Mike Tweed (centre) looks far more enthused than his teachers Dean Fitness (right) and Mika Groves. Photo / Bevan Conley
Mike Tweed (centre) looks far more enthused than his teachers Dean Fitness (right) and Mika Groves. Photo / Bevan Conley
Over the summer Chronicle reporters have been trying their hand at something new, under the supervision of experts. In this edition, Mike Tweed convinces an old friend to let him try rink hockey. The results are... entertaining.
My contribution to the series this year has a bit of extra meaning.
Dean Fitness and I have been friends for close to 25 years. I’ve spent a lot of that time making fun of him for playing rink hockey.
I was a skateboard kid growing up, and that meant people with wheels on their shoes were second-class citizens.
Well, judgement day finally arrived and it came in the form of Dean and his 6-foot-two (187.96cm) son, 14-year-old Mika Groves.
Dean said learning to skate first was usually a good idea.
I had failed already.
When the hockey component came in, it was important to bend your knees.
“You want to be stable, close to the ground, and in control. Just keep doing it and learn,” he said.
Mike Tweed (centre) seems far happier with how his training is going than Dean Fitness (right) and Mika Groves. Photo / Bevan Conley
It started going wrong for me before I even hit the Whanganui Rink, with Dean having to tie my bootlaces. They were long, confusing and beyond this simple writer’s capabilities.
Then, while Dean and Mika glided across the concrete, I stuttered, slipped and fell.
The hockey part was more than manageable but on wheels, my stick quickly became more of a supporting device than a weapon.
Rink hockey, also known as roller hockey, involves two teams of five - one goalkeeper and four players roaming. A ball is used, not a puck.
“It’s somewhat of a free-for-all but as the game gets more complex, people play certain positions,” Dean said.
“Essentially though, there are four players on the rink who can go wherever they like.”
The first recorded game was played in 1878 at the Denmark Rink in London, England.
In the sport’s early days, its most famous exponents were silent film stars, Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin.
It is now played around the world. The biggest professional leagues can be found in Spain, Italy, France and Portugal, and the world championships are held every two years.
Dean, who is the president of the Wanganui Roller Hockey Club, joined fellow locals Mitchell Lockett and Jerome Allen in the New Zealand team for this year’s tournament in Argentina.
“Before I started playing there were two clubs in Whanganui, and there were a lot more clubs around the country,” he said.
“Skating started going out of favour a bit but its popularity has picked up again in the last couple of years.
“You would never see quad skates for sale at places like The Warehouse, whereas they are now.”
His face says it all. Photo / Bevan Conley
Mika also rows and plays football, but he said rink hockey was his number one sport.
He began around the age of 5, as did his young brother Elliott.
“We’ve got a really strong club here, with 6-year-olds right through to 60-plus,” Dean said.
“There are a lot of young players and that carries on into our older grades. We are growing and the aim now is to have more local competitions to keep those kids keen.
“I’m not sure we have a team capable of handling a superstar like yourself, though.”
I said I would probably bypass Whanganui anyway and head straight to Barcelona, where my talents would be properly utilised.
“They (Barcelona) are one of the bigger rink hockey teams,” Dean said.
“Their rink is a driveway apart from the Barcelona football stadium - Camp Nou.
“Back when Messi was playing for them, there would have been a massive flag of him next to one of the hockey players Ignacio Alabart.”
Alabart would have to make way for Tweed on that sacred piece of cloth.
Mike Tweed takes the "close to the ground" advice a bit too far. Photo / Bevan Conley
As for the hazards of flying around willy-nilly with a big wooden stick, there was rarely anything worse than the odd cut or scrape.
Dean has broken his nose twice but in a career spanning three decades, that’s not a bad return.
“It’s a pretty uncommon thing to happen, as is breaking a bone or doing some serious damage,” he said.
“You might get hit in the head every so often with a ball or a stick, but it’s not really that bad.”
It was all about starting slow and getting back up if you fell over.
“Things get easier as you go along. You just need to keep playing games,” Dean said.
