Part Six in a series on the current health and prospects of inline hockey. Part Five ran a week ago today. This portion is approximately 2,700 words, so you may want to consider printing it out and reading it at your leisure. Part Seven of State of the Sport, and the conclusion of this series, will come next week.
Many people seem to think so.
Along with the impasse between the IIHF and FIRS as to which federation, or neither, should be the world body for inline hockey, this question must rank as one of the most important facing the sport today. Speaking personally, I feel that every step must be taken by players and fans of the sport to ensure that inline hockey does not succumb to being viewed as a quaint poor relation or lesser version of ice hockey. Great though ice hockey is, inline hockey is a very distinct and different sport and it deserves to be treated as such. Every effort should be taken to bring about the day when inline hockey players per se fill the rosters of teams at the World Championships, as well as the professional inline hockey teams. The sport is exploding in many other countries outside of North America.