England Roller Hockey

National Roller Hockey Association

Abbreviation	NRHA
Formation	1896
Legal status	Amateur
Headquarters	Letchworth, Hertfordshire
Location	England
Membership	29 Clubs
President	Keith Allen
Coaching Director	Carlos Amaral
Affiliations	CERH (Europe)
Website	England Roller Hockey Official Website

England Roller Hockey, which originated in England, is a game played on roller-skates with a ball and stick. It was first played at The Lava Rink in Denmark Hill, London, in 1885. The National Roller Hockey Association of England (NRHA) is the roller hockey governing body in England.

History and development

Roller hockey, originally called "rink hockey," was established in 1896, making it the oldest sports recognised association. It consisted of 10 men on each side, and the first roller hockey games were played with a tennis ball and ordinary walking sticks, or sometimes even old umbrella handles.

During the infancy of the game, the sport built up very rapidly, with many teams starting in the London area. New associations were created for the southern and the northern parts of the country. Whilst roller hockey is still a minority sport throughout the world, it has been developed by many European countries into a well-paid, professional sport. In England, though, after its promising start, roller hockey has declined. Its number of registered players increase in line with the skating trend.

Aside from the professional coaching director, Carlos Amaral, the association is entirely amateur. The England roller hockey team has been a FIRS World Championship winner twice (in 1936 and 1939, when the championships were also contested as the European Championships) and CERH European Championship winner 12 times.

The major competition in English roller hockey is the NRHA Premier League, which has seen both Southsea RHC and Herne Bay United dominate in previous decades. Grimsby RHC is another dominant team. The secondary tournament in England is the National Cup (seniors), in which Herne Bay RHC holds the record for most wins. A recent top contender in the National Cup is Middlesbrough RHC.

The NRHA is divided into three regions: Northern Counties (NCRHA), Eastern Counties (ECRHA) and Southern Counties (SCRHA).

England Roller Hockey and the NRHA

England Roller Hockey is the national association for roller hockey across the country. It is registered as The National Roller Hockey Association of England (NRHA).

In Britain, roller hockey forms one of seven roller sport disciplines affiliated with the British Roller Sports Federation (BRSF), which is recognised as the national governing body (NGB) of all the disciplines. The sport of roller hockey is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Roller Skating (FIRS) through its affiliate, the Comité Internationale de Rink-Hockey (CIRH), which is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)

The day-to-day operations of the NRHA are conducted by its executive committee members, with their sub-committees, which are elected every four years at the Annual General Meeting of the Association (AGM). The committee consists of the president, general secretary, treasurer, competitors, officials, and marketing.

In addition, the presidents (or their authorised representatives) of each affiliated region of the NRHA also sit on the association's executive committee.

Although roller hockey is an English creation, it is most popular in Latin countries such as Spain, Portugal and Argentina, where it is played professionally by clubs including as FC Barcelona, FC Porto, SL Benfica and Liceo Coruña.

The Regions

World championships

In the early World Championships, England was successful in winning the first two tournaments:

European and World Championship
Year	Host city (cities)	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th Place
1936	Stuttgart	England	Italy	Portugal	Switzerland
1939	Montreux	England	Italy	Portugal	Belgium

However, following World War II, England had no success in the World Championships, apart from a second-placed finish in the 1948 games in Montreux, Switzerland.

In the modern game, the World Championships are split into two categories. The World "A" Championships contest is contested by the best teams in the world, while the World "B' Championships, contested every other year to the World A's, see the top three finishers qualify to compete in the World A's the following year in a relegation/promotion system. England usually fights to remain in the World A's, or is relegated and fights for promotion. The national team has finished not higher than 13th in the World A's in many years, although they have been regular contenders in the World A's.

In the 2011 FIRS Men's Roller Hockey World Cup in San Juan, Argentina, England finished in 15th place and competed in the 2012 FIRS Men's B-Roller Hockey World Cup in Canelones, Uruguay.

European championships

England had great success in the early tournaments of the European championships, winning 12 titles. However, after World War II, although England attained one second-placed finish in 1948 and two fourth-placed finishes in 1957 and 1959, they have struggled to make any real international impact for many years on the European stage, which has been predominantly dominated by Spain, Portugal and Italy.

Year	Host city	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th Place
1926	Herne Bay	England	France	Germany	Switzerland
1927	Montreux	England	France	Switzerland	Germany
1928	Herne Bay	England	France	Germany	Switzerland
1929	Montreux	England	Italy	France	Germany
1930	Herne Bay	England	France	Germany	Switzerland
1931	Montreux	England	France	Switzerland	Italy
1932	Herne Bay	England	Germany	France	Portugal
1934	Herne Bay	England	Germany	Switzerland	Italy
1936[1]	Stuttgart	England	Italy	Portugal	Switzerland
1937	Herne Bay	England	Switzerland	Portugal	Italy
1938	Antwerp	England	Italy	Belgium	Portugal
1939[1]	Montreux	England	Italy	Portugal	Belgium
1947[1]	Lisbon	Portugal	Belgium	Spain	Italy
1948[1]	Montreux	Portugal	England	Italy	Spain

Premier League

National Cup

National Division One

References

External links

• National Roller Hockey Association of England (NRHA)