INLINE HOCKEY: Springs player says age won't stop him
He’s the world’s most accomplished player in a nontraditional sport that receives little national exposure and isn’t part of the Olympics.
That’s fine by C.J. Yoder, who wants to continue playing inline hockey until his body falls apart or he loses his winning touch.
Yoder, 31, of Colorado Springs, is captaining the U.S. for the seventh consecutive year at the World Inline Hockey Championships, which began Sunday and run through Saturday in Bilbao, Spain.
The team includes Yoder’s younger brother, Jami, and Mike Ciolli, also of Colorado Springs. The U.S. is favored in the 16-nation tournament sponsored by the International Federation of Roller Sports but could be challenged by pool opponents France and Switzerland, as well as Canada and the Czech Republic.
In 11 years on the world team, Yoder, a defenseman, has helped the U.S. win nine gold medals and two silver medals. He has competed at the past two Pan American Games, leading the U.S. to gold medals in 1999 and 2003.
“It gets tougher and tougher every year,” Yoder said of the world championships. “The first couple of years, we played Canada in the finals, and you had to win one big game. Now you could lose to France in the quarterfinals.”
The inline game has enabled Yoder to stay competitive longer than he anticipated. And it hasn’t taken a toll on his body.
In inline hockey, checking is allowed only along the boards and when pursuing the puck, which is plastic. The chances of someone getting crushed isn’t that great because each team has only five players on the rink — a goaltender, two forwards and two defensemen.
Yoder began skating as a toddler in Middletown, Pa., where his father, Charlie, owned a roller rink. He didn’t play ice hockey in high school but had short stints with the Phoenix Mustangs of the now-defunct West Coast Hockey League and the Monroe Moccasins of the defunct Western Professional Hockey League.
He has played professional inline hockey for the St. Louis Vipers of the defunct Roller Hockey International and the Pennsylvania Posse and Marple Gladiators of Major League Roller Hockey, which remains in existence.
In 2002, Yoder founded the Professional Inline Hockey Association with his father and his brother. The league started with eight teams, and there are now 25 teams in eight states, including Yoder’s team, the Colorado Springs Thunder.
“A lot of ice hockey people will say that (inline hockey) is for a guy that can’t play ice hockey,” Yoder said. “I’ve traveled all over the world. I have a good bit of gold medals and some great memories, too. I’m OK with what I’ve done in life.”
Inline hockey will attract national attention once it becomes an Olympic sport, Yoder said. That’s not likely to happen any time soon.
At the 1992 Barcelona Games, roller hockey was a demonstration sport, although there has been little talk of adding it to the Olympics. Inline hockey will not be contested this month at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and it has been ruled out for the 2012 London Games.
Asked if he could compete at the 2016 Olympics, Yoder said, “That’s pretty far out there. I would like to coach. Maybe I’m behind the bench instead of on the bench.”
Yoder maintains he’ll hold his own at the world championships.
“The players are a lot better, and you can’t do some of the things you used to do,” Yoder said. “But I can still play. I plan on doing it until I can’t.”
