page_title: Street hockey
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Street hockey / History
caption_attribution_description: A game of street hockey in St. Andrews, New Brusnwick, Canada.
context_page_description: Street hockey is a variation of the sport of ice hockey where the game is played outdoors on foot, or with inline or roller skates using a ball or puck. Both ball and puck are typically designed to be played on non-ice surfaces. The object of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by shooting the ball or puck into the opposing team's net. Street hockey in pickup form is generally played under the following guidelines since there are no "official rules" for local pickup hockey:
  Physical contact between players is extremely limited to avoid injury.
  Minimal or no hockey equipment is worn by the runners, depending on players' preferences.
  Players agree whether or not to allow slap shots and raising of the stick, both of which can incur serious injury to players, as there is minimal or no equipment worn.
  Players determine whether to use a hockey ball, a tennis ball, or a street hockey puck.
  There is no referee except when agreed upon by both teams.
  In its most pure form, street hockey is always played on an outdoor surface, which the genesis of the name street hockey.
context_section_description: Road hockey is believed to have begun when roads started getting paved in wealthier parts of North America, around the turn of the 20th century. The term street hockey was thus started in Canada at some similar time, but a search of records on the internet and in several libraries by fans of hockey, in general, has not turned up an exact year. The sport and thus the term street hockey eventually spread south to the United States. Most people who play the sport generally agree that no single person or entity invented the term "street hockey" but that it simply invented itself, just like the term "ice hockey," since it describes a form of hockey. People would literally play the game out in the street so they had to ask people to play by asking them if wanted to play hockey out in the street.
  All around the country you will see many kids of all ages some as young as 6 years old playing this game. As children and teenagers, almost all ice hockey players work on their skills and practice their games by playing street hockey, often alone in driveways or out in the street in front of their houses.Which is common since, you do not need ice to play. These kids can play anywhere with a hard ground surface.  Some kids even organize teams to compete against others. There are official games and tournaments these kids can join. Throughout the history of organized hockey, many professional ice players participate in various promotional street hockey games and charity events, often appearing as part of the respective National Hockey League team's youth street hockey programs. Since not every ice hockey player can be on the ice at all times, the vast majority play some form of street hockey either for pure enjoyment, to better their overall hockey skills, or both.
  Also, since the cost of smaller-sized home ice rinks was too expensive for professional players, many would often play street hockey throughout the summer months to keep in shape physically. That also offered them a chance to work on various different aspects of the game in a cost-effective manner. Before the era of big salaries, many semi-professional and professional players would play in pickup games with each other when they lived within driving distance of each other.In-line hockey is considered less expensive than ice hockey. Therefore, more likely for kids to play and keep up with, this can include their game and fitness.
  It was only in the early 1970s, when Raymond W. Leclerc, the founder of the Mylec Corporation and the creator of the No Bounce orange ball, along with several prominent players in the Northeastern United States and Southeastern Canada, established rules for the more organized forms of the game. These rule were quickly adopted by most leagues in the area and then eventually spread throughout the US and Canada by a printed rulebook, which people could purchase. LeClerc is informally recognized as the "Father of Street Hockey."
  After a few years of experimenting with all the dynamics, Leclerc built a model site in 1974 to play and advance the game in Leominster, Massachusetts.  The site, Leominster DekHockey Centre, has 3 outdoor rinks all with modular sport court surfaces and is informally known as the "Home of DekHockey." The organized version of street hockey with teams competing in leagues caught on with a large number of players in Toronto, Montreal, Ontario, New York, Long Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.  Various leagues and tournaments soon were springing up throughout those regions. The game then spread South and West as the Northeast US players relocated to different areas of the United States and Canadian players moved outside of the Ontario and Quebec provinces.
  In Canada, the sport was organized for tournament play on a provincial and national level in the late 1970s, with the founding of the Canadian Ball Hockey Association. More formal organization of the sport quickly followed, which led to provincial tournaments and eventually the Canadian National Championships.
caption: A game of street hockey in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada.
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