Some wore in-line skates that go fast, while others wore the old fashioned “street skates,” or Quad skates, the ones with two wheels in front and two in back.

Protective headgear ranged from traditional hockey-style helmets to those used by bicycle riders.

Sticks? Oh my!

One player, who opted to wear tennis shoes as opposed to skates, was using a traditional curved National Hockey League-type stick with the blade taped, that Wayne Gretsky may have carried on the ice at one time or another.

“It’s the longest one they had,” said Ben Hannold, a tall 11-year-old who attends North Whidbey Middle School.

After more than a six-month delay, the roller hockey program sponsored by the North Whidbey Park and Recreation Department had its first night of play on Wednesday at the new rink near the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce building.

Marcy Neal, who is helping recreation director Craig Carlson coordinate the program, said they had planned on starting the program before December last year.

“We had everything ready to go but someone vandalized the rink, tore out all the posts we had put in and really made a mess of things,” Neal said.

Nine boys and girls ages 6 to 11 were on the rink for the first night and coaches Patrick Thompson and Steve Szot had their hands full showing them how the game is played.

“We had a couple who had never skated before,” Szot said.

Just like traditional ice hockey the object is to shoot the puck, in the case of roller hockey the ball, past the goal keeper and into the net.

The game consists of three 15-minute periods or sometimes less, and there are four players and a goalie on each side, as opposed to five players and a goal keeper like in the NHL.

Also like ice hockey, roller hockey can be a contact sport, but not so much with the younger players.

You won’t see a lot of elbowing or cross checking going on, but you will be guaranteed a stay in the penalty box if you trip someone.

Allexis Scane and Tyeson Neal were working hard on learning how to pass the ball without hitting it too hard and Scane said they were having a lot of fun.

“We were both in kindergarten last year but I’m 7, so that makes me older,” Scane said.

The 6-year-old Neal just smiled and passed the ball back with his stick.

Roller hockey is not a new sport and is played in 60 countries worldwide. Roller hockey was also a demonstration sport at the 1992 Summer Olympic games in Barcelona, Spain.

“The word is going to get out and our program is going to grow,” Marcy Neal said.

Boys and girls ages 6 to 12 play Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 4 p.m. Teen and adult open play is Saturdays and Sundays beginning at 1 p.m.

For information, call Carlson at 675-7665, or email director@oakharborpool.com.