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| December 13, 2001
By Ken Houle
Joe Dumars Fieldhouse
The Success Story of Hockeytown
|  When you think of Detroit, commonly known as Hockeytown, most think of the Detroit Red Wings. However, anyone that has visited Detroit to play roller hockey knows of one facility considered to be one of the finest in the country if not the finest, Joe Dumars Fieldhouse.
What sets the Fieldhouse apart from the rest is a combination of experience, expertise and professionalism that make visitors from all over the country take notice.
The Joe Dumars Fieldhouse is in its eighth year of operation. The Detroit Roller Hockey Association has managed all roller hockey operations at Joe Dumars Fieldhouse since inception. The DRHA has vast experience in roller hockey dating back to the days prior to inline skates. The DRHA originated as a family business and has progressed to be the model of roller hockey leagues across the country. Kevin and Ken Houle, brothers, managing partners and owners of the DRHA have managed the DRHA from inception.
The DRHA enjoys an outstanding reputation across the country as perhaps the tightest ship in the industry not to mention the largest leagues. League operations have grown rapidly with double-digit season-to-season growth for the past two years. The Winter, 2002 season is expected to reach 320 teams, another all-time high compared to 269 teams for the same period just one year ago.
The Joe Dumars Fieldhouse also hosts some of the largest, most competitive and prestigious tournaments in the country. The Joe Dumars Fieldhouse operates five tournaments a year. Headline sponsors of these tournaments include Tour, Hyper, Mission and Nexed. The success of these tournaments can be evaluated by the quantity of teams and the distance they are willing to travel to participate. The most recently completed Tour Cup sold out at 69 teams. Over the past year, the Tour Mudcats (Pennsylvania), Tour Bandits (St. Louis) and Buffalo Wings (New York) are some of the marquee teams that have joined the Fieldhouse’s stable of powerhouse teams for tournaments. Nationally recognized teams that play regularly out of Joe Dumars Fieldhouse include the Detroit Mission Stars, Tour Venom, Tour Rockets, Detroit Mission Bulldogs and the Honeybaked organization. Rarely does a tournament go by in which Canadian teams such as Brantford, Oakville, or London bring their roster of teams.
The DRHA has also hosted a NARCH Qualifier each of the past six years. This past year’s Qualifier included an impressive 96 teams. The Joe Dumars Fieldhouse is one of the few facilities in the country which actually operate their own qualifier on behalf of NARCH. The relationship between the DRHA and NARCH is a natural. The owners of both organizations have long-standing relationships in roller hockey dating back to the 1980’s. Both organizations have similar philosophies and commitments to excellence. The owners of both organizations talk on a regular basis in order to share their views and observations on the roller hockey industry.
The strength of the DRHA is a simple philosophy. Focus on customer service and quality and you will keep them coming back. Couple those elements with the best officiating and competition in town and you have a success story in Hockeytown.
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