September 13, 2004 - For Immediate Release

.2004 in Review: One HAIL of a Season to Remember!

Marty Alexander and Shawn Bullock

The Hockey Alberta In Line (HAIL) season kicked off with their annual Officials Leadership Seminar at the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in Red Deer on Saturday, April 3 and concluded with the Alberta Summer Games gold medal game at the Oilfield Arena in Black Diamond on Sunday, July 25. The intervening 16 weeks was jam packed with inline hockey action in many sectors of the province.

HAIL continued its commitment to the development of the sport at the grassroots level in 2004. Outreach "exposure camps" were held in April and May in Vermilion, Sedgewick, Viking, Slave Lake, High Prairie, Olds, Red Deer, Innisfail, Camrose, and Ponoka. The first edition of a HAIL Coaching Handbook - intended for new inline hockey coaches - was also produced.

Established HAIL member leagues in Cold Lake, Vermilion, Lloydminster, Viking, Camrose, Innisfail, Red Deer, Carstairs, Calgary, Cochrane, and Sherwood Park began play in late April/early May and continued until the end of June. New HAIL member leagues sprung up in Sedgewick, Olds, High Prairie, and Slave Lake during the 2004 season.

HAIL held a High Performance Coaching Seminar in Red Deer on May 1 which was attended by 21 coaches involved with the Alberta Summer Games, Team Alberta and club teams.

The first of three locally hosted tournaments in the HAIL Summer Series took place in Calgary/Cochrane over the May 7-9 weekend, with the "South" tournament featuring 44 games involving 22 teams in the U10 to U17 age group divisions. This was followed by the "Central" tourney in Red Deer/Innisfail, June 4-6, which turned out to be a wild weekend. A total of 41 competitive/rep and recreational teams involving all age groups (U8 to Adult) played 89 games on four different surfaces! The tournament series concluded with Sherwood Park hosting the "North" event June 16-17, which featured 17 competitive/rep U12, U14 and U17 teams playing in 40 games.

Team Alberta held its annual selection camp in Red Deer over the May 14-16 weekend for players born between 1985-88. This represents the final stage in HAIL's High Performance Program. The level of play was exceedingly high as 43 skaters and 5 goalies vied for the chance to make the team (12 skaters and 2 goalies) that would represent both Alberta and Canada for the third time at the USA Hockey Inline National Junior Festival in Corona, California, June 24-27.

Red Deer also hosted the eighth annual HAIL Regional Championships, July 2-4. While there was loads of excitement over the July long weekend in Red Deer, as 27 different teams (from U10 to Adult) from around the province competed in 78 games as well as a skills competition, perhaps the highlight was the last game with Team Alberta competing in the Adult division and winning the gold medal.

HAIL's year-end tournament in Red Deer served as the exclusive Regional Qualifying Tournament for the 2004 North American Roller Hockey Championships (NARCh) held in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 16-31. It also served as a qualifier for HAIL teams wishing to attend the 3rd Canadian National Invitational tournament sponsored by the National Inline Hockey Association (NIHA)-Canada which took place in Calgary, July 16-18. This year's event not only included teams from Alberta and Manitoba but also from British Columbia as a result of the B.C. Inline Hockey Association joining NIHA earlier in the year (for photos go to: http://www.niha.ca/).

By all accounts 2004 was an awesome season for HAIL players, coaches, officials, administrators and fans. Presumably 2005 holds the same promise.

(Marty Alexander is the Communications & Promotions Coordinator for the Hockey Alberta In Line Development Committee and Shawn Bullock is the Inline Program Coordinator with Hockey Alberta. For more information on any of HAIL's programs and activities, please feel free to contact Shawn (sbullock@hockeyalberta.ca) at the Hockey Alberta office in Red Deer at 403-342-6777, Ext 20. To view photos of Team Alberta action in California, the HAIL Regional Championships, and the Alberta Summer Games competition check out "Hockey Alberta Photo Galleries at www.hockey-alberta.ca/2004/main.htm.