ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, July 14, 1996 TAG: 9607150078
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Jack Bogaczyk
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
If you were hoping to catch today's senior division opener of the Commonwealth Games roller hockey competition, you're too late.
The first game at the Star City Roller Skate Center began at 6 a.m. That's hell on wheels.
That's also how popular this speedy sport has become.
Although the seventh edition of Commonwealth Games wraps up today at venues around the Roanoke Valley and beyond, roller hockey has joined the Games only recently. Last year, 13 teams played in the state's Olympic-style festival. This year, that number has grown to 24.
``It's the fastest-growing sport in the nation, especially with kids,'' said Star City center manager Scott Setchel, who also coached a couple of youth teams in Saturday's round-robin competition. ``It's not really a new sport. My dad played it years ago. It started in California, with people laying down a trash can on the asphalt as a goal.
``Over in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach area, there are more than 400 roller hockey teams in leagues. We have an adult league here, with 12 teams, that just finished playing. We had two teams in the league from West Virginia. In our senior division [age 16 and older] for the Commonwealth Games, we have teams coming in from Richmond, Danville, Culpeper and Northern Virginia.''
It will take 14 hours to get to the gold-medal game today. Two younger divisions occupied the hardwood off Hershberger Road for 10 hours Saturday, and the local influence of one organization was obvious.
In the 9-11 division, Roanoke Express general manager Pierre Paiement was coaching the Roanoke Express on wheels. Also entered was the Valley Youth Hockey Association Express, which is the pro ice hockey club's sponsored entry in the winter league.
``It's a great sport, and it's easier to play than ice hockey,'' Paiement said. ``You can play this indoors or outdoors. You don't need ice. Kids play in parking lots, on tennis courts [a superb venue for pickup games because the fences act as dasher boards]. You don't need as much equipment. There's no checking. It's cleaner. The sport is only going to grow.''
Setchel said the Express' success as an East Coast Hockey League franchise has boosted roller hockey, too.
``A few people played it before, but the popularity shot up once the Express started playing at the Roanoke Civic Center and attracted crowds and kids with a good family atmosphere. All of a sudden, we had kids coming in here trying to emulate hockey players, like they would players in other sports.
``We have a good youth [ice] hockey program in the area, but playing roller hockey isn't as expensive, and you don't have to worry about a lack of ice time, either.''
Several Express players have played in the pro league, the 18-team Roller Hockey International, including popular goalie Daniel Berthiaume and wing Jason Clarke. Former Express forward Tony Szabo was a RHI All-Star this season. The league has boosted itself and the sport with a fast-paced highlights show that appears on the ESPN cable networks, too.
Besides the increased popularity of hockey with a generation that should perhaps be called the Ice Age, the in-line skates boom also has helped roller hockey, although Setchel said some of the adults, like himself, still play on the ``quads'' that were popular years ago, but now are going the way of the phonograph record and transistor radio.
It's also a fast game, and relatively safe. The games in the Commonwealth Games tournament include two 15-minute halves and a one-minute halftime. The rubber ball that's used is easier on the body than a frozen hockey puck. Asphalt and hardwood also are easier to find than frozen ice in July.
This kind of hockey definitely is on a roll.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. Members of the Star City Firehawksby CNB(yellow and black jerseys) and the Junior Roanoke Express (white and
green jerseys) compete in roller hockey in the Commonwealth Games on
Saturday at the Star City Roller Skating Center in Roanoke. color.
2. A player with the Valley Youth Hockey Junior Express moves the
puck against the Star City Firehawks during roller hockey
competition Saturday at the Commonwealth Games.