It’s often hard to find places to play minority sports like Roller Hockey in the UK, however London is blessed with a large population and therefore more diversity in the sports that are played. This helps and there are a surprising amount of places where Roller Hockey is facilitated in London, below are the main and largest locations where you can find sessions to suit your needs. The clubs that have been selected have been picked because they’re spread out around London so no one will have to travel too far to get to them:

Firstly Battersea Inline Hockey Club, who provide open sessions every Friday between 8 and 10pm for a cost of £5 per session. These sessions are non-contact, intermediate puck level hockey with goalkeepers. They insist on minimum kit requirements, however that’s common and we’ll get to where to buy the kit needed later. These sessions are at the Battersea Youth Centre on Hope Street, SW11 2DA.

Next is Plumstead Skater Hockey Club, who run sessions every Wednesday night and welcome players of any ability for a contact session, which offers up a different challenge to non-contact but equally as fun. Cost is £3 per session and they run from 8.45pm to 10.15pm, helmet and gloves are required to play. These sessions are run out of Plumstead Leisure Centre which is on Speranza Street, SE18 1NX. You can phone them on 020 8855 8289 for more details.

Thirdly there’s Beckenham Inline Hockey Club, a large club with teams spread across different age groups, which would be of interest if you have children. Senior sessions run from 8.30pm to 10pm every Saturday and they’re non-contact. Cost is £5 per session and they’re based at 24 Beckenham Road, BR3 4PF.

Lastly we have SkateZone Skater Hockey Club, 020 8737 5689 who play skater hockey and are therefore full contact in the same vein as Plumstead and Battersea. You can find them at Hounslow Manor Sports Hall on Prince Regents Road (off Cecil Road). You can get there very easily as it’s located close to Hounslow East on the Piccadilly Line.

What You’ll Need and Where You Can Get It

Now onto what you’ll need to play, since many clubs vary from non-contact to full contact you’ll want all the possible gear so the transition from one version to another can be made easily and without hassle. For full contact you’ll a helmet, elbow and shin pads, protective gloves, a cup (men), a hockey stick and of course a pair of skates.

All these can be found online and ordered together however if you want to feel the equipment first I recommend these shops in and around London. Slick Willies in Kensington boast a number of celebrity clients and were established in the 70s and are still around today. This shop specialises in skates primarily but also has a range of protective gear and their experience in the field could also help in telling you where to get gear that they don’t cater for. They can be found at 12 Glocester Road, SW7 4RB.

Another large skate retailer is Club Blue Room, who are located at Marble Arch. They’re another of the big skate sellers in London and offer a wide array of equipment to suit the needs of the beginner or the pro. This is their flagship store so you can expect to see all they have to offer and they can be found on the Edgware Road next to the Odeon Cinema, W2 2EN.

As for online there are a number of quality sellers. The first is icehockeykit.co.uk, who offer helmets, skates and all the protection you would need plus hockey sticks and gloves. If you don’t feel like perusing all the above shops then this site will get it done. Apart from them slapshotuk.com also offer the same quality and have the added convenience of being able to pay via Paypal. If those 2 are slightly out of your price range then there’s always eBay, where bargains can be found, with many shops now working solely using eBay shops. With all this information you can’t go wrong, and remember to have fun!

Tags | hockey, London, roller