Brief
Hockey History
Inline hockey has been in Australia for approximately the past 10 years.
It is best described as non contact ice hockey on rollerblades and is
becoming very popular in Australia in all age groups. The local league
fields teams for all ages and abilities. The present divisions are U10,
U12, U14, U16, U18, Masters, C, B, A, Womens and Pro Hockey League. To
have a 'world class' facility like Puckhandlers Roller Sports Stadium
makes the sport more appealing to a broader audience in Australia as
well as enables the kids to get their game to a level competitive with
those overseas.
The sport seems to attract kids who don't normally enjoy traditional
sports like football and cricket. For hundreds of years, children and
adults have played some form of organized roller hockey in parking lots
and traditional roller skating rinks on skates that were known as quads
(4 wheels, 2 in front and 2 in the back).
Only in the past
decade, with the introduction of "Inline Skates" (4 wheels in a row) has
the new form 'Inline Hockey' become popular and is commonly referred to
as the fastest growing sport in the country. The design of this skate
closely resembles that of an ice hockey skate allowing the player to
maneuver easily as he/she is able to make the sharp turns and quick
stops needed to play the game. This makes a for a very exciting, fast
game that is very addictive both as a player and spectator. In Australia
there are presently 10,000 inline hockey players and the number is
growing rapidly.
Each year the
National teams fly over to the states for International tournaments and
get more competitive each time around. Many local kids have gone
overseas and managed to be more than competitive and it won't be long
before we have some Aussie kids playing in professional teams overseas.
Keep your eye on them, you may be proud to call them friends one day
while they are on TV strutting there Inline Stuff!
Let's hope anyways!! |