JACKSON TWP — From an upstart program to a model for other organizations — that's the path taken by the Seneca Valley Inline Hockey Association.

This past season, the association featured 175 players on 16 teams, ranging from elementary to middle school to both junior varsity and varsity at the high school level.

It's been a steady climb since the fall of 1999, when SV introduced itself to the scholastic inline hockey scene with a pair of varsity teams.

Since then, the teams have represented the school well, including this past season.

SV sent four teams to the Pennsylvania Inline Roller Hockey League championship round last month — Elementary Tier I and III, Middle School III and Junior Varsity I.

The last three won a league title and the JV I team, coached by Fred Fraer, finished second in the state earlier this month.

Mission Statement

While team achievements are certainly welcome and celebrated by the association, they are not what make it successful.

“One of the things that makes inline a unique sport is that we have tiers,” said former SVILHA president Jim Kane. “In other sports, the most talented kids get 95 percent of the playing time.

“At Seneca Valley, we have two varsity squads and three JV squads at the high school level,” he added. “It's not a case of being up by seven goals with a minute left in the game and sending a kid in just so he can say he played. More kids get to play and they play at their level.”

Inclusiveness has always been part of SVILHA's mission.

Barry Bohn is a former president and coach in the association.

“Back when I started in 2003, we had only about seven or eight teams total,” he said. “But we didn't like to turn players away. If we had 50 players who showed up and wanted to play, we tried to get all of them on a team.”

And making sure all the players are on the same page is critical to SV's purpose.

“Our team motto is to play for the logo on the front of the jersey,” said Nino Febbraro, coach of the Elementary Tier I team.

At Seneca Valley, inline hockey is a club sport, meaning the players fall under the district's policies and procedures, including drug testing. But none of the 16 teams receive financial help from the district.

“At Seneca, players on the varsity teams can earn a letter,” said Chris Hoch, the current SVILHA president who has coached inline teams at three different levels. “At a lot of schools, that's not the case because a lot of teams don't even have club status.”

Loving the Game

Inline hockey is as popular at Seneca Valley as its ever been and there's no sign of a letup.

“About 10 years ago, kids in Cranberry Township would learn to skate at a place called The Hut on Rowan Road,” said Bohn. “There was an asphalt rink there and many of the kids who played there would join one of the teams at Seneca Valley. That's when our numbers really started to pick up.”

The attraction to the sport can be traced to several factors.

“Ice hockey and inline are different sports, but they are connected,” said Kane. “And the recent success of the Penguins — especially Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin — has had a lot to do with our sport becoming so popular.”

Several ice hockey players at SV also suit up for inline.

Freshman Ian Fraer is one of them.

“I've been playing inline for eight years and ice hockey for two,” said Fraer, a goalie on both teams. “If I had to choose between the two, I'd probably go with inline because I'm more experienced.

“At my position, there's not much difference between ice and inline,” he added.

But that's not the case at other positions.

Jaryd Herbert, a senior, was a forward for inline and a defenseman on the ice this past season.

“Unlike ice hockey, there's barely any hitting at all in inline,” he said. “I like inline because it's a fast game and there's a lot of scoring.”

For some, choosing inline over the ice comes down to money.

One season of varsity ice hockey can cost a family around $2,500.

“The cost to play inline is about one-fourth of that,” said Fred Fraer. “There's a big difference in the league administration fees and the money it takes for ice or rink time.”

Inline players aren't the only ones who reap enjoyment.

“It was satisfying for me just to give kids the chance to play hockey and see them enjoy the sport,” said Bohn.

“For me, it's more than seeing the players develop,” said Febbraro. “It's taking 11 kids who don't know each other at the beginning of the season and seeing the friendships that are made by the end of it.”

The association is expecting its membership to increase.

“We are prepared to accept additional growth,” said Kane. “We are losing just eight or nine seniors to graduation this year. That's a very small senior class.”

More players means more commitment and volunteer help from coaches and parents, but that never seems to be a problem at Seneca Valley.

“If it was only a few motivated people, there's no way it would work,” added Kane. “We have a lot of great people involved. That's why we're so strong.”

Life After SV

With the growing popularity of inline not exclusive to Seneca Valley, players have the opportunity to stay involved with the sport after graduation.

Two SV products — C.J. Bohn and Adam Gaus — recently helped the University of Pittsburgh's inline squad reach the quarterfinals of the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association's Division II Championships.

Nearly 200 colleges and universities across the country are now members of the NCRHA, which includes five divisions.

“I hear kids talking to each other about going to college and playing inline,” said Hoch. “My son, Nick, will graduate from high school next year. He's looking at Slippery Rock University and one of the reasons is because they have an inline team.”

Like any sport, there's a big gap in the caliber of play between high school and college.

“The biggest difference is the speed of the game,” said C.J. Bohn. “Teams in college are so much faster. At the national tournament, there were so many elite teams. Every opponent was a difficult one.”

But for Bohn and so many other players, it all started with playing inline at Seneca Valley.

“I really had a blast playing inline in high school,” he said. “Playing all those games for Seneca Valley, that's how I got better. And I made a lot of good friends, too.”