Highest levels of Inline Hockey

[wickedslappah 6]

What organizations/leagues/tournaments feature the greatest competition and skill level in the inline world nowadays?

Narch Pro

AIHL Elite

IIHF Inline

PIHA (if they even exist anymore, my browser says their site is compromised/hosting malware)

NCRHA D1

What other entities/leagues feature the best of the best in roller hockey? How would you rank the leagues/entities above?

[Vet88 674]

IMHO IIHF worlds would be the most elite tournament with the best players, FIRS generally doesn't attract all the best teams or the best players. We got to FIRS and do ok but turn up at IIHF and get spanked. After this I'd rate Narch Pro and then you could argue about the rest.

[dirtysouth 0]

NRHL seems to be pretty new and i believe will host some top talent

[SlaterC42 51]

State Wars also hosts pretty big tournaments with good turnouts.

[Tyler Roy 86]

AIHL isnt the same when talking Narch/Torhs/State Wars/IIHF... I'd put AIHL on the last rung of the competitive inline ladder. You will have your solid squads but the majority of the players are fresh out of house league.

[skinni44 3]

What I don't get is why more countries sign upto FIRS then IIHF. In the UK for instance we have 3 different associations. FIRS rules puck league, FIRS rules (kind of) full contact ball association and a IIHF rules association. I've played in all of them at some point but IIHF rules seemed to regress and isn't as big as the other two associations.

In Germany, they love ball hockey to the point that at one point it was a semi-pro league. Don't know if it still is? France has a semi-pro/pro league and so does Spain. Not sure on the Czechs, Italians etc but know their leagues are pretty strong and nationwide. The main thing about them......they all play FIRS. If there is a standard of player capable of making a IIHF team then why would a country go for it?

I can't really comment on the US leagues tournaments apart from NARCH.

Also forgot to mention MLRH. What's that like standard wise in the US?

[Tyler Roy 86]

What I don't get is why more countries sign upto FIRS then IIHF. In the UK for instance we have 3 different associations. FIRS rules puck league, FIRS rules (kind of) full contact ball association and a IIHF rules association. I've played in all of them at some point but IIHF rules seemed to regress and isn't as big as the other two associations.

In Germany, they love ball hockey to the point that at one point it was a semi-pro league. Don't know if it still is? France has a semi-pro/pro league and so does Spain. Not sure on the Czechs, Italians etc but know their leagues are pretty strong and nationwide. The main thing about them......they all play FIRS. If there is a standard of player capable of making a IIHF team then why would a country go for it?

I can't really comment on the US leagues tournaments apart from NARCH.

Also forgot to mention MLRH. What's that like standard wise in the US?

MLRH is in the US too...so its pretty close to the MLRH hahaha. I haven't paid much attention to that league for a few years but I remember Axiom winning every year because of the stacked team they had.

[Justin 1933 134]

In my Opinion:

1st - IIHF

2nd - Pama Pro @ State Wars

3rd - NARCh Pro (when it is held in one location)

[Tyler Roy 86]

In my Opinion:

1st - IIHF

2nd - Pama Pro @ State Wars

3rd - NARCh Pro (when it is held in one location)

Have to agree.

[skinni44 3]

Is there many offside leagues in the US?

The point I was trying to make about MLRH is where it sits on the spectrum of standard.

[nummer55 10]

What I don't get is why more countries sign upto FIRS then IIHF. In the UK for instance we have 3 different associations. FIRS rules puck league, FIRS rules (kind of) full contact ball association and a IIHF rules association. I've played in all of them at some point but IIHF rules seemed to regress and isn't as big as the other two associations.

In Germany, they love ball hockey to the point that at one point it was a semi-pro league. Don't know if it still is? France has a semi-pro/pro league and so does Spain. Not sure on the Czechs, Italians etc but know their leagues are pretty strong and nationwide. The main thing about them......they all play FIRS. If there is a standard of player capable of making a IIHF team then why would a country go for it?

I can't really comment on the US leagues tournaments apart from NARCH.

Also forgot to mention MLRH. What's that like standard wise in the US?

FIRS World Championships are open, meaning you don't have to qualify. IIHF has qualification tournaments per continent. For the small countries this makes qualifying really difficult as there is always a lot of travel costs involved. It also means the members of the IIHF (national ice federations) have send in a team. In most countries the ice federations have zero interest in inline hockey (and even see it as competition) and will therefore never send a team. As far as leagues almost none of them play with IIHF rules. Belgium does as the inline hockey is organized by the ice federation. The offside rule and clearing rule don't bring anything on small rinks either. In all the Mediterranean countries inline hockey evolved out of roller (hardball) hockey. Thats why FIRS uses the odd nets. Most of the rinks used to be roller hockey rinks. 40 x 20 meters (130 x 65ft) and small corners.

In Germany inline-skaterhockey is played (under the IISHF) and the leagues are huge. Full contact, ball, small rinks and other funky rules. It's fun to watch but doesn't help growing the inline hockey sport as a whole.

As long as the federations and industry don't grow up and try to bundle their efforts I'm afraid there will never be a platform that showcases the highest talent level.