Roller skates are boots with wheels mounted to the bottom, allowing the user to travel on hard surfaces similarly to an ice skater on ice. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with a line of wheels replacing the blade. In modern usage, the term typically refers to skates with two pairs of wheels on shared axles like those of skateboards (early versions of which were made using roller skate parts). Skates with this configuration are also known as "quad skates" or "quads" and, like skateboards, steer by tilting the skate to one side, which causes the axles to turn inward.
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👉 Roller skates in the context of Hockey
Hockey is a family of stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, and playing surface. Hockey includes both summer and winter variations that may be played on an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or an indoor gymnasium. Some forms of hockey require skates, either inline, roller or ice, while others do not. The various games are usually distinguished by proceeding the word hockey with a qualifier, as in field hockey, ice hockey, roller hockey, rink hockey, or floor hockey.In each of these sports, two teams play against each other by trying to manoeuvre the object of play, either a type of ball or a disk (such as a puck), into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick. Two notable exceptions use a straight stick and an open disk (still referred to as a puck) with a hole in the center instead. The first case is a style of floor hockey whose rules were codified in 1936 during the Great Depression by Canada's Sam Jacks. The second case involves a variant which was later modified in roughly the 1970s to make a related game that would be considered suitable for inclusion as a team sport in the newly emerging Special Olympics. The floor game of gym ringette, though related to floor hockey, is not a true variant because it was designed in the 1990s and modelled on the Canadian ice skating team sport of ringette, which was invented in Canada in 1963. Ringette was also invented by Sam Jacks, the same Canadian who codified the rules for the open disk style of floor hockey in 1936.Certain sports which share general characteristics with the forms of hockey, but are not generally referred to as hockey include lacrosse, hurling, camogie, and shinty.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Roller skates
- 👉 Roller skates in the context of Hockey
- Roller skates in the context of In-line skating
- Roller skates in the context of Inline skates
- Roller skates in the context of Roller hockey
- Roller skates in the context of Rink hockey
- Roller skates in the context of Floor hockey
Roller skates in the context of In-line skating
Inline skating is a multi-disciplinary sport and can refer to a number of activities practiced using inline skates. Inline skates typically have two to five polyurethane wheels depending on the style of practice, arranged in a single line by a metal or plastic frame on the underside of a boot. The in-line design allows for greater speed and maneuverability than traditional (or "quad") roller skates. Following this basic design principle, inline skates can be modified to varying degrees to accommodate niche disciplines.
Inline skating is commonly referred to as rollerblading, or just blading, due to the popular brand of inline skates, Rollerblade.
Roller skates in the context of Inline skates
Inline skates are boots with wheels arranged in a single line from front to back, allowing one to move in an ice skate-like fashion. Inline skates are technically a type of roller skate, but most people associate the term roller skates with quad skates, another type of roller skate with a two-by-two wheel arrangement similar to a car. Quad skates were popularized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Inline skates became prominent in the late 1980s with the rise of Rollerblade, Inc., and peaked in the late 1990s. The registered trademark Rollerblade has since become a generic trademark: "rollerblading" is now a verb for skating with inline skates, or "rollerblades."
In the 21st century, inline skates come in many varieties, suitable for different types of inline skating activities and sports such as recreational skating, urban skating, roller hockey, street hockey, speed skating, slalom skating, aggressive skating, vert skating, and artistic inline skating. Inline skaters can be found at traditional roller rinks, street hockey rinks, skateparks, and on urban streets. In cities around the world, skaters organize urban group skates. Paris Friday Night Fever Skate (Randonnée du Vendredi Soir) is renowned for its large crowd size, as well as its iconic +10 mile urban routes. Wednesday Night Skate NYC is its equivalent in New York City, also run by volunteers, albeit smaller in size.
Roller skates in the context of Roller hockey
Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates (quad skates) or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 countries worldwide.
There are three major variants of organized roller hockey. Traditional "roller hockey" (also called rink hockey, quad hockey, and hardball hockey) is played using quad skates, curved/'cane' sticks, and a ball; it is a limited-contact sport. "Inline hockey" is played using inline skates, ice hockey sticks, and a puck; it is a full-contact sport though body checks are not allowed. Most professional hockey games take place on an indoor or outdoor sport court (a type of plastic interlinking tiles used to create a skating surface). Otherwise, any dry surface can be used to host a game, typically a roller rink, macadam (asphalt), or cement.
Roller skates in the context of Rink hockey
Roller hockey (in British English), rink hockey (in American English) or ball roller hockey is a team sport played on roller skates. It is a quad-skate team sport where two teams face-off against one another, trying to drive a hard ball with their sticks into the opposing teams' goalnet. Each team has five players on the rink at a time, four of whom are skaters and one who is the goalkeeper. The game has two 25-minute halves, with 15-minute halftime intermission, plus up to two 5-minute golden goal (a.k.a. "sudden death") periods to settle ties with the clock stopping when the ball becomes dead. If the tie persists, a penalty shootout will determine the winner. Players – including the goalie – use quad skates, whereas inline skates are used in inline hockey. The sticks are similar to those in bandy and shinty. Excessive contact between players is forbidden in rink hockey, unlike inline hockey.
Since 2017, the World Championships for the sport have been part of the World Roller Games organised by World Skate.
Roller skates in the context of Floor hockey
Floor hockey is a broad term for several indoor floor game codes which involve two teams using a stick and type of ball or puck. Pucks are either open or closed. These games are played either on foot or with wheeled skates. Variants typically reflect the style of ice hockey, field hockey, bandy or some other combination of sport. Games are commonly known by various names including cosom hockey, ball hockey, floorball, or simply floor hockey.
Two floor hockey variants involve the use of wheeled skates and are categorized as roller sports under the title of roller hockey. Quad hockey uses quad skates, commonly known as roller skates, and appears similar to bandy, while inline hockey uses inline skates and is of the ice hockey variation.