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Mami Speck/DN
By Mike Kluck
Staff Writer
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Kenny Scudder has won many hockey games
since he started playing as a seven-year-old.
But none of the victories were as big as the
one his team, Colorado Springs Lightning, won
Saturday night.
Aided by Scudder’s three goals in a TO
minute tie-breaker game against Columbus
(Nebr.) Lightning, Colorado Springs won the
Senior Men’s Ball Championship of the North
Central United States Regional Roller Hockey
Skating Championship 3-0 at Pershing Audito
rium.
Both teams, however, qualified for the North
American Roller Hockey Championship to be
held in Chicago in July.
But for Scudder, a long-time ice-hockey
player who only started competing in roller
hockey three years ago, the victory was very
satisfying.
“Roller-hockey is a very addicting sport,”
Scudder said. “It’s a lot of fun and a lot like ice
hockey. Personally, this is my biggest win.”
Scudder is not the only one who has
become addicted to roller-hockey.
Roller-hockey is the fastest growing sport
in the nation according to the National
Sporting Goods Association. In 1995,
3.2 million people participated in roller
hockey, up from 2.2 million in 1994 for
a 40.4 percent increase.
Jerry Vincent, the North Central United
States Regional Roller Hockey Skating
Championship Meet Director said he
had noticed a significant increase in the
\ tournament this year.
Last year the tournament had just
over 300 participants Vincent said,
while this year there were over 500
participants, starting as young as
eight-years old.
ft Also with the increased par
m ticipation there were over 210
Igk roller-hockey games played
at Pershing Auditorium over
five days of competition.
One of the first-year
participants was 11
year-old Randy Hall
from Lincoln. Al
though his team lost
both games in the
11-and 12-Ball
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Division, he said he still would continue to play.
“Everybody I knew was roller-skating but
that was not fun, so I decided to try roller
hockey,” Hall said. “It’s really fun and I like the
fast movement.”
It is difficult sometimes to find a place to play
roller-hockey, Hall said, and often he and his
friends have to play on area tennis courts.
Hall’s teammate Jeff Thoman said he started
playing ice-hockey, but because of the difficulty
of finding a place to play during the summer, he
started playing roller-hockey.
Although Thoman said he is smaller than
most of the other people he plays against he still
enjoys roller-hockey.
Lincoln Thunder's coach Dave Famell said
roller-hockey is a good way to help keep kids off
the streets as well as give them a variety of things
to do during their free time.
Besides coaching the 11- and 12-Division,
Famell also is the goaltender and co-coach for
the Lincoln Thunder Senior Men’s Division,
which won the Puck Division of the North Cen
tral United States Regional Roller Hockey Skat
ing Championships and will compete in the
nationals in Chicago in July.
Famell said he has roller-skated for a long
time but started competing in roller-hockey six
years ago.
We have a lot ot tun playing together as a
team,” Famell said. “There’s some violence in
volved, not a lot, but that makes it fun.”
Also with roller-hockey cOmes the price of
the gear which costs anywhere from $300 to
more than $2,000, Famell said. Hockey sticks
usually start at $30 on up, while skates average
anywhere up from $50.
“I don’t think of the money invested in it
because I just enjoy playing it,” Famell said.
“It’s like I tell the parents of the kids I coach that
all the pads are is an insurance policy against
possibly getting hurt.”
Famell said he enjoys playing with his team
mates on Lincoln Thunder, especially his co
coach Frank Dahlman.
Dahlman, who is originally from Minneapo
lis, has played roller-hockey since he was six
years old. He graduated from UNL in May with
a degree in English and is planning to enroll in
law school in the fall.
Dahlman said he was surprised more people
in Nebraska didn’t play roller-hockey because
every high school in Minnesota has an arena and
there are many outdoor rinks available.
“I never had to travel very far to play in
Minnesota,” Dahlman said.
But Dahlman added that with the addition of
the Lincoln Stars Hockey team to the city
should help to promote both ice-hockey and
roller-hockey to more people in Nebraska.
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