Roller skating is the act of travelling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sidewalks, and bike paths.
CCM Hockey is a Canadian brand of ice hockey equipment owned by Birch Hill Equity Partners through its portfolio company Sport Maska Inc. The history of the brand traces to 1905, when Canada Cycle and Motor Limited, founded in 1899, began manufacturing hockey equipment as a secondary business. After Canada Cycle went bankrupt in 1982, it sold off its cycling and hockey divisions to separate owners. The hockey division was acquired by Sport Maska, a Quebec-based manufacturer of jerseys.
Inline skating is a multi-disciplinary sport and can refer to a number of activities practiced using inline skates. Inline skates typically have two to five polyurethane wheels depending on the style of practice, arranged in a single line by a metal or plastic frame on the underside of a boot. The in-line design allows for greater speed and maneuverability than traditional roller skates. Following this basic design principle, inline skates can be modified to varying degrees to accommodate niche disciplines.
Rollerblade is a brand of inline skates owned by Nordica, part of the Tecnica Group of Giavera del Montello, Treviso, Italy.
Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, though it is most popular in the United States.
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 skates are shoes or bindings that fit onto shoes that are worn to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with wheels replacing the blade. Later the "quad skate" style became more popular, consisting of four wheels arranged in the same configuration as a typical car.
A flowboard is a variation on a skateboard, combining aspects of surfing, skating and snowboarding. There are three sizes made by the brand Flowboards: 32", for tricks and smaller riders; 36", the standard size; and 42", the large downhill bomber.
Pacific Cycle, Inc., is an American division of Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings that imports and distributes bicycles. It was founded in 1977 by Chris Hornung. The company pioneered the sourcing of bicycles from the Far East for distribution in the U.S., developing relationships with suppliers primarily in Taiwan and China. The company now owns several well known bicycle brands as well as diversifying into bicycle accessories and other types of children's play equipment. Pacific Cycle sells more bicycles than any other company in North America and is one of the most prolific bicycle suppliers in the world. In 2006, Chris Hornung left Pacific Cycle leaving President Jeff Frehner in control. Alice Tillett has been the President of Pacific Cycle since 2008.
The Roller Derby Skateboard was the first mass-produced skateboard, sold by the Roller Derby Skate Company as a "Skate Board". Roller Derby made this skateboard in their La Mirada, CA factory, and it was available nationwide at Roller Derby arenas in 1959, and then in Thrifty Drugstores and Sears, Roebuck and Co. as the "Roller Derby Skate Board" in 1960. It was very similar to the first commercially available skateboard; the red, flat, straight-sided, steel-wheeled "Bun Board" which had been made and sold in Hermosa Beach by Alf Jensen since 1957. In 1964 Roller Derby added 3 surfboard-shaped rubber-wheeled models similar to Makaha skateboards produced in 1963. These three skateboards were produced in their Litchfield, Illinois plant.
Heelys is an American brand of roller shoe that have usually one or more removable wheels embedded in each sole, similar to inline skates, allowing the wearer to walk, run, or, by shifting their weight to their heels, roll. Braking can be achieved by lowering the back of the foot so that sole contacts the ground. Roger Adams patented Heelys in 1999. The headquarters are located in Carrollton, Texas.
Frank Nasworthy is notable in the history of skateboarding for introducing polyurethane wheel technology to the sport in the early 1970s.
Mission Hockey is an American brand of inline skates currently owned by Bauer Hockey. The company Mission Roller Hockey Inc. was founded in California in 1995 as a roller hockey business, and then in 1997 changed its name to Mission Hockey Inc. after it expanded to ice hockey. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Mission equipment was used widely in the National Hockey League. In 2004, Mission merged with Itech to form Mission-Itech Hockey Ltd. Mission equipment remained in production until 2008, when Bauer purchased Mission-Itech. Bauer continues to produce inline skates using Mission branding, while the name has been absent in the hockey market since it was taken over.
K2 Sports, LLC, known simply as K2, is an American sporting goods company headquartered in Seattle, Washington focused primarily on winter sports equipment. K2 operates under the labels K2 Snow and K2 Skates, as well as its subsidiaries Backcountry Access, Ride Snowboards, Tubbs Snowshoes, Atlas Snow-Shoe Company, LINE Skis, Full Tilt Boots, and Madshus brands. Famous users of K2 Skis include pro champion Spider Sabich, World Cup and Olympic champion Phil Mahre, and his twin brother Steve Mahre, World Champion and Olympic silver medalist.
JTEKT Corporation TYO: 6473.T is a Japanese corporation created in January 2006 upon the merger of two companies: Koyo Seiko Co. and Toyoda Machine Works.
RollerJam is an American television series featuring roller derby that aired on The Nashville Network from 1999 to 2001. It was the first attempt to bring roller derby to TV since RollerGames.
Aggressive inline skating is a sub-discipline of inline skating in the action sports canon. Aggressive inline skates are specially modified to accommodate grinds and jumps. Aggressive skating can take place on found street obstacles or at skate parks.
The Frantz Manufacturing Company located in Sterling, Illinois, is a manufacturer and marketer of conveyor system components and steel ball products used in a variety of applications.
The Australia men's national inline hockey team represents Australia in international inline hockey competitions. They are controlled by Ice Hockey Australia for events organised by the International Ice Hockey Federation and by Skate Australia for events organised by the International Roller Sports Federation. Australia plays in Division I of the IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship and Group C at the FIRS Inline Hockey World Championships.
Mueller Co. is a Chattanooga, Tennessee based industrial manufacturing group that manufactures fire hydrants, gate valves, and other water distribution products. Mueller Co. which moved to Chattanooga from Decatur, Illinois in 2010, is the largest supplier of potable water distribution products in North America. Mueller Co. is a subsidiary of Mueller Water Products, Inc. A manufacturing facility remains in Decatur.
