Roller Hockey is a team game for roller skaters who want to do more than just skate around in a rink or along a street. It belongs to the same family of games as Field hockey, Ice Hockey, Bandy etc but is different form any of them.
Anyone and everyone can play the game; male or female players of any age, there are regional and national leagues and various cup competitions for all age groups at every level.
There are five players in a team comprising four out players and one goalkeeper. The full squad for the match however may consist of 2 goalkeepers and 8 out players. Substitutes may replace any player of a team at any time during a match.
New players will need skates, kneepads, shin pads and gloves – CRHC will have some spare equipment to loan out to those trying the sport for the first time.
The Roller Hockey stick, ball, goal, floor markings and rules are unique to the game and all add up to a sport with its own brand of skills, thrills and excitement. Roller Hockey is a non-contact sport in which the ball has to be won purely by skill, No body checking or shoulder charging is allowed. The playing area must be flat, level and non slippery and ideally 20m x 40m. The stick is made of wood and is flat on both sides. A seamless composition ball is used that is usually black with a bounce resistant quality. The goal has a metal frame and is 105cm high and 170cm wide.
Roller hockey was born and originally developed in England. Recent research indicates that a form of the game was being played in the London area in the mid 1880’s and from around 1900 there is evidence that is was becoming organised. It was then called rink hockey and in 1905 the National Rink Hockey Association was formed, the name of the game being changed to Roller Hockey in 1949.
In 1924 England was one of the founder members of an international federation and in 1926 the first European Championship was held in Herne Bay, Kent and was won by England. The first World Championship took place in Stuggart, Germany in 1936 and England won again. Roller Hockey is now played in more than 60 countries and was a demonstration sport at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. Roller Hockey is played on all five continents and professionally in the Iberian peninsular and in South America. In the huge sports halls of Barcelona, Madrid, Porto and the Argentinean city of San Juan often more than 10,000 spectators watch and cheer on their stars.