Professional Inline Hockey Association
Current season, competition or edition: Founders Cup (PIHA)
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| Sport | Inline hockey |
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| Founded | 2002, Middletown, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Founder | Charles Yoder |
| Inaugural season | 2002 |
| CEO | Denis Jelcic |
| President | CJ Yoder |
| No. of teams | 15 |
| Country | United States |
| Continent | North America |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Marple Gladiators (1st title) |
| Most titles | Hershey Typhoon (3) |
| Related competitions |
PIHA Pro Division PIHA Minor Division PIHA Junior Divisions PIHA Master Division |
| Official website | ThePIHA.com |
The Professional Inline Hockey Association (PIHA) is an "incorporated for-profit association" which operates an inline hockey league, with two conferences, of 11 franchised member clubs, all of which are currently located in the United States. Headquartered in Middletown, Pennsylvania, the PIHA is considered to be one of the premier inline hockey leagues in the United States. The Founders Cup Finals is held annually to crown the league playoff champion in the Pro and Minor divisions at the end of each season. PIHA also offers divisions for teens (Junior PIHA), & adults 35-and-over (Masters Division).
The league was founded in 2002, in Middletown, Pennsylvania, by Charles, CJ Yoder and Jami Yoder, who thought inline hockey could support a professional inline hockey league. It started with eight franchised member clubs and, through a series of expansions, contractions, and relocations, the league is now composed of 11 active franchises.
The PIHA draws many highly skilled players from mainly the United States, but draws players from other inline hockey countries. Although players are usually located in close proximity to their franchise locations, some players travel long distances to compete in the league.
In 2001, after the creation of a series of struggling inline hockey leagues --Roller Hockey International, Pro Beach Hockey, and Major League Roller Hockey—a longtime inline hockey rink owner, Charles Yoder, and his sons CJ and Jami, had an idea of a professional league for about three years. After RHI started for its second time; and its chances didn't look good, Charles Yoder thought 'There's gotta be a way for it to work'. His sons, CJ and Jami, played in RHI, PBH and MLRH, and every league they played in had a list of things they did wrong so Charley and his sons put it down on paper. This led to the creation of the Professional Inline Hockey Association in 2002; the founding teams were the Cherry Hill Renegades, Delaware Blades (which became the Marple Grenades in 2003), Harrisburg Lunatics, Line Lexington Law Dawz, Mount Laurel Generals, Pottstown Machine, Reading Nasty Boyz, and York Typhoon.
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