Bored of rugby? Get inline

In a country dominated by major codes like rugby, cricket, netball and football there’s a small niche for the exciting sport of inline hockey. The sport delivers both a beautiful and terrifying mix of speed, skill and a certain element of grace. Think ice hockey but less ice and more wheels. 

From the outside the two codes look very similar, however there are some differences separating them, such as 5 people on the rink compared to ice hockey’s 6. Surprisingly, inline hockey is non-contact unlike ice hockey. The practice of “body checking” is prohibited in Inline, and breaches result in a penalty against the guilty player. Regardless, when watching games, plenty of “non-contact” seems to occur on the rink.    

Founded in 1996 the Hamilton Inline Hockey Club is home to roughly 200 members, who occupy a purpose-built facility on Wairere Drive most nights of the week. In September, the club with the self-proclaimed “best rink in the country” hosted the 2022 National Championship tournament. The event saw teams from around the country compete over 5 days, with players, supporters, camera crews, and volunteers all creating an event buzzing with adrenaline.

As a minor sport at a local level, the club relies heavily on volunteer support and sponsors to keep things turning over. Club President Ra Greensill says sourcing is always a challenge and the logistics of running a local sports club mean “there’s never too much money”.  

The club was a recent beneficiary of upcoming TV show “Clubhouse Rescue” that sees ex All Blacks Israel Dagg and Stephen Donald travel around the country and renovate local sports clubs in need.  Greensill says he is thankful for the renovations that the show provided. Some upgrades such as new ceiling fans and a trophy cabinet were paid for by the club and installed as part of the show. Other renovations such as a new meeting room, social space, new carpet, fixing roof leaks and a lick of new paint were luxuries the show provided, that otherwise would require a large financial input from a generous sponsor.

Inline hockey in New Zealand isn’t as popular as it once was, but numbers are slowly increasing again. The club tries to make the sport as accessible as possible by providing a variety of different resources and events. Some of these are “learning to play sessions” and Friday night roller discos which, along with borrowable equipment, provide a gateway to start playing at the club. Like other codes, Hamilton Inline Hockey Club hosts a school league, where schools from around the Waikato can enter teams and play off against each other which is also where a lot of people discover the sport. 

So, who plays and where can it take you?  

The sport of inline hockey is fully amateur in New Zealand and only professional in a couple leagues internationally.  

In New Zealand club teams start at age Under 10s and go all the way up to senior men and women grades. There is a variety of mixed teams throughout the grades due to a shortage of female players to make up full teams. In fact, the Senior Women’s grade in the Nationals competition only had three teams to make up the division.  

Financial struggles beg the question about viability of playing inline hockey at a high level in New Zealand. Athletes wanting to represent their country in international tournaments are often met with the challenge of self-fundraising, as trips overseas can be upwards of $5000 per player that the national body cannot afford to pay.  

“The kids can just turn up with a pair of socks and they can loan the sticks, skates and helmet and they can just play”.

Hannah Jensen

As a career pathway, inline hockey doesn’t stack up against ice hockey, which is an obvious favourite in places like Canada, USA, Finland and Sweden. In these countries, Ice hockey dominates the fanbase of puck-based sports due to heavy promotion and significantly more professional opportunities in leagues such as the US based NHL. 

However, there are opportunities for national representation. Long-time Hamilton club member, and current Club Captain, Hannah Jensen is one of those that found the sport through the school league and has worked her way up to be able to represent New Zealand. As someone that has stood in the skates herself, this puts her in a good place to be club captain. Her current role sees that the players and the committee have a way to communicate and express thoughts, ideas or complaints. She oversees the coaches and managers, organises development opportunities for players and also coaches’ a couple of teams. As the voice of the players, she gets to know a lot of people involved with the club and says, “I reckon I know every single club member”.  

Jensen says there has been an increasing interest recently from adults wanting to play. This is potentially a good way for people to socialise and blow off some steam after work, if they can work their way around a set of rollerblades.  

Inline hockey is a truly exciting sport to watch, and the enthusiasm of the players suggests it’s just as exciting to play. With an accessible point of entry to the sport through local facilities like the Hamilton Inline Hockey Club, maybe you’ll give it a go and the sport will get one person bigger.