Inline and on track
The puck flies so fast you can barely see it. Athletic looking players are in quick pursuit, long sticks at the ready. But this is not played on ice. It is inline hockey and it is a high action sport in its own right.
Originally played by ice hockey players in the off-season, inline hockey took off during the inline skating craze and there's been no turning back.
One club that has been actively developing the sport is Inline Hockey United in Adelaide and Club President, Brenton Bilsborow, says it is easy to promote, especially to the younger generation, because it is so attractive.
'There's something happening all the time. It's very fast, skilful and exciting. There's lots of action and that's what kids like,' Brenton said.
The club has 11 teams catering for male, female and mixed sides - seven senior sides and four juniors. It is actively trying to build up the number of females, with around 70 to 80 per cent of current players being male.
'We are trying to promote it heavily among girls because it is such a fun sport, and that is slowly happening.'
The club has found that word of mouth is the best way to attract more females to the sport. 'We get a lot of new members that way. They hear about us and then come to check the sport out and find it is really well run and fun as well.'
There is not much spare money to spend on promotion, but the club is about to launch a small-scale radio advertising campaign. They have also had great success with Come-and-Try days, particularly one held in conjunction with last year's Royal Adelaide Show.
'We got together with a few different sports, such as ice hockey and it worked really well. We are planning to do it again this year and will make it even bigger and better having tried it once and learnt from that experience.'
While he admits it is a physical game, he says it is well-disciplined. 'We don't have the body contact you get in ice hockey. Safety is a big issue with us and you can't just go crazy and run into players.'
Like many parents, Brenton became involved in the sport when his son Scott started playing. Nine years on he is running a club with 130 members.
The United Club was formed three years ago to give members more opportunities to play in age groups from juniors right through to seniors. It is a family-friendly club with a traditional committee structure. It plays under the umbrella of Skate Australia. ' Before we formed Inline Hockey United the sport was pretty disorganised and there was no formal structure. It was played very socially and the competition was pretty ad hoc,' Brenton said.
'We realised that if we wanted to get anywhere with the sport we had to take a more professional approach. So we got organised and now it is a really well-run club with a fantastic committee of volunteers.'
The committee meets formally at least every six weeks, but often catches up much more regularly.
'We usually see each other every Sunday at the games and that's where we often resolve a lot of the little issues, dealing with small problems before they can become bigger.'
The weekly Sunday competition is very smoothly run, starting with juniors in the earlier timeslots and progressing to seniors, played at the Parks Recreation Centre in Adelaide, which is a multi-purpose indoor venue shared with other sports, such as indoor soccer.
The youngest member is seven and the oldest is 45. 'Inline hockey goes across the ages, which is one of the things that is so great about the sport. The same rules apply no matter what and it can be enjoyed at every level.'
One of the stars of the club is 18-year-old Ashley Blanchard, who has been playing for six years and has already represented Australia at tournaments in Canada, New Zealand and the United States.
He was inspired to take up the sport after watching the movie 'The Mighty Ducks'. He then discovered there was an inline version of the game.
'I wasn't really into skating, but it looked like great fun,' Ashley said.
He couldn't even stand up on skates, but it didn't take the talented athlete long to catch on. 'It came naturally and I found it quite easy. It only took a couple of weeks before I had the hang of it.'
That proved to be an understatement, with Ashley selected to represent South Australia at the Nationals in his first year of Under-12s.
He has been in the state team every year since, progressing through the age ranks to Under-18s and Seniors. South Australia is a fairly consistent performer at the Australian titles, but the bigger states, such as Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales usually dominate.
The step up to international level was a huge one, with Australia still relatively new to the game.
'Especially in America, where they are about 20 years ahead of us. It is extremely tough when you come up against them,' Ashley said.
However, Australia has been very competitive in the Oceania tournaments Ashley has played in, always giving New Zealand a run for its money and usually coming out on top.
Ashley's next challenge is making the Australian team for the Junior Worlds in the Czech Republic. He missed out in the first selection round, but is still a chance of making the final team.
But what he loves most is playing with his mates in the local PowerState Inline Hockey League, although he has had to cut back from five nights a week to two because he has begun an apprenticeship as a boiler-maker. 'But I still make sure I get to play and fit that in around work.'
He needs to work hard to pay his way in the sport, especially when he travels overseas, as players are expected to cover their own expenses.
Brenton says lack of funding is a problem across the board for the sport, which has long been in need of corporate sponsorship.
'We are working very hard to make our sport more professional and it takes a lot of money to train qualified umpires and officials,' Brenton said.
Inline Hockey United has been fortunate enough to have PowerState Credit Union come on board.
'This has been great because it's allowed the club to put extra money into coaching, official development and providing player incentive awards.'
