Rink hockey

Rink hockey is a variant of Roller hockey and is one of the three most popular hockey variants, along with Field hockey and Ice Hockey. It is highly popular in Latin countries, with Portugal (15 World titles), Spain (12 World titles), Italy (4 World titles) and Argentina (4 World titles), dominating the sport since the early 1940s. Other countries, such as France, Brazil, Germany and Japan are regular international competitors, but rarely win over the traditional top competitors. Rink hockey is referred to as hardball hockey in the United States.

Rink Hockey should not be confused with another variant of roller hockey called Inline Roller Hockey, or just inline hockey, which is played on inline skates. Inline Hockey also uses different sticks and rules.

Rink hockey is a very fast sport, which may create a problem for TV transmissions, and new rinks are built using blue or white pavement to make the ball more visible on TV. It was a demonstration sport in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The most important clubs in Europe (and, arguably, the world) are FC Porto, SL Benfica and Óquei de Barcelos from Portugal, FC Barcelona, Reus Deportiu Hockey and Liceo de Coruña from Spain and occasionally Primavera Prato and Bassano Hockey 54 from Italy.

The game

Two five-man teams (four skaters and one goalkeeper) try to drive the ball with their sticks into the opponents' goal. While stopping the ball with the foot or any part of the body except the hand is allowed, the ball can only be put in motion by a stick. The game has two 25-minute halves (for adults), with the clock stopping when the ball becomes dead. Each team has a one-minute timeout in each half.

Each team has a minimum of six players (a backup goalie is required) and a maximum of ten.

The rink

The rink has usually a polished wooden surface, but any flat, non-abrasive and non-slippery material such as treated cement is acceptable. Likewise, it is allowed for rink owners to put advertisements in the playing area, as long as they don't interfere with ball or skate motion, which includes both physically (must be at the exact same level as the remaining area) and visually (dark colours or any other pattern which can mask the ball).

It can have one out of three standard sizes (a minimum of 34x17 meters, an average of 40x20 and a maximum of 44x22) or any size between the minimum and maximum values that has a 2:1 size ratio with a 10% margin of error.

The rink has rounded corners (1 m radius) and is surrounded by a 1 m wall. The wall also has a wooden base 2 cm wide and at least 20 cm high. Behind the goals there is a 4 m high net, even if there are no stands (to avoid the ball bouncing back from a wall and hitting a player). If the ball hits the net, it's considered to be out of bounds.

The markings are simple. The halfway line divides the rink into halves, and 22 m from the end wall an "anti-play" line is painted. The area is a 9 X 5.40 m rectangle, placed from 2.7 to 3.3 m ahead of the end table. It has a protection area for goalkeepers, a half-circle with 1.5 m radius. All markings are 8 cm in width. The goal (painted in fluorescent orange) is 105 cm high by 170 cm wide. Inside the goal there is a thick net and a bar close to ground to trap the ball inside (before, two extra referees stayed behind the goal to judge goal decisions), and 92 cm deep. While not attached to the ground, it is extremely heavy to prevent movement.

Equipment

The clothing is similar to that used in football (soccer)—socks up to the knee, shorts and a shirt.
Sticks are the same for both skaters and goalkeepers. They can be of any material approved by the CIRH (although wooden sticks are still most often used), with a minimum length of 90 cm and maximum of 115 cm. They cannot be wider than 5 cm or weigh over 500 g.
The ball is made of vulcanized rubber, has a 23 cm diameter, and weighs 155 g.
The skates must have two pairs of wheels, with a minimum diameter of 3 cm. Players are allowed to use brakes in the front of the skate, with a diameter or larger side not larger than 5 cm.
Protective material includes shin guards, knee caps, jock strap and gloves. Specifications for helmets and elbow caps vary from federation to federation.
Goalkeepers (or netminders) use protective padding on the torso (plus shoulders) (the maximum amount is being regulated, since, as in ice hockey, many goalkeepers have been using massive protection to make them larger and broader), neck guard, large shin guards (not longer than 75 cm), gloves protecting the whole forearm and a helmet with either a grid or unbreakable transparent material .

External links

Rink Hockey | Indoor sports | Team sports | Hockey

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The game

The rink

Equipment

External links