PIHA vs AIHL

[newmusic11 0]

What is the difference between PIHA and AIHL pro hockey leagues?

Do either of these leagues pay their players?

[steve66 45]

I'm not so sure the AIHL regard themselves as a pro league, but it is certainly taking on a pro model with a minor and elite set up. They are very careful to not call their elite teams 'pro'.

[AENutrition 1]

I dont think anyone pays their players. There is just not enough revenue throughout the sport to do it. Maybe two or three teams could pay their players here.

AIHL seems much, much more organized than PIHA and covers a far greater expanse in terms of teams.

[the_game 452]

Like AENutrition said, no one pays their players. From most of my PIHA & AIHL experience, both are pay-to-play situations. If anything some guys get free rides where they play for free. The only guys getting paid for roller hockey are either winning Narch Pro, Torhs Pro, or State Wars pro or playing over in Europe.

[TeamBlue96 3]

I play both PIHA and AIHL....AIHL is far more oraganized and recognized as there are more teams. Player talent is good in both leagues as many players swing both leagues either on the same team, or even different teams. We don't get paid and we do pay league dues as a team (depends on how many players are rostered between junior, minor, and pro teams.

Every team's situation is different with perks....our organization for instance, gets free rink practice time, as our organizer is also one of the managers at the rink. We also get free rink time to do the occasional fund raiser tourney.

[-venom- 0]

From my personal experience in each of the three recognized "Pro"-level leagues;

MLRH (2001-2004) - Was an organizational clusterfuck. There was absolutely talented players involved, but being full-contact with fighting allowed, it attracted a LOT of goons. Not that I can knock that too bad, I had 37 PIMs in the first 4 games of the 2002-2003 season, but that's besides the point. Teams had varying degrees of sponsorship, as the owners generally shouldered whatever they were willing to, and the players picked up the tab. When I played for the NJ Riot, the ownership had sponsorships set up for wheels and bearings, and a flat discount on gear from the pro shop at the local rink. They also paid for most travel expenses, as they shelled out the cash for a team bus twice up to Connecticut and Massachusetts. Team financial stability was nothing short of a disaster for the most part though, with multiple teams folding mid-season, every year.

PIHA (2002-2004) - Played two seasons in PIHA, and it was very little contact allowed, but the games and the talent were much improved. The organization was at the time, top-notch. The Yoders ran a fairly tight ship in the beginning. Teams had more stability, and we actually started to draw a decent amount of fans to games. We actually WERE paid a small percentage of the gate at the end of the season, based on overall ticket sales - but it didn't amount to much more than a few cases of beer. The sponsorships were more prevalent, and most teams had the same deals with sponsors, for the most part. It was definitely an improvement over the MLRH, which folded shortly after PIHA really hit their stride. But as with all Roller "Pro" leagues, things couldn't stay good forever. Teams started picking the best players from other teams and building all-star teams, reducing the talent pool to a small handful of teams, and leaving a large portion of the league to battle it out for second-tier status.

AIHL (2008) - Played half of one season and had to stop due to injury and family commitments, but the AIHL was basically formed after PIHA splintered over political reasons. Much of the organizational muscle for AIHL actually came from PIHA, and the league was again, a step up from the existing league of the day (PIHA). I can't really say much for the league as a whole, because unlike my days in PIHA and MLRH, I didn't enough time in the league, nor did I really pay much attention to the state of the league as a whole. I do know that in my case, travel was player-funded 100%, but we were given generous sponsorships. Making the teak got you a nice bucket, a pair of gloves, discounts on gear at the local pro shop, etc.

All in all though, politics and the lack of moneymaking ability will always doom the quest for the next "Pro" league. When I was younger, I felt that we were on the cusp, and that in ten years, it'd be at the point where guys could play essentially for free.

Here we are, ten years later, and it's the same story.