

Just my 2 cents.

Steve Inge - ROXBURY 8

[swampdonkey89]

Also,

1. People are more willing to travel when it is nice out, and that is a major factor in the northeast where some of the earlier games of the season get snowed out.

2. More people take vacations in the summer, so travel arrangements would be somewhat easier, I am guessing.

3. I agree with the fact that we would be able to gain a ton of local talent from the ice hockey realm, and this would not only increase the talent and fan base, but also provoke some of the corps to give sponsorships due to the increasing noticeability of the sport.

If anyone is in the KNOW, why was this idea shot down in the first place?

[William Bourque]

I think one positive aspect of the summer would be to avoid the winter weather than makes travel and playing some of the games a huge headache.

A negative for the summer would be rinks that don't have AC where it gets really hot and decreases the level of performance because of unbearable conditions.

I favor winter because hockey is a winter sport.

[CoachClipboard]

Another factor overlooked so far in this thread: Rink availability and easier scheduling. Right now with PIHA in the winter, rink time is at a huge premium and high demand when you play in a facility that hosts other sports. Once March and April come around, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and other sports are going outside and facilities are widely available, perhaps at lower rates, one would imagine. This would lower the cost burden to the teams and make scheduling a dream. Even if players played tohrs and NARCh, if there was two weekends blocked off for those events, and you began the season in April and went until September, you could certainly build a full seasons schedule into that time frame, and have virtually your pick of weekend time available. Saturday and Sunday afternoon games would be outstanding. So often we go to a rink to play a late night game in a town I would really like to see in daylight and warmer weather. Imagine the boost to the communities and businesses in your areas if teams and fans could come to visit and actually stick around to visit the attractions? I know for us, Hersheypark is just 20 minutes away, and players and fans could actually visit the park the same or next day if our games were Spring/Summer games. Gettysburg Battlefield, Lancaster PA Dutch country, and even the States Capitol are all touristy attractions that people might enjoy. Those attractions could also be instrumental in the promotion of your teams, and potential sponsors and advertisers as well. And that is JUST Harrisburg! Imagine cities like Philly, Washington, Boston, NY, St. Louis, Everywhere. Remember as PIHA expanded it is now in many interesting areas that people might find attractive as a mini vacation......Who doesnt want to see and explore the cities you visit? We can do so easily in the Summer.

A smart owner could use this to his advantage...

[William Bourque]

Outstanding post Todd.

[CoachClipboard]

I would kill for a game at Myrtle Beach in like June and July?? Are you crazy?? Take the wife, she does her beach garbage, I coach a hockey game, and then return to the beach pretending that the entire trip is mainly about the beach. blah blah blah

[quick_dry]

How long does your season need to run, and how much are your prepared to be constrained by the timetables of other leagues?

In Australia we run our national ice league over the middle of the year which works well because it is our winter, but we also have a league schedule that is a bit shorter to accomodate our import players from North America and Europe/Russia. It works out well, because we can access plenty of good players in their off-season.

[ACCCT2]

Another factor overlooked so far in this thread: Rink availability and easier scheduling. Right now with PIHA in the winter, rink time is at a huge premium and high demand when you play in a facility that hosts other sports. Once March and April come around, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and other sports are going outside and facilities are widely available, perhaps at lower rates, one would imagine. This would lower the cost burden to the teams and make scheduling a dream. Even if players played tohrs and NARCh, if there was two weekends blocked off for those events, and you began the season in April and went until September, you could certainly build a full seasons schedule into that time frame, and have virtually your pick of weekend time available. Saturday and Sunday afternoon games would be outstanding. So often we go to a rink to play a late night game in a town I would really like to see in daylight and warmer weather. Imagine the boost to the communities and businesses in your areas if teams and fans could come to visit and actually stick around to visit the attractions? I know for us, Hersheypark is just 20 minutes away, and players and fans could actually visit the park the same or next day if our games were Spring/Summer games. Gettysburg Battlefield, Lancaster PA Dutch country, and even the States Capitol are all touristy attractions that people might enjoy. Those attractions could also be instrumental in the promotion of your teams, and potential sponsors and advertisers as well. And that is JUST Harrisburg! Imagine cities like Philly, Washington, Boston, NY, St. Louis, Everywhere. Remember as PIHA expanded it is now in many interesting areas that people might find attractive as a mini vacation......Who doesnt want to see and explore the cities you visit? We can do so easily in the Summer.

A smart owner could use this to his advantage...

GREAT post and reasoning...!!!