Roller hockey (quad)

History

The first recorded hardball roller hockey game was played in 1878 at the Denmark Rink in London, England. It was first known as "roller polo" due to the introduction of polo in 1876, skaters took polo to the rinks. The sport was introduced into the United States in 1882 with the formation of the National Roller Polo League in Dayton, Ohio, with teams in seven cities. In 1884, the Massachusetts Roller Polo league was operating with 14 teams. Organized roller skating sports developed as the popularity of roller skates increased in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Roller hockey teams were playing throughout Europe as early as 1901. Roller Hockey was played by the famous silent film stars, Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin, in the early 1900s. The first World Championships in roller hockey were held in 1936 in Stuttgart, Germany.

During its existence, British Pathé produced a handful of film reels showing roller hockey outdoors as a part of life in different areas of the world. A number of reels were shot between 1940 and the end of the 1950s, mostly in London, UK. One reel shows British children on a street in London having a match. The contest was between the Vincent Harriers and Page Street Monarchs. Another reel taken in the UK shows men competing in an outdoor enclosure and titled, "Roller Hockey at Victoria Park, London (Wasps v Wanderers)". Another is simply titled, "Roller Hockey (1950-1959)".

One reel was shot in Europe in 1940 with young male players, specifically in "Holland, Netherlands", however the players use sticks with blades resembling ice hockey sticks rather than bandy sticks or curved sticks styled in the manner seen today. This particular reel is titled, "Pathetone Lightens The "Blackout" With - ROLLER HOCKEY!". The film was shot at a seaside town in southern Holland at a popular resort called Scheveningen while crowd of people watched, "from the sea front promenade".

Rink hockey was not organized by the Roller Skating Rink Operators Association (RSROA) in the United States until 1959. The sport debuted at the US National Championships in 1961. The Pan American Games introduced roller skating as a sport in 1979 and debuted roller hockey the same year. It was one of the Pan American Games sports in 1979, 1987, 1991 and 1995. It has since been discontinued. Roller hockey was present as an exhibition sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. The sport was a regular part of The World Games program in 1981, 1985, 1989, 1993, and 2001.

Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, World Skate banned Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from its competitions, and will not stage any events in Russia or Belarus in 2022.

Name

Roller hockey was referred to as hardball hockey in the United States until November 2008 when the USOC adopted the sport's more common name, rink hockey. Other names for the sport include hardball roller hockey, ball roller hockey, international style ball hockey, international hockey, quad hockey, hockey, English roller hockey, hockey skids, traditional roller hockey, cane hockey, rollhockey, and rolhockey. In other languages, it is known as hockey sobre patines, hockey pista, hóquei em patins, hokej na koturaljkama, rulleskøjtehockey, rullskridskohockey and rulluisuhoki

Rink

World Skate provides the current rulebook at its website.

According to the rule book, the playing time can be reduced depending on the age of the players (competitions played by younger players will have a lower playing time) and the sequence of the competition's matches (a competition disputed in consecutive days can have the playing time reduced with the aim to preserve the health and recovery of the players). The playing time must be defined before the start of each competition.

International competitions

There are several international competitions with national teams.

World

There are three world championships: men's, women's, and men's U20. Since 2017, World Skate has organised the World Roller Games, comprising all three of the world championships as regulated by the World Skate international federation.

• World Roller Games
  • Roller Hockey World Cup (men)
  • Women's Roller Hockey World Cup
  • Roller Hockey World Cup U-20

Africa

• Roller Hockey African Championship

Americas

• Roller Hockey Pan American Championships

Asia

• Asian Cup

Europe

• Rink Hockey European Championship
• European Women's Roller Hockey Championship
• World Skate Europe competitions

Domestic competitions

Africa

• Angola
• Egypt
• Mozambique
• South Africa

Americas

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Chile
• Colombia
• Mexico
• Uruguay
• USA

Asia

• India
• Japan
• Pakistan

Europe

• Austria
• Belgium
• England
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Israel
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain
• Spain women's
• Switzerland

Oceania

• Australia
• New Zealand

References

References

1. (3 July 2019). "Second Edition of World Roller Games".
2. "National Museum of Roller Skating: Exhibits: Roller Hockey".
3. "USARS Summer 1978".
4. "Roller-skating - sport".
5. "Roller Skating Association International".
6. "Roller Hockey / JTAA - History of Roller Hockey".
7. "Hardballhock - USA Rink Hockey Blog: Roller Hockey for Dummies by: Linda McNeel".
8. (13 April 2014). "Roller Hockey (1950)".
9. (13 April 2014). "Roller Hockey (1950)".
10. (13 April 2014). "Roller Hockey (1950-1959)".
11. (13 April 2014). "Roller Hockey! (1940)".
12. "National Museum of Roller Skating: Homework Help".
13. "Official Report 1992 v.4 page 1".
14. (17 May 1992). "Memoria Oficial de los Juegos de la XXV Olimpı́ada Barcelona 1992. dieciséis dı́as de verano. Vol. 4, Vol. 4". COOB'92.
15. (2 April 2022). "World Skate finally bans-russian- Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials".
16. "World Roller Games 2019".