Roller Hockey
In roller hockey, two opposing teams attempt to get a ball or puck into the other team's goal while wearing roller skates. The game can be played with either quad or inline skates.
The National Museum of Roller Skating in Lincoln, Nebraska, commemorates the sport of roller hockey. Initially, the sport was played with wooden curved sticks, known as canes, and a rubber ball. The hardball division still plays the game this way, but the more common way of playing involves a puck and hockey sticks, just like ice hockey.
Overview
According to the eHow article "How to Understand the Rules of Roller Hockey," there are several important differences between roller hockey and ice hockey. One difference is that it is legal to kick the puck with your skates, though this technique may not be used to score a goal. No checking or body blocking is allowed, and there are only five players on a team as opposed to six. Shots can be taken from anywhere on the court.
A short-lived hockey league for inline skaters, Roller Hockey International (RHI) was formed in 1993 and lasted until 1999. This roughly coincided with the peak of the sport's popularity in the public eye. The sport of roller hockey in the United States is now governed by Major League Roller Hockey (MLRH), a nonprofit organization which sets up competitions around the U.S.
Perhaps the high point for quad roller hockey, in terms of world attention, was when it was included as a demonstration roller sport at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona. The top competitors were Argentina, Spain, Italy and Portugal.
Popularity of Roller Hockey in Central & South America
Roller hockey is a much more popular sport in Central and South America than it is in the United States. According to the Kitsap Sun, it has been part of South American culture for a century. And according to Stephane Marcoux, who has been called the father of the sport in Colombia, inline hockey is played at high schools in all of Colombia's provinces.
There are roller hockey tournaments such as the Rink Hockey South American Club Championship, which is held in a different South American country every year. Argentina tends to dominate the competition. There is also the Rink Hockey American Championship, which, like the summer Olympics, is only held every four years. Originally, only countries in the Americas were eligible to compete, but it has since expanded to encompass South Africa and Spain, two other countries where the sport is popular.