Backstrom #19
Trotz for president
I know there is an In-line hockey league, it the PIHA, is it any good and has anybody tried out for them.
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I have nothing to contribute.
It's a pretty un-know league, if you go to www.theniha.com they have a teams you can try out for if some of you think you are good enough.
I looked at the website. It looks like a Canadian version of a ruling body over roller hockey to me (similar to USA Hockey for American ice hockey). The last pro roller hockey league I remember was the RHI or Pro Beach Hockey.
I looked at the website. It looks like a Canadian version of a ruling body over roller hockey to me (similar to USA Hockey for American ice hockey). The last pro roller hockey league I remember was the RHI or Pro Beach Hockey.
No, there are two governing bodies for inline hockey in the United States, USA Hockey InLine (under the umbrella of USA Hockey) and USARS (USA Roller Sports). USARS is associated with AAU and holds the right to field a "national team" and puts together a team to compete yearly in the FIRS (Federation of International Roller Sports) World Championships. USA Hockey InLine puts together a national team to compete yearly in the IIHF World Championships. Those are the two national governing bodies for the sport.I looked at the website. It looks like a Canadian version of a ruling body over roller hockey to me (similar to USA Hockey for American ice hockey). The last pro roller hockey league I remember was the RHI or Pro Beach Hockey.
No, there are two governing bodies for inline hockey in the United States, USA Hockey InLine (under the umbrella of USA Hockey) and USARS (USA Roller Sports). USARS is associated with AAU and holds the right to field a "national team" and puts together a team to compete yearly in the FIRS (Federation of International Roller Sports) World Championships. USA Hockey InLine puts together a national team to compete yearly in the IIHF World Championships. Those are the two national governing bodies for the sport.
PIHA (Professional Inline Hockey Association) is a semi-pro roller hockey league that was started several years ago by Charlie Yoder and a couple of other influenial roller hockey enthusaists. It was started small, in and around the Pennslyvania area initially, and has grown quietly, but steadily while making sure that all of their franchises are secure before granting new ones.
PIHA is a no-checking league and plays two "mini-games", instead of one game each night. The teams play two periods for one game, then take a break and play a second two period game each night. Each PIHA franchise has a minor league team that travels with their parent team and plays a game before the "major league" game.
While I have never seen a PIHA major league game, I have seen many of the players that play in the league. Many of the players are high-level tournament players (NARCh, TORHS), who have a serious desire to play high-level inline hockey and the talent to do so. There are also a lot of former NCRHA/CRHL (Collegiate) players entering the league now as the number of teams expand and players graduate from their collegiate programs (some even play both).
I don't know what the initial posters age is, but I would recommend giving it a shot if you feel you are able to compete at that level. Depending on your age, location, and previous playing experience you might also want to check out the NCRHA (www.ncrha.org) if you are in or entering college.
IMO from an outsider's perspective, PIHA has built a reputable model and has taken the time necessary to grow into it's current size. It is not a "fly by night" operation and I believe it has a bright future. Contact them with any questions, I know they will be very receptive to your interest.
You also might want to check out the IHC forums at www.inlinehockeycentral.com. Their "Pro" forum has a lot of posters that are players, administrators, and fans of the league that can better answer your questions.
That's actually pretty interesting. A major reason why I love Canada: It seemingly supports ALL forms of hockey. And to give a reason for my post...the initial poster had a different organization name up there first lol.
MLRH has been very poorly run and has recently undergone "another" management change with Bill Raue stepping out and a group from Chicago stepping in.we had MLRH out here a few years ago. it was all basically the same guys as piha. they didnt pay either.
i played in piha this year here in denver. its a pretty high level of play for roller, but not like the RHI was. Its tough to judge, because we basically created five teams out of the same player pool with 2 teams in denver, two in CO springs, and one in ft collins. on the east coast they wouldve made one team out of that and it wouldve been a much better team. you dont get paid unless you win the whole thing (i think you get some cash for division titles), or if youre team has so many fans you make enough money to offset the cost of rink time for games and practices, refs etc..they do require money up front, but you can get sponsored or sell season tickets instead. you get uniforms, helmets and gloves - tons of practice time and 32 games at least. there were pro and minors. i had a blast, i don think im a "pro" by any stretch and it shouldnt be called that (semi pro at best) but if youre a good player looking to play at the highest level you can and there is a team near you its worth checking out. aside from maybe narch D 1 or pro you wont find much better out there.
our division has a bunch of narch pros/former pros, former ncaa's, guys who played junior. those guys are all the older players. all the young guys are mostly high end roller kids coming up through the tournament system.
MLRH has been very poorly run and has recently undergone "another" management change with Bill Raue stepping out and a group from Chicago stepping in.
The MAJOR difference between PIHA and MLRH on the rink is that MLRH is full-contact, whereas PIHA is not. Off the rink, there is an even wider difference in that PIHA is very well organized and professionally managed...whereas MLRH has not been in nearly a decade.
BleedGreen is right though. In many areas players have played both MLRH and PIHA in recent years, but with many former MLRH teams joining PIHA this past summer...I think it has become a very limited occurance this year.
While I do not want this getting into a Bill Raue thread...I fully understand your initial reaction to meeting Raue. While I have not seen the movie you mentioned, I had several images immediately pop into my head when Raue was introduced to me and none of them was of a wealthy marketing executive or even a business professional for that matter. Regardless, he did/does have a loyal following and has experienced much success in other business ventures so all the more power to him.yeah, mlrh was fighting and full contact when i played it out here. they havent been here in years though. i think piha is here for awhile. cj and charlie are doing a great job with it. there are some kinks in the minor league end, but the pros are very well run. bill rauie was a kook. reminded me of that old preacher guy in the second poltergeist movie. creeped me out.
as for savannah, i have no idea. i play in CO, and all i really know about is what goes on out here. i hear some of our teams may be reorganizing, so im not even sure about here sometimes.
yeah, mlrh was fighting and full contact when i played it out here. they havent been here in years though. i think piha is here for awhile. cj and charlie are doing a great job with it. there are some kinks in the minor league end, but the pros are very well run. bill rauie was a kook. reminded me of that old preacher guy in the second poltergeist movie. creeped me out.
as for savannah, i have no idea. i play in CO, and all i really know about is what goes on out here. i hear some of our teams may be reorganizing, so im not even sure about here sometimes.
I have a question for you Bleedgreen, was the league really dominant cause i don't want to try-out and get schooled really bad.
its hard to say what would be dominant to you. first of all, when competing for the team, youre going against people from your area not people from mine. are there a ton of players who can kick your butt going out for it? i think tryouts are always a good thing. even if youre not up to snuff there are a lot of things you can learn about the game and yourself. if youre afraid of getting schooled competive hockey in general may not be your thing. im not trying to be a jerk, its just the type of thing where you gotta throw all you got against the wall and see what sticks - and if youre afraid of failing you wont do your best.
in general, the minor leagues have a wide variety of skill. they need dedicated people more than high end ones, thats the case here anyway. in many places these things are political and those running the team have a pretty good mind for who they want on the pros to a certain extent. you may have to prove yourself on the minor league team (if you have one, all our teams out here did). id have to know more about you to get an idea of where you would fit in.
I'm top 5 player in my league now, i'm not afraid of failing i just don't want to go out there and spend 50 bucks and get blown away, i'm not afraid of failng cause i know i'm a good player. I work pretty hard, i don't have top skill but i'm a never quit hustle till 5 seconds after the wishtle kind of guy.