Son is joining roller league!

[sxharr05 6]

And I couldn't be happier, honestly.

My 14 year old today decided to give a local roller rec league a try. He played two years of ice but missed this past season due to recurring headaches. As he was a late bloomer (didn't start skating until 9 when most of his teammates started PLAYING at 6) and this was his last year of middle school "buy in" we had figured that was his last go at it. Last week I grabbed him a used pair of Mission inline skates and took him to a local rink. He didn't say much to me but told my wife he really had a good time. So today we went to an indoor rink for public skate and he was flying high. Skating better than he had on ice and grinning the whole time. While the Missus was watching she spotted a flier for the youth rec league and that was that. After talking to the owner/commish about openings (evals were last week) he offered an in-game evaluation for next week. Joe hasn't stopped talking about how good he felt on the rink today and we're thrilled that wants to do something besides pc gaming! 

He also mentioned that the typically tacky  roller unis fit his tastes just fine.

[TheProfessor 2]

Sounds like he's going to have a great time.  I never had the body for contact hockey (always underweight for my age), so inline was a great sport for me growing up. We need more "beer leagues" for teenagers. 

I actually prefer 4 on 4 because of the space it opens up. 

[althoma1 574]

Yes, 4 on 4 with no offsides or icings really opens things up. Having reffed both competitive youth ice and roller hockey I'll definitely say there's far less penalties and overall physicality in youth inline hockey than their is in ice hockey. Incidents and injuries can happen in either sport, but I'd say inline is generally the safer of the two and your son will also have more time and space to handle the puck.

[Jamarquan 201]

I wish there was a roller league near me ... looks like a lot of fun.

[marka 526]

Howdy,

Congrats!  Awesome that he's excited about it, and congrats to you for giving him the space to discover his enjoyment of it.  :-)

And my son is only 10, but I still hear you on the "thrilled he wants to do something besides gaming" thing.  :-)

Mark 

[sxharr05 6]

I think the biggest plus  for him is the FUN aspect. Playing club hockey, with poorly run  practices and an overbearing coach who only played his top forwards with any regularity drained his love of hockey.

I have to agree that 4 on 4 will greatly help him not only to grow as a player but to improve his overall enjoyment of hockey. The time and space aspect I think is the big thing as he was usually used in a defensive role and I think it wore him out a bit. Not that he didn't like it but he was given very few OZ starts and therefore very few clean offensive chances. As mentioned, whether it's just growth or comfort he skates better inline so hopefully that will produce more chances on it's own. 

Professor, I agree there should be more of a beer league-type (N/A, of course ;) ) type setup for teens, though I'd imagine in some locations there may be. The facility Joe will be playing at runs a 16U but I'm not sure how "rec" it is. After that it's men's league so you'll get 18 and up. Another option is of course to try to organize something on your own but that can be time consuming AND expensive if you've gotta take it indoors or get permits. A few of our local outdoor rinks have groups that organize their own "leagues" and some even have a draft at season's start. This is actually how I first got into league play in the late 90s. This facility's league is apparently really laid-back which appealed to all of us.

[burg02 0]

Should be a total fun for your son! Congratulations

[sxharr05 6]

So game One is in the books. Black team lost, but it was a good game overall with plenty of chances for both squads. The coaches played everyone pretty evenly. As this was Joe's first time with the team he was asked if he had played and what position. He played wing with his school team so they put him there and he played it well. He quickly developed chemistry with his linemate (4 on 4 as althoma1 had mentioned). He played his position smart, watching the points and providing an outlet to the D in their zone, working the slot and corners in the O zone. It was pretty fast-paced and Joe hasn't played much roller so he did what he could to keep up or slow it down to his liking. He finished the game with 3 shots including a 2-on-1 with about 15 seconds left. Most importantly he came off the rink with a big grin on his face and flashed thumbs-up.

[sxharr05 6]

Well, after a season that saw Joe miss 5 games (3 to travel, 2 to migraines) his team got knocked out in the first round of their playoffs, 8-7 in OT. He had a nice game with an assist (to finish with 4 on the season), two real nice in-close chances and overall aggressive play with or without the puck. His coach quickly realized he knew to play positionally sound and took advantage of it. He had a regular shift in all games, started 5 out of 6 games and was often out late in the 3rd. Most importantly he built chemistry with the entire team and could be seen smiling during and after every game. After his poor experience with his school team this was the most important part for us to see.