Roller Leagues in Toronto/GTA

[roadrunner 12]

Hey everyone, I tried a search but nothing worked. Just looking for some input on a decent roller league in the GTA. I've played ball hockey for about 12 years and I'm sick of it now. Looking for something new.

Thanks

[bigdmac 12]

I believe there is a decent league in Ajax, not entirely sure though, but I have seen some pretty good games going on at the Rec Centre there.

[althoma1 575]

York Inline: Up in Corcord and not TTC accesible, but they use Sport Court and a roller puck. There used to be a Rec and Competitive Adult division on Sundays, but last year there was only one division with a mix of competitive and rec players. It's a fun reasonably priced league. I've played in this league for the past few years and intend to sign up again this year. They only have an April-July season.

Toronto Inline: TTC accessible, more divisions and they run spring, summer, fall and winter leagues. The downside is it's on smooth cement with a ball and it's more expensive than York Inline in the Spring/Summer if you don't pay early - if you pay early it's slightly cheaper. In my opinion they should be cheaper in the spring/summer because it isn't played on Sport Court, but I do realize rink time in Toronto is expensive (you'd think that the cement surface should be cheaper though because they don't have to maintain the ice, use a zamboni and there's no sport court to buy and install.). I've played in the league in the past, but not for the past few years. I prefer playing on sport court with a puck. I'd consider playing on cement with a ball, but the price would have to be considerably cheaper.

Edit: Apparently in the Fall/Winter they play on Sport Court with a ball and the Fall and Winter seasons are also cheaper than the Spring/Summer. The Spring and Summer seasons are still on cement with a ball as far as I know.

East End Saints in Ajax: I played here in the summer of 2010. They use a roller puck on smooth cement, but the fees were much cheaper than any other league in the GTA. There are a few different divisions. I'm not sure if this league is still active because the website hasn't been updated in quite some time. No schedules or stats were posted in 2011 - in 2010 the schedules were updated regularily and the stats were posted from time to time.

Mississauga Roller Hockey Association: Played on Sport Court at the Hershey Centre with a puck. Pricing is a bit more than York Inline. There are three adult divisions available (Platinum, Gold, Silver). I've never played in this league because I live in the east end of Toronto so Mississauga isn't a very convenient location.

[roadrunner 12]

Thanks guys this is amazing. althoma1, how is it joining individually? Are the teams pretty decent. This is the main reason why I have avoided Roller and stuck with ball hockey so long. None of my buddies will play. Im liking the york inline.

[Les213 1]

PM me if you want the contact of the Mississauga Roller Hockey Association. He's a great guy that's super passionate about the game. They run leagues in the summer and Wednesday shinny sessions in the winter. There's three or four levels in the summer league so I'm sure you'd be able to find a team that fits your skill level.

[althoma1 575]

Thanks guys this is amazing. althoma1, how is it joining individually? Are the teams pretty decent. This is the main reason why I have avoided Roller and stuck with ball hockey so long. None of my buddies will play. Im liking the york inline.

It's easy to join York Inline individually. You just email the convenor once registration begins and tell him when you're looking to play (I play Sundays, but they do have some weeknight leagues), he'll assign you a team close to the season start date and then you can pay at your first game with either a cheque or with Visa. Unfortunately there was only one division on Sundays this year, but the level of hockey was still good. There are players of varying skills levels from Platinum level players to Rec players. They try to balance out the teams to some extent.

I was told by team mates who play in the Mississauga league in the Platinum division that the calibre of hockey is much higher in the Platinum division in Mississauga then in the open division at York Inline. That makes sense. They said the good teams in York Inline would compete in the Gold division, but struggle in Platinum. The poor teams would belong in Silver. So if you want really high end roller then your best bet is probably the Platinum division in Mississauga.

PM me if you want the contact of the Mississauga Roller Hockey Association. He's a great guy that's super passionate about the game. They run leagues in the summer and Wednesday shinny sessions in the winter. There's three or four levels in the summer league so I'm sure you'd be able to find a team that fits your skill level.

Yeah, it is nice to have different skill levels. That's one drawback of the York league. Everyone is lumped together. I'd love to see 3 levels at York, but unfortunately I don't think there's enough teams to do that unless registration goes up. If I lived closer to Mississauga I'd seriously consider signing up for that league.

[henryb 4]

York Inline: Up in Corcord and not TTC accesible, but they use Sport Court and a roller puck. There used to be a Rec and Competitive Adult division on Sundays, but last year there was only one division with a mix of competitive and rec players. It's a fun reasonably priced league. I've played in this league for the past few years and intend to sign up again this year. They only have an April-July season.

Toronto Inline: TTC accessible, more divisions and they run spring, summer, fall and winter leagues. The downside is it's on smooth cement with a ball and it's more expensive than York Inline. In my opinion they should be cheaper because it isn't played on Sport Court. I've played in the league in the past, but not for the past few years. I prefer playing on sport court with a puck. I'd consider playing on cement with a ball, but the price would have to be considerably cheaper.

East End Saints in Ajax: I played here in the summer of 2010. They use a ball on smooth cement, but the fees were much cheaper than any other league in the GTA. There are a few different divisions. I'm not sure if this league is still active because the website hasn't been updated in quite some time. No schedules or stats were posted in 2011 - in 2010 the schedules were updated regularily and the stats were posted from time to time.

Mississauga Roller Hockey Association: Played on Sport Court at the Hershey Centre with a puck. Pricing is a bit more than York Inline. There are three adult divisions available (Platinum, Gold, Silver). I've never played in this league because I live in the east end of Toronto so Mississauga isn't a very convenient location.

Really good information here on the leagues in GTA, I am currently playing in 2 of the listed leagues, so I would like to make a couple of minor updates to your information:

East End Saints: Runs from May through July, they play at Ajax Community Center through the week, They use a roller hockey puck on smooth concrete. They have age groups from 5 years to 70+ years! For the kids they group 3-4 years together, based on the numbers. For adults there is 3 divisions, Senior is for 18-35 years, Masters is for 35+, and they have another division called Double-X which was originally designed so Father and Son could play together, allowing 15+ year olds to play together.

Toronto Inline: I don't play in their summer leagues, but they have numerous "tier's" (4 if I recall correctly), to accomodate various skill levels. The fall and winter leagues now play on Sport Court (Stephen Leacock arena) on Saturday afternoons, they use a liquid filled ball. Only 1 tier in the fall, and based on numbers, they may run 2 tiers in the winter.

[althoma1 575]

Really good information here on the leagues in GTA, I am currently playing in 2 of the listed leagues, so I would like to make a couple of minor updates to your information:

East End Saints: Runs from May through July, they play at Ajax Community Center through the week, They use a roller hockey puck on smooth concrete. They have age groups from 5 years to 70+ years! For the kids they group 3-4 years together, based on the numbers. For adults there is 3 divisions, Senior is for 18-35 years, Masters is for 35+, and they have another division called Double-X which was originally designed so Father and Son could play together, allowing 15+ year olds to play together.

Toronto Inline: I don't play in their summer leagues, but they have numerous "tier's" (4 if I recall correctly), to accomodate various skill levels. The fall and winter leagues now play on Sport Court (Stephen Leacock arena) on Saturday afternoons, they use a liquid filled ball. Only 1 tier in the fall, and based on numbers, they may run 2 tiers in the winter.

Yeah, those updates are helpful. You're right, East End saints does use a puck and not a ball. I'll edit my post. I only played Toronto Inline in the Spring and Summer so there were many divisions then and they all played on cement. I've never played Fall or Winter there so your information regarding those seasons is very useful.

Side note: I find it preposterous that Toronto Inline still uses a liquid filled ball in the Fall/Winter on Sport Court. If they have Sport Court then they should buy some damn pucks (especially at fees that are about the same as ice hockey based on cost per game...I remember the days when roller was about half the price of ice).

[henryb 4]

Yeah, those updates are helpful. You're right, East End saints does use a puck and not a ball. I'll edit my post. I only played Toronto Inline in the Spring and Summer so there were many divisions then and they all played on cement. I've never played Fall or Winter there so your information regarding those seasons is very useful.

Side note: I find it preposterous that Toronto Inline still uses a liquid filled ball in the Fall/Winter on Sport Court. If they have Sport Court then they should buy some damn pucks (especially at fees that are about the same as ice hockey based on cost per game...I remember the days when roller was about half the price of ice).

I completely agree and I have talked to the league organizer about that... the issue is the rental cost of the rink, the cost is about the same as it is for ice! We rented it a few times for some pickup games, and it was $200/hr. I'm sure the league gets a better price, but still... Ouch!

[roadrunner 12]

Thanks a million guys, I'm probably gonna look further into York inline just because I'll be moving close to there.

[henryb 4]

There is one more league in the GTA (at least)...

ECIHL - this is run out of a privately owned rink in Scarborough (Danforth and St Clair), with new sportcourt surface and a number of renovations currently under-way! They run at least 2 leagues in the winter, one is mid-week with an inline puck and one on Sundays with a liquid filled ball. The league is similar to tier 1 in Toronto Inline as I played in a pre-season game last week. However, depending on numbers they might run 2 divisions. Prices are a bit cheaper with a privately owned rink.

As a side note, they also host a semi-pro team, The ThunderHawks, that play in the AIHL.

[althoma1 575]

There is one more league in the GTA (at least)...

ECIHL - this is run out of a privately owned rink in Scarborough (Danforth and St Clair), with new sportcourt surface and a number of renovations currently under-way! They run at least 2 leagues in the winter, one is mid-week with an inline puck and one on Sundays with a liquid filled ball. The league is similar to tier 1 in Toronto Inline as I played in a pre-season game last week. However, depending on numbers they might run 2 divisions. Prices are a bit cheaper with a privately owned rink.

As a side note, they also host a semi-pro team, The ThunderHawks, that play in the AIHL.

Thanks for the update. I had no idea this league existed until I read your post.

Their site certainly isn't search engine optimized as it doesn't come up when I searched for Toronto Roller Hockey leagues (Toronto Inine is the first result followed by York Inline). When I searched for ECIHL I found the Emerald Coast Ice Hockey league. Toronto Thunderhawks first brings up an Indoor Soccer team based in Mississauga, but finally when I searched for Toronto Thunderhawks Inline I found the site - the league is actually ECIHA: http://eciha.pointst....com/view/eciha

[arie 0]

The AIHL (adult inline hockey league) is the best roller league in the city!!!!

You can play Thursday nights or Monday nights.

Music during intermission and goal horns when goals are scored.

Thursday nights is a draft league. All the players are rated and then picked on a team. All the teams are fair and the real time stats are cool.

The Monday night league is a team entry league just like all the other leagues out there, except they have real time stats as well.

Both leagues are played out of Garnet A. Williams in Thornhill. Games from 7pm to 930. The season also lasts the whole summer from mid April to end of August.

If you have any more question's give them a call 416-737-4531 speak to Arie.