Rink Hockey

Roller hockey

Argentine player during the 2007 Rink Hockey World Championship.
Highest governing body	CIRH
Nicknames	Roller Hockey, Rink Hockey, Hardball Hockey, quad
First played	End-19th century Britain
Characteristics
Contact	No
Team members	5 per side, a goal-keeper and four floor players
Mixed gender	Yes, separate competitions
Type	Team sport, ball sport
Presence
Olympic	Demonstration sport at 1992 Summer Olympics.

Roller hockey (in British English), rink hockey (in American English) or quad hockey is a team sport that enjoys significant popularity in a number of Latin countries.

Two five-man teams (four skaters and one goalkeeper) try to drive the ball with their sticks into the opponents' goal. The ball can only be put in motion by a stick, not the skate, otherwise a foul will be stated. 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.

Players – including the goalie – use quad skates, whereas inline skates are used in inline hockey. Excessive contact between players is forbidden in rink hockey, unlike inline hockey.

Roller Hockey was a demonstration rollersport in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. There have been 42 editions of the FIRS Roller Hockey World Cup, with Latin countries dominating the sport since the 1940s: Spain (16 World titles), Portugal (15 World titles), Argentina (5 World titles) and Italy (4 World titles). Other countries, such as France, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Andorra and England are regular international competitors, but rarely overcome the traditional powers.