From Parks & Recreation, July 2002

Like most successful recreation programs, Grand Avenue Park's inline hockey rinks, in Chino Hills, Calif., grew out of someone noting a need. "We heard of kids playing in neighborhood facilities, did some research and decided it was something we should offer," says Jonathan Marshall, recreation manager for Chino Hills. "From there, it was a matter of compiling a list of future sites we would be building and planning on an outdoor rink in one of them."

Sounds simple, but anyone who has built an inline hockey facility from scratch knows that it takes a lot of work to get from noticing an increasing number of youths on skates to launching a municipal league. They also know, however, that the result is worth the effort.

"Once we got going," Marshall says, "we got nothing but good feedback." The numbers support his claim: Each of Chino Hills' three seasons of league play has 250-300 participants, "and we don't even really try to go out and advertise anymore," says Efren Cordura, recreation manager for Chino Hills and overseer of the leagues. So what's involved in meeting the inline hockey need?

Randy Fisher, athletic supervisor in Kissimmee, Fla., says that his city's first inline hockey rink cost only $90,000, thanks in part to support from Athletica (known as Border Patrol at the time), which was eager to help the city build the first rink in the area. Unfortunately, the savings didn't last long—a tornado destroyed the rink in February 1998. The replacement rink, built later that year, not only cost more, but also involved retrofitting some areas.

Walker advises solid research into manufacturers' claims about rink materials' sturdiness, with special attention devoted to local weather possibilities. "Our manufacturer offers three types of boards," he says. "The only thing that can destroy the ones we have is a Category 5 hurricane." Fisher says that, in Kissimmee's post-tornado reconstruction, the new rink has a uniform coating throughout, which wasn't the case with the first rink. In general, says Fisher, "find someone in your community who knows a lot about surfacing. Between the elements and the players, your surface can get pretty rough." Kissimmee used to resurface its rink every few years, but has switched to an annual schedule.

Nonetheless, Chino Hills' residents were initially wary. "People are funny about parks," Marshall says. "Some are afraid of what it means when you bring in groups of people, when you have more people around." The prospect of inline hockey raised two more specific concerns—noise and violence. ("They're going to kill each other out there," is now Hialeah's Walker describes his community's initial fear of inline hockey.)

To counter those concerns, Marshall organized informative workshops and invited all residents within a few-mile radius of the rinks to share their suggestions. Among other matters, the workshops assured residents that inline hockey rules require full protective equipment for players and disallow body checking and other forms of aggression stereotypically associated with professional ice hockey.

As for the noise, successful parks incorporate rinks by accommodating their nearest neighbors. For example, Chino Hills' rinks are located at the farthest end of the park. Only 12 houses are adjacent to the park at this point, and they have been sheltered from noise by additional landscaping installed by the city. Fisher says that Kissimmee's rink was built before most of the homes in the adjoining subdivision were sold, so there were really no neighbors to speak of. (The city has recently added trees to serve as a noise buffer.)

That's the enviable position Hialeah found itself in in 1996, one year after it built its first rink. When the Florida Panthers contended for hockey's top prize, Walker says, "interest surged." Current and former members of the Panthers have made numerous appearances over the years, and the head coach has even participated in a coaching clinic. That's part of the reason that Hialeah—"a very blue-collar community and largely Hispanic, according to Walker—still has about 250 youths participating in the course of a year's worth of league play. Hialeah is also starting an adult league that will involve six to eight teams.

Chino Hills had to take a more traditional route to garnering players. "We formed our leagues from scratch, starting when the rinks were at the tail end of construction," says Cordura. "We put a notice in a rec brochure, said, 'Here's what we're going to do, and if you're interested...' We started with about 200 names on the interest list."

Six months before the rinks were to open, Cordura published tentative start dates for league play. In the meantime, he had contacted USA Hockey InLine, the national governing body for the sport in the U.S. Cordura based Chino Hills' rules on those offered by the organization, although he notes, "Ours is strictly a recreational league, compared to USA Hockey InLine's tournament-level play, so they're not exactly identical. In some cases, municipal guidelines can supersede their guidelines."

Chino Hills' first league started play in January 2000 with about 250 players, grouped in two-year age groups, except for the 15- to 17-year-old group. (The youngest is the 5- to 6-year-old group.) Cordura now oversees three 10-week leagues each year. The leagues remain recreational. "Once they're past a recreational level of ability, they'll usually go off and play club-level hockey," he says.

As do Hialeah and Chino Hills, Kissimmee continues to look to USA Hockey InLine long after its leagues have established themselves. All three municipalities require membership in the organization for league participants; the requirement adds $20-$25 to league registration fees, which range from $35 for residents, including a jersey (Hialeah) to $50 (Kissimmee) to $85 (Chino Hills). The USA Hockey InLine registration provides insurance, which "really helped to get buy-in from municipal officials," says Marshall of Chino Hills. The organization is also the much-appreciated source of coaching and referees. "We're proud members of USA Hockey InLine," Walker says succinctly.

Increasing Access
Marshall estimates that the average total cost of the equipment needed to participate in his city's inline hockey leagues—skates, helmets, other safety equipment, etc.—is $250 per player. Skates alone can cost up to $300.

"One of the big things we do is tell them to take a class first before joining the league," Marshall says. "There's not as much equipment required in our classes." (For example, the youngest players start without skates, and Chino Hills provides the sticks.) "So they can see if it's something they really want to do before their parents have to pay too much for equipment," Marshall notes.

Once players are in a league, Marshall says, Chino Hills tries to help with costs by "maintaining a good rapport with sporting goods distributors." Kissimmee's Fisher says that partnerships also help his league members. For example, local sponsors provide all of the goalie equipment, the cost of which is even greater than field players' needs.

Kissimmee also runs an equipment trade-in program. "We probably have half a dozen pairs of skates at any one time if people need them," Fisher says. The league encourages players who have outgrown their skates or who have simply lost interest in inline hockey to donate their no-longer-needed skates.

All agree that offering inline hockey is worth the effort. "It's easy for a baseball game to be dominated by the pitcher and catcher," Walker notes. "So then you've got some kid out in the outfield looking at airplanes. That's not possible in hockey. I like it as a youth sport because it's impossible for everyone not to be involved."

USA Hockey InLine, the sport's governing body in the US, was formed in 1994 as an outgrowth of USA Hockey. Since its inception, USA Hockey InLine has welcomed more than 85,000 players, coaches, officials and volunteers as registered members, and has become a model for the development of inline hockey programs worldwide.

In addition to setting standards for officiating and developing programs, USA Hockey InLine devotes much of its energy toward promoting the growth of inline hockey. In June, for example, the organization announced the launch of its Learn-to-Play Program, designed to promote the sport to new participants throughout the US

According to USA Hockey InLine, the new program "is being introduced to help players, parents and coaches develop their inline hockey knowledge and skills in a safe and fun environment." The program consists of eight weekly sessions, including two classroom courses teaching safety and equipment procedures, and six on-surface sessions covering basic hockey skills. Upon completing the program, players can either move into sanctioned league play or repeat the Learn-to-Play program.

The program is available to all USA Hockey InLine-sanctioned leagues. Local instructors are provided with two manuals: The USA Hockey InLine Learn-to-Play Guide and the Practice Plan Manual, along with certificates and participant stickers.

As the inventors of New Coke remember all too well, simply offering a product or service doesn't guarantee its popularity. Promoters of inline hockey often need to accept that the sport will be a second-tier activity for the communities they serve.

"Hockey is a unique sport for people newly arrived to this country," says Robbie Walker, supervisor of parks and recreation in Hialeah, Fla. Hialeah is largely populated by people of Hispanic background, two-thirds of whom have roots in Cuba. "Baseball is very prevalent" among these residents, Walker says. The city's remaining Hispanic population has a Central or South American ancestry, and soccer is their primary sport. Walker says it would be foolish to ignore the deep roots these sports have among so much of his community. "It's never going to be as big as baseball or basketball," he notes.

Randy Fisher, athletic supervisor in Kissimmee, Fla., agrees. "Our community is about 40 percent Hispanic," he says. "We try to build interest in hockey as a secondary sport to the ones they're traditionally interested in. The people in our hockey leagues also play at least one more sport."

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