USA Roller Sports (USARS), formerly the United States Amateur Confederation of Roller Skating, is the national governing body of competitive roller sports (

inline skating Inline skating is a multi-disciplinary sport and can refer to a number of activities practiced using inline skates. Inline skates typically have two to five polyurethane wheels depending on the style of practice, arranged in a single line by a ...

and

roller skating Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, si ...

) in the United States. It is recognized by the International Roller Sports Federation (FIRS) and the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

. USA Roller Sports has sponsored amateur roller skating competitions at the regional and national level since 1937 in

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympics, 1908 Olympics ...

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skati ...

and roller hockey; and since 2011 in

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (j ...

. USARS has been the United States representative for the International Federation of Roller Sports (FIRS) since 1972, when it obtained this designation after the merger of two predecessor roller skating federations (the Roller Skating Rink Operators' Association or RSROA established in 1937, and the U. S. Amateur Roller Skating Association, or USARSA). The organization exercises jurisdiction over matters pertaining to the participation of United States roller skaters in international competition, including existing or potential

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...

and

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

participation. The USARS mission statement is: "USARS is dedicated to creating, enhancing and conducting the best competitions and programs for roller sports. We instill the drive to win and be the absolute best… in sport and in life." USA Hockey Inline was one of two governing bodies for the sport of

inline hockey Roller inline hockey, or inline hockey is a variant of hockey played on a hard, smooth surface, with players using inline skates to move and ice hockey sticks to shoot a hard, plastic hockey puck, puck into their opponent's goal (sport), goal t ...

in the United States. It was created in December 1994 by

USA Hockey USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United ...

. On May 10, 2011, USA Hockey announced that it was terminating its inline program, and that all inline hockey memberships would expire on August 31, 2011, and encouraged USA Hockey inline members to transfer to USARS.

Roller sports disciplines

In its bylaws, USARS acknowledges "artistic", "speed", "roller derby" and "hockey" discipline categories. Its membership application for individuals, however, includes the following categories: *"figure" refers to

roller figure skating Artistic roller skating is a sport similar to figure skating but where competitors wear roller skates instead of ice skates. Within artistic roller skating, there are several disciplines: * Figures: the individual follows the figure circle line ...

, including singles, pairs, dance, figure, and precision *"speed" refers to

inline speed skating Inline speed skating is the roller sport of racing on inline skates. The sport may also be called ''inline racing'' by participants. Although it primarily evolved from racing on traditional roller skates, the sport is similar enough to ice ...

" was accepted as an official discipline in 2011 *"rink hockey" refers to quad skate roller hockey *"inline hockey" refers to inline skate roller hockey *"recreation" refers to fitness skating and jam skating (recreational dance skating) *"aggressive" refers to skateboarding and aggressive inline skating USARS also accepts organizations (teams and leagues) and noncompeting members (coaches and officials, typically).

Competitions Organized

The USA Roller Sports is responsible for many competitions taking place each year. One of the biggest is USA Rink Hockey National Championship.

Olympic status

The sport is part of the

and the

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 ...

and is noted as an Olympic Recognized sport. In 2005, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

selected Roller Sports among four other sports for consideration into the Olympic Games. In particular, Inline Speedskating was chosen and submitted for consideration. In the 1990s, hockey was slated as a demonstration sport but was never added as a full-fledged member of the Olympic Games' program. FIRS President Aracu has recently set up a multimedia site to make rollerskating sports more visible to the IOC. Enter that site from http://www.rollersports.tv/ So far figure rollerskating and inline speed skating are represented in online videos. Pres. Aracu also has posted on that site a few letters documenting some of the steps he has taken to promote international speed skating. FIRS and the CIC proposed to the International Olympic Committee that inline speedskating be the rollerskating discipline presented at the 2012 Summer Games. http://olympic.patincarrera.com/eng/news.html In February 2012 IOC President Jacques Rogge told reporters that rollersports are one of eight sports in consideration for the 2020 Olympics.

Controversy

In October 2001,

, the national governing body of ice hockey in the United States, challenged USARS jurisdiction over roller hockey; however, the United States Olympic Committee continues to reaffirm the charter of roller sports, eligible in the summer Olympics, to USA Roller Sports. In the meantime, USA Hockey formed a separate branch called USA Hockey InLine that is also promoting inline hockey events, but did not send a national team to the FIRS Inline Hockey World Championships. USA Hockey InLine does field its own national team, but it takes part in the IIHF Inline Hockey World Championships, a separate event operated by the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland, and ...

since 1996. In response, USA Roller Sports aligned itself with the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU) to help with growth and legitimacy of its hockey programs. Top roller hockey players have often shifted their allegiance from one organization to the other depending on opportunities. In some cases, players will appear at both World Championships in the same year. On May 10, 2011,

announced that it was terminating its inline program, and that all inline hockey memberships would expire on August 31, 2011, and encouraged USA Hockey inline members to transfer to USARS. Since 2011, USARS has been in an ongoing controversy with the

Women's Flat Track Derby Association The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is the international governing body for the sport of women's flat track roller derby, and association of leagues around the world. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Co ...

and the affiliated Men's Roller Derby Association, with competing rules sets for playing roller derby.

External links

Official Website for USA Roller SportsInternational Federation of Roller SportsUnited States Olympic CommitteeHistory of Roller Skating: Governing Bodies

References