Blog Every Day April #3: I’ve got a crush on roller derby

The theme for today is crushes, and I have a crush on about fifty women at the moment. I’m not just being greedy though, they all have something in common; roller derby.  Since joining roller derby, I have met the most random collection of passionate, driven, ridiculous women in one handy league, the Auld Reekie Roller Girls.

Roller derby is an all-female, full contact sport played on roller skates. Players skate counter-clockwise around a track, in a pack (all together, like wolves!) where the objective is to get one player (the Jammer) past players of the opposing team (called Blockers) while also stopping the opposing team’s Jammer from getting past. For every player a Jammer passes, she scores a point.

It’s a highly tactical game with a lot of rules, and one that serious sports fans love getting into, as it lends itself very well to nerding out about rules and statistics.

Important things to know about roller derby are:

• A game of roller derby is called a bout. It is played in two halves, each lasting half an hour. These are broken down into two minute periods called jams.
• There are four Blockers on track from each team, and one Jammer from each team.
• One of the team’s Blockers is called the Pivot. The Pivot calls the shot and directs her skaters to do her bidding.
• Jammers wear a star on their helmets. Pivots have a stripe on theirs.
• A Jammer does not score points on the first pass she makes through the pack. Scoring begins on the second go round.
• Instead, the Jammer to get past the pack first on the first pass becomes Lead Jammer. Lead Jammers have the tactical ability to ‘call off the jam’. This means that a good Jammer could become Lead Jammer, skate super fast round the track, score four points and then call off the jam quickly, all before the other Jammer catches up.
• Oh, and for Whip It enthusiasts, roller derby in the UK (and much of the USA) is played on a flat track, rather than a banked one. It is governed quite strictly by the Womens’ Flat Track Derby Association (the Wfff-ta) and you aren’t allowed to punch anyone in the head.

The Hammer City Rollergirls have made a handy video breaking this down a bit. It’s very basic but covers all the main points.

 

When I first heard about roller derby, it was mostly third hand and in reference to some very scary ladies that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep up with. As someone who is not very badass by nature, it didn’t seem very me. However, after a couple of months of hearing my boss going on about it (Maul Flanders, number 12), I decided to give it a go.

I thought I would probably go to Fresh Meat, try it out for one session and then never come back, as the gear is quite expensive and the time commitment is huge. It didn’t look likely that I’d be going back. Instead, I figured out that I loved this new strange sport and was willing to spend quite a lot of money and reorganise my entire life in order to make time for it. I don’t know what it was for sure that did it, but the thing that kept me coming back was that derby is HARD. It’s not like you can walk in and be amazing after one session (we do have a couple of exceptions to this, but I think they might secretly be robots) It takes work. Learning to skate is hard enough, but learning how to skate with a team is a whole different ball game. You have to learn how to skate fast, skate in a pack, skate without elbowing anyone or knocking them down untintentionally. You have to learn how to be aware of other skaters and not trip them up, how to hit other players and how to take a hit and not fall. Every week since I started derby I have learned something new and chosen another skill to work on for next week. The first time I hit someone and they actually fell down, it was one of the best feelings in the world.

I am also so grateful to derby because it has given my body a function.  I, like a lot of people, spend much of my time on the internet, or behind a desk at work, so I spend a huge portion of my week sitting and not using my limbs.  It is an amazing feeling to have my body become more than just something to be insecure about. For the first time in years, my body is something strong, and I use it every week. I have terrifying quads, and my calves are basically comedy hams at this point, but it’s okay, because my tree legs are going to make me a better skater.

Tree legs in action

These days, I play with Auld Reekie’s Cannon Belles and I fight for my place on the team every time we have a bout. I am so excited about progressing as a skater, being a better player and being there for my team as time goes on. I started skating in August 2010 and still have a LOT to learn, but it’s more exciting than it is daunting. It’s building on skills in a tangible way. After practising really hard, I come away being able to do something I couldn’t do before, and that is a rewarding feeling.

Here’s a short video of the Belle’s taking on Perth’s Fair City Rollers back in September (way before I was on the team, so don’t try and keep an eye out!)

 

If you’re interested in seeing what all the fuss is about, our A-team, the Twisted Thistles, will be taking on Manchester’s Rainy City Roller Girls on April 16^th in ‘Gore’onation Street’.  You can find details here , and buy tickets here.

It’s the princely sum of five pounds and promises to be an afternoon of top notch derby! Come along and say hi!

GOREonation Street

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