Sport Court CHEAP on the Net

[Aussie Joe 0]

Hey guys, just wondering If you had any idea where I can get some cheap sport court from? Of course It needs to be able to be shipped to Australia.

I saw some Ice Court on Ebay which gave me the orginal idea. And no I don't want to buy it I despise Ice Court *insert vomit here*

[KC83 2]

heh, my buddy took some from the local arena :D

and he just uses it to practice his shooting... if you goto an arena with sport court.. they usually have like a crap load of extra sport court in case of emergency... if you ask them, they could sell it to ya for pretty cheap...

[MDE3 0]

Actually Ice Court makes several different products, and while I understand your aversion to the original surface, the best surface my son has ever played on is made by them too lol. It is called Skate Court, and was dsigned to convert older wooden floor disco rinks to a newer non wood surface that recreational quad skaters would like. This was actually what Speed Hockey was to be played on if you saw any of the posts on Speed Hockey. It has the best wheel grip and puck sliding characteristics he has ever seen by far..and it's not marketed for hockey..it was intended for recreational skating. Because it's a fairly new product..maybe 18 months in the market, it would be unusual to find too many used floors, but it is slightly less than the price of Sport Court or Ice court.

C.J. Yoders(TEAM USA MVP many times over) dad..Charley Yoder, has a small rink here in Pa that he recently switched over to this surface...I called him about it and he said he has been absolutely thrilled with the response..he converted an old wooden floor to this material, and says his rec skaters love it, but his hockey players love it even more. They hold elite iron man tournamernts there..invitation only... with a bunch of guys from Team USA who come..they all feel the same way.

[Aussie Joe 0]

MDE3, bloke! You always write these massive posts! While good on some occasions not so on this as I want sport court as its the stuff we play on here in Aus. Well OrbCourt actually but the guys that hold the patent on it flog the stuff for like 50 bucks a tile + connectors!

Hence the search for some cheap ass Sport Court.

There is some stuff lying around the rink and yeah I could nick it but I'd prefer to buy the stuff and not have the law break down my door for a few lousy hockey tiles!

WINNERS DON'T DO DRUGS! *Heavy Metal symbol!*

[MDE3 0]

Glad I could help............

I guess telling you about a new surface that is considered to be the best yet by some of the best players in the world, and that would sell new for less than 10% of what you are claiming you pay in Australia was irrelevant....Also have you looked at many "used" Sport Court floors ....a lot I have seen have the tiles which have dished out....not really what you might want for a new installation....just a few thoughts .

[kovalchuk71 212]

I liked the new ice court stuff, just found it hard to do tight turns, but I had to get more used to it I guess (tournament)

[KC83 2]

you don't need to steal it...

just ask the rink, my friend decided to steal it... but you should just ask them for it and if they are nice enough they might even give it to ya :D

[MDE3 0]

I liked the new ice court stuff, just found it hard to do tight turns, but I had to get more used to it I guess (tournament)

I believe Ice Court has a new version of their hockey surface too, but this stuff is called Skate Court not Ice court....it is however the same company.

[Vapor 0]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW

little more than a dollar each

[MDE3 0]

Only about 20,000 more to go....

[Vapor 0]

lol :) Well come on!

[MDE3 0]

I only just saw the "for the backyard" part...appologies. :P

[Reijo29 0]

MDE3 - The new Ice Court is called Exxes (or is it Exxess). It is definitely the best stuff out there. Skated on it a couple of times and it was CRAZY how the puck went so much faster and didn't roll like the Sport Court.

If ICE kids were introduced to roller for the first time and used this floor, there's no telling how popular the game could be.

But the Australian bloke who doesn't appreciate good advice does raise an interesting point; If you found a truly superior floor; one that was clearly head and shoulders above the rest, but no one else used it and every tournament you played in, especially Nationals still used the old Sport Court, Do You Switch your rink to the new stuff? It may make sense to still get the older, inferior stuff because so many roller rinks may not be ready to shell out the 35k for the new stuff.

But when TORHS, AAU, 2HOT4ICE all have this for their Nationals, Finals and Junior Olympics, it really could raise some eyebrows. I hope so because it is the first floor that really improves the game.

Rexxy

[MDE3 0]

What you are saying is just what everyone else I talked to about it said too...the puck was much faster and did not bounce or roll nearly as much....but they also raved about the extra grip for skating too.

I am pretty sure that Charley Yoder said he put in Skate Court which is different from Exxess, but in the ads Ice Court uses CJ and Charley(CJ's dad) as a reference for Exxess????? I will call him again tomorrow. He was very specific about wanting the surface to be quiet and comfortable for quad skaters, as his old disco rink was originally a wooden floor used a lot by quad skaters. That was what Skate Court was designed for. However, the comments made were all the same whichever floor it is.

[Aussie Joe 0]

All I want is some SportCourt to practice on. Its great stuff and while there may be better stuff out there according to you guys, Im not interested as we play on SportCourt and OrbCOurt which are more or less the same thing (Even though I prefer Sport to Orb, but we play on Orb more.)

Why is it so many people want to make Roller Hockey as close to Ice as possible? Isn't the sport exciting enough to play by itself on its own unique set of merits? I do appreciate good advice you ass, Rexxy! But I asked for SportCourt specifically not anything else and its sales speal to boot.

Now don't missread me and think I don't appreciate the expertise you all have living in the epicentre of our great sport in North America. That would be far from the truth.

PS: I saw that Ebay post with the IceCourt poo, thats what gave me the original idea to ask about SportCourt in the first place.

[MDE3 0]

Why is it so many people want to make Roller Hockey as close to Ice as possible? Isn't the sport exciting enough to play by itself on its own unique set of merits?

Sorry I misunderstood your needs....

The reasons why people want to make it as close to ice is to keep players in the sport, and not leave it because they view ice as a "superior game" and roller as "the weak sister"..... which many ice players (and even inline players) tend to do.

Between the new wheels and these augmented floors, the speed of the puck as well as skating speed and agility keep improving, hence the whole flow of the game gets better. The sport still struggles as a spectator sport because for years the players made long sliding stops, and sweeping turns(this includes many of the ice hockey pros who played in the RHI too), instead of the rapid changes of direction seen in ice hockey. The puck tended to hop and roll, and that broke up the play as well.

This had a negative impact on the credibility of the sport from a fan perspective, as well as TV viewability. This newer technology is designed to change that and improve the sport.

[stevoc 0]

The reasons why people want to make it as close to ice is to keep players in the sport, and not leave it because they view ice as a "superior game" and roller as "the weak sister"..... which many ice players (and even inline players) tend to do.

I believe that feel comes from those that began on ice (which the majority of the players seem to have done) I on the other hand, who only plays roller, love the game as is and don't see it that way.

Just an opinion.

[MDE3 0]

Aussie Joe..sorry to usurp your post..I will shut up after this one.

Stevoc....I understand that there are those who do NOT feel this way, but I am trying to explain why a manufacturer dedicated to the sport might be looking at it from a larger perspective. They(and other "powers that be") are looking at the sport from the point of view of eventually having it as a media covered and promoted form of entertainment. Because it is a form of hockey, it will always be compared to ice hockey by the viewing public, whether you or I do this or not.

I am the first one to stand up and say I think that a good competitve game between elite level inline teams is more exciting to me than most current pro ice hockey games. Not saying that the players are better, but that the nature of the sport allows for more flow and "art" in the sport. If you want to look, I posted an extensive comparison of an AHL game versus a high end inline game on www.inlinehockeycentral.com in the message board forum, under "Professional Inline hockey.."critical issues affecting the future of inline hockey".

However for the sport to draw fans and become a media favorite, or even a media accepted "step child", there are existing perceptions that must be overcome. One of the issues is that the percieved speed of the sport is slower than ice hockey, and that this loses TV audience attention. Technology which can help overcome this is certainly going to be beneficial.

Also wouldn't most players like to play on a floor that allows them to grip the surface similar to having an edge on your skate in ice hockey, and where the puck doesn't bounce and hop and roll anymore?

[Aussie Joe 0]

I agree as well hence the original paragraph.

In Australia you get most players that start in Inline, build their skill set there and then move to Ice. But at the Pro Inline League (I use the term Pro loosely) you still see the majority of teams drafting just ice players who are playing their first game of Inline at a pro level!

One team in particular drafted a Canadian bloke as No 1 and he has grown bored of Pro Inline hockey after 3 games and deserted the team! Just goes to show I guess that its worldwide that people look down on Inline Hockey. Seems a pity as I've seen some unreal plays from some juniors that are just pure Inline players.

[MDE3 0]

Aussie Joe....do not know if you found what you are looking for, but there is a classified listing over on IHC classified message boards for 6000 sq. ft of sport court asking $1.25/sq. ft. ....."www.inlinehockeycentral.com"....message boards/classifieds