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PIHA still rolling strong in Colorado F


By Adam Dunivan


or CJ Yoder, the Professional Inline Hockey Association (PIHA) isn’t just a family busi-


ness; it’s an opportunity to keep a deep passion alive. Having grown up during the sport’s boom


in the 1990s, Yoder has been taken all over the United States and elsewhere to play and compete with the elite. Nowadays, he wants those who are just coming


up to know that such opportunities still exist. Over the course of its 11 years, the PIHA


has become a national endeavor. Started in the Northeast by Yoder, his father and his brother, it expanded to Colorado in 2006 when CJ moved out west to begin a Rocky Mountain division. Four of the teams that started out that year


are still going strong today: the Colorado Springs Thunder, Parker Prowlers, Mile High Miners and Fort Collins Catz. “We saw a lot of kids who’d become pretty good


little hockey players and then would move to ice hockey because there wasn’t anything to look for- ward to (in inline),” said Yoder. “The reason the league started was so that


the good kids skating around the rinks or the cul-de-sacs could come in and watch the Colorado Springs Thunder and see that it’s an event and these guys are professionals who play at an ex- tremely high level.” It’s the top of the game, and the Thunder is one


franchise that wants to make known that profes- sionalism is the key to keeping kids interested.


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skating around with kids and signing autographs. After all, for the youngest of the young, that’s where the impressions are made. “If you look professional and you act profession-


al, then to a 10-year-old kid you are - that’s what we try to do,” Yoder said. “We’re there for the kids. “There’ve been a number of kids who we’ve


pulled in basically off the street to watch a game, and they’ve gone on and signed up for a rec league - that’s exactly what we’re aiming for.” Yoder’s model has been realized in some of the


players who are currently part of the league. Fort Collins’ Tyler Mitchell was looking for a league to play in after graduating from Colorado State, and the Catz organization fit the bill. “There are always tournaments you can be a


Introducing young kids to roller hockey is a top priority for Jesse Tuttle and the rest of the Colorado Springs Thunder organization.


Colorado Springs plays in the CET Arena, an


inline-specific venue that might be one of the best in the country. They sell tickets to their home games, part of a 24-game regular season that consists entirely of local rivalries to cut down on costs. However, there are playoffs between the conferences, with this year’s finals scheduled for Harrisburg, Pa., in February. The Thunder also boasts a nifty Web site filled


with information on upcoming games and events, and it promotes itself well in the city. It also has a cool mascot. Yoder, who also plays for the team, makes sure every home game ends with him and teammates


part of, but it’s nice to have a league,” Mitchell, a goalie, said. The PIHA has seen plenty of flux over its years.


Last season, 16 teams competed in four pro divi- sions. Yoder said the league intentionally scaled back 10 teams in two conferences - East and West - this year as to include only the most serious fran- chises, but expansion is once again a possibility. Yoder said there’s an interest out of Texas and


Louisiana, with teams in Houston and the Dallas- Fort Worth Metroplex as possible additions. Expansion could mean a handful of cross-


division games, which could be instrumental in promoting the league as a whole. “That would keep the players excited about the


league, and obviously it’d be easier to bring people into a building if you’re saying there’s a team from Dallas coming or something like that,” Yoder said.


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