Until now, the largest event in Rockford were the United States Youth Soccer Association's Midwest Regionals. Those tournaments drew 208 youth boys and girls teams when they were here in 1994 and 1997. About 250 teams will be in Rockford for in-line hockey. But what makes the in-line nationals so much bigger than any previous tournament is its length. We've had large tournaments here before, but nothing this long.
All gears are in full force.
All the volunteers and everyone who has pulled together to get this here are not seeing the fruition of it. It was such a build-up, and now it's here. Three levels of in-line hockey make up the tournament. The silver and gold men's teams feature select travel teams that have large national sponsors. Among the athletes are minor league professional ice hockey players.