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When your sport of choice is popular in parks — soccer or basketball, for example — it doesn't take much effort to find people to play.

But when your game is a little less common — such as roller hockey — finding people to play with takes a little more effort.

Even with a rink readily available at Fredericktowne Village Park on Schifferstadt Drive in Frederick, those with an interest in the sport had to make do with hoping to find another hockey fan when they decided to visit the park.

Enter Facebook, the ubiquitous social networking site.

Eric Schneider, 32, of Frederick said he created the Fredericktowne Roller Hockey group page on the site in early May, and said he's been "surprised" to watch it grow to 64 members since.

He said he started to come to the rink to play, and would occasionally run into people, who would try to set up games while they were there together, but wanted to find a more consistent way to get together.

"After a while, we were able to get a few games by word of mouth," he said, but added that things really took off when he set up the page. "It took five minutes to set it up. I told a handful of people, and they told a handful of people."

The group put together a tournament in July, where they were able to have about 40 people come out to play on a Saturday, Schneider said. They were so pleased with the response that they've decided to hold a second tournament in October, hoping to draw another big crowd for a day of games.

Outside of the tournaments, members of the group now get together three to four times a week, arranging teams on the fly depending on how many people have come out on that particular day.

The people who come to play come from all sorts of backgrounds in the sport and ability levels.

Damon Davis, 32, of Frederick, said he used to bring his fiancée, Katie Riddle, out to the rink to play with him, as he could never be sure if anyone else would be on the rink. "She's gotten to be a big fan, and enjoy it," he said.

Riddle, 32, of Frederick, said she would first join Davis on the rink in sneakers, but as she started to enjoy the sport more, she bought her first pair of skates and hasn't looked back since.

"I really didn't start skating until spring," she said. "This spring was the first time I played in a game, and then I got addicted. I liked it in sneakers, but I never thought I'd like it in skates. [But] I felt more comfortable on skates."

Schneider is also fairly new to the game, having just picked it up last summer, he said. He said he had watched hockey, and would in-line skate for fun with friends, but never took up the game himself.

"I just liked it so much," he said, adding that he got hooked on the game once he scored a few goals. "It's nice exercise and it's easy on the joints.

The other benefit for the players is that the group allows them to arrange their games ahead of time, for planning purposes. Scott McIntosh, 36, of Walkersville, teaches science at Monocacy Middle School, and said having the regular game allows him and his wife to arrange their schedules.

"I'm old," he said, laughing. "To be able to tell my wife, ‘I'm going to play Thursday nights,' we can make plans. That makes it easy."

tlaino@gazette.net