Start a new Elite League?

[skyscrape 5]

I am interested in putting together a league in Northern California that would essentially be a contact league for adults. I would want it to be made up of cities that constituted the NorCal teams like San Jose, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, ROseville, Vacaville, Oakland the list goes on. I would also want the requirements to be that the people trying out for the team would have played contact hockey at some point, but other than that it would be invite or tryout based. I would also like to figure out a way to have it be covered by USA Hockey. That way the insurance issues would be covered.

Does anyone have any experience playing or running a league like this? I know it is a lofty goal, but I know for a fact that we could put a team maybe two together in Roseville alone.

[Chadd 916]

perhaps contacting hockey north america or some other organization would help with the setup.

[goaliemanshark 6]

Who is going to do the commute from Sacramento to San Jose? Nobody!

Are there any Adult hockey leagues that allow contact? Sounds like a terrible idea waiting to happen!

[skyscrape 5]

There are, most are private invite only. I have a player on my team that played in a league like this in Chicago and a friend we play against that played in a league like this in Seattle. Not sure WHy it sounds like such a bad idea. I take it, you would not be interested. As I stated before you would have had to have played Competitive hockey at some point possibly even AA, juniors, or college mandatory. It would bring some business to the rinks. Just look at what is happening with Rollerderby. They sell out every event and no one has a clue as to what they are watching! Bring in talented players and allow them to "Play Hockey" and I think it could work.

There is a league made up of teams in Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Idaho that does this very thing. They even have players called up occasionally to the CHL and ECHL.

As far as answering your question about who would commute, the same people that grew up commuting playing in the Norcal Hockey League. I have at least one teams worth of players interested here in Roseville. Meet half way on the long games. Vacaville would be a good halfway point if people were not willing to drive.

perhaps contacting hockey north america or some other organization would help with the setup.

Thank you, I will get in touch with the team in Utah I referred too. I think this could work.

I have contacted a few leagues. Here is one of them. Multi state. So to answer the question who would drive from San Jose to Sacramento...I think we could find them.

http://www.greatlakeshockeyleague.org/index.php

[Lee-Bro 1]

There are, most are private invite only. I have a player on my team that played in a league like this in Chicago and a friend we play against that played in a league like this in Seattle. Not sure WHy it sounds like such a bad idea. I take it, you would not be interested. As I stated before you would have had to have played Competitive hockey at some point possibly even AA, juniors, or college mandatory. It would bring some business to the rinks. Just look at what is happening with Rollerderby. They sell out every event and no one has a clue as to what they are watching! Bring in talented players and allow them to "Play Hockey" and I think it could work.

There is a league made up of teams in Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Idaho that does this very thing. They even have players called up occasionally to the CHL and ECHL.

As far as answering your question about who would commute, the same people that grew up commuting playing in the Norcal Hockey League. I have at least one teams worth of players interested here in Roseville. Meet half way on the long games. Vacaville would be a good halfway point if people were not willing to drive.

Thank you, I will get in touch with the team in Utah I referred too. I think this could work.

I have contacted a few leagues. Here is one of them. Multi state. So to answer the question who would drive from San Jose to Sacramento...I think we could find them.

http://www.greatlake...e.org/index.php

I'm going to jump in to this conversation since you brought up roller derby.

I have been officiating roller derby for 3 years now. I've done it all over the country (USA) and even went to Canada to officiate a couple games. Saying they sellout every time is misleading -only because I believe you're misinformed. Each team has to find a venue and some teams play in a full-size arena while others play in the local skating rink. Some will use multi-use facilities, some will rent meeting halls, some have even been known to use a warehouse. Point being is each city, derby team, and venue is different. It's not uncommon for some cities to have multiple teams. Some teams struggle just to get 200 spectators, others have no problem selling 9000+ tickets.

I have officiated 2 regional tournaments and attended a championship tournament. I can tell you that hardly anyone in the stands were fans. Most of the audience were either: 1)The other teams in the tourneys, or 2)Other players not skating in the tourney. There is no number 3 here. Most tournaments draw only a a few hundred fans (some cities do a bit better). Derby tournaments are really just derby conventions. You see the same 200-300 people over and over.

As I said, derby probably isn't the best comparison to use here. There are similarities, but in the end, there is no other roller derby option. With hockey, fans have various levels of play to watch (high school, college, semi-pro, pro, etc.). Adding a recreational full-contact league may do nothing more than crowd the market.

As for me, I would like to try a contact league, or light contact league. But having been playing only a year and in my 40's, I'd miss your previous contact requirement.

[skyscrape 5]

You made some very good points. I was basing my comments off of what I have seen here in Sacramento and that is mostly smaller ROller Rinks packed beyond capacity with fans, family, and friends. I think this would give people something to do for next to nothing. The hardest part about this, would be the requirements for safety reasons. I am sure a lot of people would be interested, but at this point you could not start teaching people how to hit or take a hit.

Chadd, I must say thank you for your input earlier. I contacted the GLHL and they got back to me relatively quickly. They are the only full contact adult league left in the states. They travel up to 400 miles for a game and they draw a crowd. The Treasurer of the league gave me a lot of info including contacts in USA Hockey to get me started. He was excited at the idea of having another contact league in the country.

[BarDownGinos 3]

It's not that difficult of a thing to do. You start the league, make sure you square away all the insurance paperwork with your rink and players signing up, and then you register as a Senior team/league with USA Hockey. I've played the teams from Wyoming and Utah, the big hits aren't really there. Having a full-contact league is a way to allow guys to fight (Which there will be a lot of, especially if the players in the league have never done i before) with the occasional good hit thrown in.

[wrangler 157]

That's interesting. I would not have inferred fighting from "full contact". For recreation, I'd rather take my fighting in karate class and tournaments, and just check in hockey.

[skyscrape 5]

I am not trying to start a fighting league. Possibly play with Olympic rules. You fight and you are tossed. These are details that need to be worked out. I think the big difference between the Utah, Wyoming, Colorado league is that they are considered a single A minor league team. These guys get called up for the CHL and ECHL because they are tough dudes. The GLHL and our possible league would be an Amateur League so without the possibility of going anywhere I would hope people would not just show up to fight.

[Lee-Bro 1]

Skyscrape, keep us posted. I personally would be interested in playing in such a league. No interest in fighting, but I'd like to be able to give and receive some hits. For me, roller derby was perfect for learning hot to give and receive hits -and we wear much less protective gear.

Good luck w/ it.

[goaliemanshark 6]

Don't you think there is a reason why there is only one full contact league in the US left? You really think there are enough players with your requirements in Nor-cal to get a league going? Why would you want to play full contact if you have a day job in the morning?

Vacaville is 1.5 hours away from San Jose. Have fun finding teams that are willing to drive three hours for a 1 hour hockey game. Also have fun finding ice time that is early enough for people to make the commute, oh and don't forget about rush hour traffic.

And to top it off think about how expensive ice time and insurance would be. Right now a game costs about 30 bucks out here. Adding to that cost is just silly. You'd need to find a bunch of players that played super high level hockey, who is willing to drive 2+ plus hours to get to a an hour long game, and is rich enough to afford the league. Good luck with that...

[chippa13 1844]

I'm getting the feeling that you're not on board with this.

[goaliemanshark 6]

Actually i'd love to try some contact hockey, sounds like fun. The fact that i'm incredibly overweight might help me out for once! Sadly I am not even close to good enough.

Because i can't participate, it is therefore a terrible idea.

Oh and all the other reasons I listed...

[nickyb13 9]

What about limited contact as in only checking along the boards? I know it's comparing two different games, but I played in a few roller tournaments that allowed checking only on the boards and those were a blast.

[skyscrape 5]

What about limited contact as in only checking along the boards? I know it's comparing two different games, but I played in a few roller tournaments that allowed checking only on the boards and those were a blast.

This is something we were thinking about. No open ice hits. Only hitting on the boards. We will see where we go with this. At this point it is just an idea and I was hoping to get some input. Thanks to those that are taking the time to read this and help it along.

Don't you think there is a reason why there is only one full contact league in the US left? You really think there are enough players with your requirements in Nor-cal to get a league going? Why would you want to play full contact if you have a day job in the morning?

Vacaville is 1.5 hours away from San Jose. Have fun finding teams that are willing to drive three hours for a 1 hour hockey game. Also have fun finding ice time that is early enough for people to make the commute, oh and don't forget about rush hour traffic.

And to top it off think about how expensive ice time and insurance would be. Right now a game costs about 30 bucks out here. Adding to that cost is just silly. You'd need to find a bunch of players that played super high level hockey, who is willing to drive 2+ plus hours to get to a an hour long game, and is rich enough to afford the league. Good luck with that...

I do not understand all your negativity toward this. I would assume the reason it has not been done is because people are afraid to try new things. Thank you for all the nest wishes and good luck though.

I have thought about all of your points and they are definitely worth considering. If that keeps a player away then so be it. The point is I do believe we will be able to find players, as I stated before we already have the better part of two teams and this idea is just getting started.

I'm getting the feeling that you're not on board with this.

[skyscrape 5]

In regards to travel, I just received an Email from the treasurer of the GLHL and he stated that if we got the league up and running out here they would be willing to send teams out here for a tourney or just a couple games. I will keep all informed. They are covered under USA Hockey insurance by the way.

[wrangler 157]

This is something we were thinking about. No open ice hits. Only hitting on the boards. We will see where we go with this. At this point it is just an idea and I was hoping to get some input. Thanks to those that are taking the time to read this and help it along.

I do not understand all your negativity toward this. I would assume the reason it has not been done is because people are afraid to try new things. Thank you for all the nest wishes and good luck though.

I have thought about all of your points and they are definitely worth considering. If that keeps a player away then so be it. The point is I do believe we will be able to find players, as I stated before we already have the better part of two teams and this idea is just getting started.

Those objections are all speculation. You'll find out if you can get the players.

[twolinepass 0]

What about something like this ?

http://www.aihlhockey.pointstreaksites.com/view/aihlhockey

They think they are cooler than they are and try to compare themselves for the RHI but they play locally and players travel. People drive from San Jose to Ripon to play 2 roller hockey games...

[skyscrape 5]

^I am definitely not trying to try to convey that.

But yeah. I just want to get something going for the guys that still want to play contact as adults.e

[Tommyj214 3]

Love the idea, i talked to a guy in seattle about the GSHL a few years back gave me some good info when i was helping getting a leage together in Northwest Florida.... but looks like your well on your way, and considering you want to start a contact league sounds like you found the guy to talk to! Id drive SJ to Sacramento no probs... i already have to drive 1 hr both ways AND pay 15$ to skate where im at. Id gladly play a League fee 1 time then 15$ every time i skate.

[skyscrape 5]

Love the idea, i talked to a guy in seattle about the GSHL a few years back gave me some good info when i was helping getting a leage together in Northwest Florida.... but looks like your well on your way, and considering you want to start a contact league sounds like you found the guy to talk to! Id drive SJ to Sacramento no probs... i already have to drive 1 hr both ways AND pay 15$ to skate where im at. Id gladly play a League fee 1 time then 15$ every time i skate.

What area are you living in now?

[Axxion89 32]

I have seen a few checking leagues and pickups around NY, NJ, and CT but nothing big and I have never played in one. People will be interested but you have to make sure things don't get out of hand. Some of the people looking to join a league like that are looking for the bone crushing hits and fights. Also keep in mind that, in my experience, players take leeway with the rules. Example, I play in a no contact league but believe me there is contact along the boards and more. If you say checking along thh boards is ok, then you may see some checks in open ice, etc.

Good luck with it, let us know how it goes

[goaliemanshark 6]

Wow! Let me know where you play. I pay 20 bucks for a pickup and 30 bucks for a league game. Ice time is 375 dollars an hour here now.

I think I explained my negativity very well. Were you thinking of like a weekly league? Or just a tourney type thing. I was assuming you meant a weekly league.

[skyscrape 5]

I am thinking possibly weekends or twice a month. I can get ice in Vacaville for 250-300 an hour. The GLHL has two a weekend. Who knows where it will go, I have been talking with a few people about possibilities and I will hopefully have a better idea soon. We can chat more in Detroit if you like.

[iceNsteel 0]

Sounds like bringing the semi-pro football model to hockey. You might make something like that work, or putter along like semi-pro football leagues do, in Canada or the northeastern US. Mostly what you'd be looking at are guys that played midget or some low rung junior hockey and just aren't quite ready to accept that they're in the beer leagues. I just don't see having a sufficient pool of players in Norcal for that to work. Anywhere in the US you'll find thousands of guys that played high school football, yet you watch a semi-pro football game and you'll see teams with less than 20 players on a roster. End of the day most people accept it when they're days of playing competitively are over and transition into adult life. Which means they probably aren't willing to assume the extra risks of contact hockey and missing work due to related injuries.

You have to realize that this is primarily going to appeal to adult hockey players that never got the chance to play contact hockey as kids, for whatever reason, and want to give it a try.