Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. In the Olympic Games, long-track speed skating is usually referred to as just "speed skating", while short-track speed skating is known as "short track". The ISU, the governing body of both ice sports, refers to long track as "speed skating" and short track as "short track skating".
Roller skating is the traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreational activity as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. In fact, as the United States readied for World War II, the government entertained the notion to add roller skates as essential equipment to move infantry around Europe to save gas. Skates generally come in three basic varieties: quad roller skates, inline skates or blades and tri-skates, though some have experimented with a single-wheeled "quintessence skate" or other variations on the basic skate design. In America, this hobby was most popular first between 1935 and the early 1960s and then in the 1970s, when polyurethane wheels were created and disco music oriented roller rinks were the rage and then again in the 1990s when in-line outdoor roller skating, thanks to the improvement made to inline roller skates in 1981 by Scott Olson, took hold.
The Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports was the world governing body for roller sports, including skateboarding, rink hockey, inline hockey, speed skating, inline alpine, downhill, roller derby, roller freestyle, inline freestyle and artistic roller skating. It was established in April 1924 in Montreux, Switzerland by two Swiss sportsmen, Fred Renkewitz and Otto Myer, who had close connections to the International Olympic Committee.
USA Roller Sports (USARS), formerly the United States Amateur Confederation of Roller Skating, is the national governing body of competitive roller sports in the United States. It is recognized by the International Roller Sports Federation (FIRS) and the United States Olympic Committee.
Roller in-line hockey, or inline hockey is a variant of hockey played on a hard, smooth surface, with players using inline skates to move and hockey sticks to shoot a hard, plastic puck into their opponent's goal to score points. There are five players including the goalkeeper from each team on the rink at a time, while teams normally consist of 16 players.
The Women's Roller Hockey World Cup is a competition between the best female national teams in the World. It takes place every two years and it was organized by the FIRS until its integration in the World Skate.
The Haringey Greyhounds are a British ice hockey club based in Harringay, England.
The Confederation of Asia Roller Sports (CARS) is the main roller skating organization of Asia. The CARS is part of the International Roller Sports Federation, or FIRS. Varieties of skating governed by the CARS include:
The USA Rink Hockey National Championship is the biggest Roller Hockey Clubs Championship in United States. In the U.S., the sport is largely owned by roller rink operators. The sport suffers stateside since players are mostly made up of operator's family members and a gaggle of childhood friends. Since the sport transitioned to the United States in the 1960s, teams and players competing in the United States have waned as roller rinks continue to close nationwide. Teams are often completed by tapping skaters from ice or inline hockey who are willing to give it a go and round out teams at U.S. nationals; many playing on inline skates. The sport is struggling in the U.S. due to the lack of public access to the sport found in other countries where the sport continues to grow. In contrast to other countries, the U.S. players and teams are managed and vetted by roller rink operators and their families. This practice explains the recurring players, teams, and regions who compete each year, and the loss of total number of teams since the 1960s and 1970s.
The Austrian Roller Hockey National Championship is the biggest Roller Hockey Clubs Championship in Austria.
The Japanese Roller Hockey National Championship is the biggest Roller Hockey Clubs Championship in Japan.
Thedicks Australian Roller Hockey National Championship is the biggest Roller Hockey Clubs Championship in Australia.
The Indian Roller Hockey Championship is the biggest Roller Hockey States Championship in India, and is disputed in men and women.
The list of participating teams are:
The Israel Roller Hockey League is the biggest Roller Hockey Clubs Championship in Israel.
Herne Bay United, also known as HBU, is a roller hockey club based in Herne Bay, England. The Club was founded on 9 October 1924.
The Intercontinental Cup is a roller hockey competition organized by World Skate and contested between the World Skate Africa, World Skate Asia and World Skate Oceania, World Skate Europe and World Skate America champions clubs in title.
England Roller Hockey, which originated in England, is a game played on roller-skates with a ball and stick. It was first played at The Lava Rink in Denmark Hill, London in 1885. The National Roller Hockey Association of England (NRHA) is the roller hockey governing body in England.
Roller sport is popular as a recreational sport in India, specially roller skating for children, and it is gaining popularity as a competitive sport. There are clubs in cities and towns, and roller skating is taught in some schools of urban areas.
