Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 countries worldwide.
The Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports was the world governing body for roller sports, including skateboarding, rink hockey, inline hockey, inline speed skating, inline alpine, downhill, roller derby, roller freestyle, inline freestyle, aggressive inline skating, inline figure skating 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.
Inline hockey or roller hockey is a variant of hockey played on a hard, smooth surface, with players using inline skates to move and ice hockey sticks to shoot a hard, plastic puck into their opponent's goal to score points. The sport is a very fast-paced and free-flowing game and is considered a contact sport, but body checking is prohibited. There are five players including the goalkeeper from each team on the rink at a time, while teams normally consist of 16 players. There are professional leagues, one of which is the National Roller Hockey League (NRHL). While it is not a contact sport, there are exceptions, i.e. the NRHL involves fighting.
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 into World Skate.
Roller hockey, rink hockey or ball roller hockey is a team sport played on roller skates. It is a quad-skate team sport where two teams face-off against one another, trying to drive a hard ball with their sticks into the opposing teams' goalnet. Each team has five players on the rink at a time, four of whom are skaters and one who is the goalkeeper. The ball can only be put in motion by a stick, not the skate, otherwise a foul will be stated. The game has two 25-minute halves, with 15-minute halftime intermission, plus up to two 5-minute golden goal periods to settle ties with the clock stopping when the ball becomes dead. If the tie persists, a penalty shootout will determine the winner. Players – including the goalie – use quad skates, whereas inline skates are used in inline hockey. The sticks are similar to those in bandy and shinty. Excessive contact between players is forbidden in rink hockey, unlike inline hockey.
The European Confederation of Roller Skating, currently branded as World Skate Europe, is a governing body of roller skating and inline skating in Europe. The World Skate Europe is a member of World Skate, formerly the International Roller Sports Federation (FIRS).
Inline hockey and skater hockey are team sports, similar to ice hockey. In the UK, there are two associations that govern inline hockey. The British Inline Puck Hockey Association (BIPHA) govern the sport with rules using a Puck. The British inline Skater Hockey Association (BiSHA) is different from BIPHA as BiSHA uses a Ball, Inline skates and roller skates and is played to full-contact rules. GBinline, Inline UK and BRHA, are minor association within the country.
Matthew Lloyd is a British Paralympian who was born with spina bifida and two club feet. He has competed in ice sledge hockey at the 2006 Winter Paralympics, in Sitting volleyball at the 2007 European Championships, and is credited with inventing the sport of Inline sledge hockey. He was born in Crawley, Sussex but grew up in Rainhill, Merseyside and later resided in Hollym, East Riding of Yorkshire. After completing a degree in Business Information Systems, Lloyd worked within the music industry, firstly as a journalist and then within the A&R department of a major record label, before going to work extensively within the sports and leisure sectors.
The Premier League is the main competition in England Roller Hockey. It has a long history, and it has existed since 1930. It has some of the most historic European teams like Herne Bay and Herne Bay United. The top teams usually compete in European Club Competitions like European League or Cers Cup now organised by World Skate Europe - Rink Hockey.
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.
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 England national roller hockey team is the national team side of England at international roller hockey. England started as the leading team in the sport, being the winner of the first 12 editions of the Rink Hockey European Championship, from 1927 to 1939, with the 1937 and 1939 editions also serving as Rink Hockey World Championship, but were unable to keep the same position after World War II. England reached the podium in 1947, when they finished in 2nd place, losing the title to Portugal. Since then, England has never been able to reach the same status of the past, being nowadays considered a minor team. England Rink Hockey has achieved some positive results in recent years, competing at the World Roller Games organised by World Skate and at European Championships organised by World Skate Europe - Rink Hockey.
The Intercontinental Cup is a roller hockey competition organized by World Skate and usually contested between the World Skate Europe and the World Skate America champions clubs.
The Middlesbrough RHC is a Roller Hockey team from Middlesbrough, England. It was founded in 1947. In 2011, it won the 1st English title and its second in 2012 - 13, when the club won 11 consecutive matches after Christmas, scoring the winning goal in the last match of the season with 10 seconds left of the match. this was the only time in the season that the club had been top of the league.
YMCA Maidstone Roller Hockey Club is a roller hockey club located in Kent, England. It has won three National Cup titles, regularly competing at the highest level in the country over the last few decades.
Alexandra Palace Roller Skating Club was an English roller sports club comprising roller hockey, speed and artistic sections based at Alexandra Palace, London.
World Skate is the only governing body in the world for all sports performed on skating wheels. The organisation is the successor of the Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports (FIRS) founded on 21 April 1924.
The Women's Intercontinental Cup is a roller hockey competition organized by World Skate and contested between the championship clubs from World Skate Africa, World Skate Asia, World Skate Oceania, World Skate Europe, and World Skate America.
Kos Galtos [1] 
Carlos Amaral
2024-25
