Roller Hockey
Glides into Southern Maryland

By Michelle Brosco Christian
Photograph by Mike Stringfellow

It’s a fast, precision-based sport and it’s getting hot in Southern Maryland. Roller (or inline) hockey, like all great hybrid sports, combines elements of two sports to create a unique recreational outcome.  Brothers and hockey players, Scott and Brennan Olson, first developed inline skates in 1979 and when they formed Rollerblade, Inc., the new skates became one of the hottest fads of nearly the last two decades. It wasn’t long before other ice hockey players put two and two together and saw the opportunity to play their sport anywhere and anytime—without the usually critical element of ice.

Southern Maryland is one area in the state that has active and growing leagues in each of its three counties. “The kids in our league live for roller hockey,” said Randy Fink, president of the Calvert Cobras Youth League. “Our youth program starts kids at a young age and allows them the opportunity to play hockey well into their adulthood.” Fink added that all of the leagues grow because, “it’s a wonderful family-oriented sport. The kids seem to be having such a good time that many of the parents are now signing up to play pick-up hockey.”

Debby Buckingham, hockey commissioner for the Junior and Adult Leagues based at the Calvert Skating Center agrees with Fink, saying that the sport, and their program, is “growing by leaps and bounds.”

Three to four years ago, Buckingham said their program consisted only of an adult league, but now, there are leagues for everyone from age four and up. While the roller hockey program in St. Mary’s County is not growing quite that quickly, St. Mary’s Recreation and Parks Sports Supervisor Kenny Southern said, “It’s a positive program.” And, he added that the leagues (from age six to adult) are nearly at capacity.

Nila Straka, and her husband Joe, who run The Athletic Clubhouse in St. Charles, said that their strongest program is roller hockey; it even outdoes indoor soccer on numbers of players.

“It’s growing. Every year we have added and sustained our league teams,” said Straka. They hope to eventually have a facility that will accommodate more players and teams, she said.

In Southern Maryland, the current leagues are “non-checking,” which means that there is limited to none of the physical contact you might see in professional ice hockey. Of course, this is a plus to many parents.

Because in-line skating skills are critical to the sport, one might imagine that the sport is limited to mature players.  However, this is not the case.  Children as young as four years old are actively involved.

Tom Myrick has two sons who play in the league, both of which began at very young ages. “I love the exercise they get with the sport,” said Myrick. “Skating is a very intense activity.”

Myrick emphasized that young players are encouraged to attend a skating clinic before joining in league play. “We offer our camp in the fall for four weekends. It’s one hour on a Saturday morning.”

Myrick’s eight-year-old son, Tommy, said he prefers roller hockey over other sports he plays such as soccer and baseball. “I like having fun and scoring,” he said. He even said he enjoys the practices where he and his friends do warm ups and play in scrimmages with other teams.

St. Mary’s County’s program also offers an instructional hockey program once weekly for ages six and seven, said Southern. Once the children turn eight, they can begin league play, he said.

Straka’s program at The Athletic Clubhouse offers a “Power Skating Clinic” for all ages every Monday. “It’s designed to develop skills and to teach skating techniques,” said Straka, adding that while the clinic is mainly made up of children, it is open to anyone of any age, even adults. Straka’s center also offers two roller hockey camps during the summer for ages 15 and under.

A growing number of girls and women can also be found playing in many of the Southern Maryland leagues. Straka said, “We have at least one or two girls on each of our teams, and we have at least six women on our adult teams.” In Calvert County, there are at least 10 girls in the youth league alone and more in Juniors, said Fink.

So why is this sport so popular? Straka credits much of the sport’s popularity to a great deal of exposure to professional ice hockey on cable television channels such as ESPN.  “It is very big, it’s an emergent sport that I believe is ranked the fifth largest sport in the U.S.”

So while the sport of roller hockey does move quickly, you can catch it almost any night of the week in Southern Maryland.

Roller Hockey is in your Neighborhood

The following contacts can help you find out more about roller hockey in Southern Maryland:

• Calvert Skating Center, 410-257-7772

• The Athletic Clubhouse, 301-932-4348

• St. Mary’s Recreation and Parks, 301-475-4983