Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Roller/Inline Hockey - A Plastic Puck



If you don't know the origins of the hockey puck, it is a slice of the center of a field hockey ball.  On ice a puck glides and a ball rolls.  Take a ball on ice and it rolls.  Take it on grass and it still rolls.

Take a puck off ice and it sits there, waiting to be struck with a stick.

The version of hockey closest to ice hockey is roller or inline hockey.  The use of a plastic, instead of a rubber puck, and the hard flat surface that allows participants to speed around on wheels make this a fast game.  The rules and sticks make it more like ice hockey.
Field hockey players find this variation quite attractive.

Brij Singh, a long time field hockey and indoor hockey player shares his attraction to roller hockey (and floor hockey):

"I am naturally an ice hockey player. I adore the game, but never got involved. Roller hockey began as a opportunity to create friends and play a game similar to the one I love. Soon, I began to make more advanced teams, and started to branch out into other forms of media to learn. Through a series of YouTube videos, I came upon floorball, which spiked my interest into this unique and creative hybrid of hockey and team handball. Both roller hockey and floorball spike my interest due to the social, informal nature of these unique games, along with the competitive scene of National Teams and World Cups."

Take off the skates and shorten the stick and what sport do you have?
Indoor hockey. How many roller hockey players have discovered the origin of their game?
They might have as much fun as Brij Singh, as he crosses over and back between the various types of his ball and stick games.


Check out the latest at Dita Field Hockey North America, where true passion and GENIUS abound!

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