Roller Derby 101

Most of us have seen the movie 'Whip It' starring Drew Barrymore. The Definition of roller derby seems synonymous with crazed violent woman knocking each other around. The modern roller derby, however, is a true sport governed by rules and regulations. It's a game that involves skill, speed and agility. While most sport teams have camaraderie, these roller derby woman have also built a community in this female dominated sport. In addition to immensely toned legs and buttocks; team members use the following words to describe this fast-paced game of athletics: confidence, empowerment, self-esteem, strength and a place 'to be yourself'.  Roller derby woman come from all walks of life. I met with two such woman in preparation for this blog, 'Brawlyanna' and 'Octopus Prime', a waitress at a five star restaurant and a Jr. High School Science teacher respectively. Their team mates includes a Military Veteran, a Nurse, a Policewoman, a Detective, a Stay-at-Home Mom, a Jewelry Appraiser, a Legal Assistant, a construction foreman, a Pet Sitter and a Full-time Student.

Now that I've painted the picture of extremely successful, capable woman, I'll focus on getting down to the basics of the game and what local roller derby teams mean to Kitsap County.

Roller derby actually first started in the late 1800's as a test of endurance staged over a grueling 100 miles. It's colorful history at the turn of the 20th century evolved into a game of strategy as it remains today. Although it's popularity seemed to die out after its first peak in the 70's, this sport has continued to evolve and expand to what it is today. To read more about roller derby's colorful history, check out what wikipedia has to offer at this link.

The game of women's roller derby is governed by multiple organizations with rule sets- sometimes a roller league may adhere to more than one set of rules. The two rule sets I'll talk about today are the ones used around here- The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) and USA Roller Sports (USARS). WFTDA was organized originally in 2004 as the United Leagues Coalition but was renamed the Women's Flat Track Derby Association a short time later. USARS is the national governing body of all competitive roller sports and has been around since 1972. Both organizations focus on roller derby as a legitimate sport and put safety of the players in the forefront. (Side note about the term 'flat track'- flat track refers, as you may have imagined to a flat track vs a bank track that we often see in movies. A flat track can be set up anywhere vs the bank track has an intricate set up of under braces and generally cannot be moved once set up).
Modern day roller derby is made up of two, 30 minute periods. These two half hours are divided up by 'Jams'. The 'Jam Clock' goes for a minute and a half to two minutes (depending on the set of rules being followed) in which time 5 players from each team protect their 'Jammer'. It's the Jammers responsibility to score points- actually the Jammer is the only team member that can score points. When the clock starts the Jammer from each team start behind the pack and must work their way up forward to score points. The players of each Jam are rotated in and out of the game. (This is the nutshell of the game- to really get an idea of the skill and strategy involved, you'll have to watch a game).
Kitsap County has five Derby Leagues, four of which are governed by WFTDA and one, Port Orchard's own team, Port T'orchard is governed by USARS. The Port T'orchard team recently took third place in a Regional Tournament and are now eligible to compete in the USARS National Championships in Oklahoma in October. This local team doesn't have much time to raise the $7,000 to fund the trip and they need the Port Orchard Community's help!
You can help support these amazing woman athletes by pitching in a few bucks- here's the link.