By Lexi Loughner, Staff Writer
P-T Inline rolls into the 2016 as it is no longer a club sport at Penn-Trafford High School. Over the summer, the organization decided to break away from the school district. However, they are still part of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Roller Hockey League (PIRHL).
Holding five championships in three years, P-T Inline holds high hopes for the new season. There are three high school teams this year: Varsity One coached by Leon Roman, High School Three coached by Dan Adamik and High School Five coached by P-T alumnus Jake Niehl.
Being a separate sport, P-T Inline has advantages that normal school sports do not. They can have two out of district players on their team if that player’s district does not have a team.
Playing in his ninth season of inline, junior Gabe DeLisi explained how his team has progressed.
“Our team has been playing together for around two years, with mostly the same kids. We started out in High School 2 and did well. They moved us to Varsity 1 and we did well so we stayed,” DeLisi said.
Varsity One played Denson Baldwin on Oct. 15, at Hot Shots Indoor Sports Arena. They lost just over 30 seconds into overtime, with a final score of 5-4.
Roman said, “Our first of two seeding weekends had us on the High School 2 level in which we played decent and went 2-2. In our next seeding weekend they moved us up to the varsity 1 level, and we ended up with the same results at 2-2.”
Delisi said that Hempfield will be the team to beat this season. With players such as Jared Gerger, Bobby Ross, Luke Rosendale and Trevor Cratty in net, they have defeated every team so far.
High School Three’s next game will be on Oct. 30 at 11:45 a.m. They play Murphy North Allegheny at Robert Morris Island Sports Complex.
High School Five held a standing of 1-0 before playing Byrd Central Catholic. They lost, 5-4.
High School Five plays Oct. 30 at 3:45 p.m. against Michel North Allegheny.
Colleges such as Robert Morris, Penn State and Pitt all have inline teams of their own. Some players have a chance at making it to the National Roller Hockey League. Inline has grown since a recent spark in the ‘90s.
The organization has fielded six total teams this year. P-T Inline has a long season with many good teams to look forward to.