Roller derby is on a roll

Looking back

In the 1920s, 'roller derby' was used to describe endurance races on quad skates. By the 1930s, it became a transcontinental sport, which had evolved from a skating race on a banked track to more of a physical competition that involved over-emphasized collisions and falls. The sport became very popular in the 1960s, but was shut down in 1973 when its popularity petered out. There were a few attempts to bring roller derby back over the years, especially in the 1980s, but to no avail.

Roller derby, as we know it today, was started in the early 2000s in Austin, Texas. A flat track roller derby, as opposed to a banked track that was previously used, was created because it was easier and cheaper to mark down a track on a flat piece of floor. Today, there are more than 1,200 flat track roller derby leagues around the world, of which four can be found in South Africa.

The C-Max Roller Derby League, in Johannesburg, was founded by Melinda Lotz and myself in June 2010 and was the first-ever roller derby league in South Africa. Since then, the sport has grown in popularity and can be found all over the country, with leagues also established in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria.

Playing the game

The objective of the game is to lap opposing skaters and score as many points as possible for your own team. For example, one opposing player passed equals one point scored. The game is played on a flat, oval track and with two teams, of which there are a maximum of 14 skaters in each team.

A roller derby 'bout' (competition) consists of two 30-minute periods of roller skating around the rink. Each period is then divided into two-minute 'jams'; this is when a pack of ‘blockers’ try and prevent the opposing team’s ‘jammer’ from breaking through the pack and scoring points. The first jammer legally through the pack is awarded lead jammer status and can end a jam before the two minutes is up. The team with the most points wins.

Teams will field five skaters for a jam; three blockers, one pivot (demarcated by a stripe across their helmet) and one jammer (demarcated by a star on their helmet). The blockers and pivots form one large pack on the track. The jammer's job is to try and pass through the pack and score points by legally passing players from the opposing team (on their second pass onwards). The pack will play offense and defense simultaneously, to both assist their own jammer to get through and prevent the opposition jammer from scoring points. The jammer scores a point for every opposing blocker she passes and if she is lucky, she can score a grand slam point for lapping the opposing jammer.

Knowing the rules

There are lots of rules in roller derby and breaking them means a one-minute stint in the Sin Bin, or penalty box as it is otherwise known.

Here is a list of some of the most common penalties you will see in a bout:
• BACK BLOCK: Pushing or shoving to the back of a player, which causes them to fall or lose position.

• ELBOWS: The use of elbows, which causes an opponent to fall or lose position.

• LOW BLOCK: Tripping a skater and making them fall or lose position.

• TRACK CUT: Skating out of bounds (off track) and re-entering in front of another player to better your position.

• FOREARM: The use of the forearm in a block, which causes an opponent to fall or lose position.

• HIGH BLOCK: A block that makes contact above the shoulders.

• STOP BLOCK: A skater engages an opponent whilst stationary on the track.

• DIRECTION OF GAME PLAY: A skater engages an opponent whilst skating in a clockwise direction (game play must move in an anti-clockwise direction. Skaters may skate in the opposite direction as long as they do not make contact with an opposing skater).