A friend of mine who announces the derby matches in Montreal was up in Toronto a few weeks ago, and invited me to come to a game with him. We were seated right on the arena floor next to the track, behind the starting line. I will admit I was unenthusiastic to start with, but by the end of the first bout I was yelling and screaming just like the rest of the fans.
It’s a little trashy, I’ll admit (okay, it’s a lot trashy, but it’s fun trashy), but most of those very skinny women could break me in two and the bigger ones could stick my bits back together afterwards.
So now I’m hooked, and I’m waiting for my rollerskates to arrive in the mail.
Any other derby fans on the Dope? Any Derby Girls? Anyone have any tips on how I fall on my (artificially padded) knees instead of my (less artificially padded) ass while learning how to skate?
Roller derby just recently got started here. I’ve been to all three home bouts. Great fun! I’ve found it makes for some great action shots, even with crappy equipment:
Those are some great photos! I notice the track markings during one of the bouts seem to be glowing red - is that just a photographic artifact, or did they use neon tape in the arena or something? All the bouts I’ve been to in Toronto, the tracks have been marked in black or dark grey tape over something to make it a bit of a speedhump.
No, the track really is lighted like, er, Christmas lights.
And if you’re going to take up skates, you’ll need to learn how to “fall small” (as someone posted on my Flickr). Two out of the three bouts I attended, someone broke their leg.
Is it too late to give this a bump? I just now saw it.
I’m a derby girl. Joined our local league in February and I LOVE it. One of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. I am usually neither athletic nor cool nor confident, but I’m getting there. At a recent bout a little girl asked me for my autograph and I nearly cried.
Any updates, Daerlyn? Have you stuck with it? By now, you’ve likely learned how to fall correctly. Got a derby name picked out?
If anyone wants to turn this into an “Ask a Roller Derby Girl” thread, I’m game.
I have my skates now and all the protective gear, but work fell on me like a ton of bricks and I haven’t been able to get out to skate at all (except once, in which I did not die, but flailed a lot, and my husband laughed at me. Bastard).
Toronto Roller Derby is starting their tryouts and clinics soon, I got an email the other day advising me. They will teach all the fresh meat how to skate, so I’m relieved that it’s okay that I look like a toddler learning to walk on my skates.
Our rugby club has a working relationship with the Santa FeDisco Brawlers. We provide the as many bodies as necessary satisfy the security requirements for the beer garden. In return, they help us at our Fiesta 10s tournament. They’re also work closely with other area women rugby clubs, including an awesome mud wrestling fundraiser they had a couple weeks ago.
I already knew all the rules from watching banked track co-ed derby on ESPN Classic, and they needed an extra official to keep track of minors (penalties), so I got to stand right in the middle of the oval at their last home event. It’s a good time, and it really gets the hairs on the back of the neck standing up when one of the home girls is the lead jammer and is busting through blockers.
No hints, tips, or tricks, but I enjoy watching the teamwork and strategy that develops in different situations. I thought it was just a bunch of girls out there skating and hitting each other, but then I realized that’s what a lot of people think about rugby, too.
Nice to hear you say that. One of my favorite sights in the whole world is when I am lead jammer, watching that ref skate around the inside of the track, pointing at me the whole time.
One the refs for ToRD is known as the Krow, and she used to be an artistic rollerskater/figureskater. In addition to usually being the lead jammer ref, she also livens up intermissions by doing figures out on the track. Only kind of a sequiter, I know, but kind of cool.
I also just got an email from ToRD yesterday telling me the Fresh Meat Meet’N’Greet is next Saturday. I’m looking forward to it.
My name is Amanda Monium. But, I can’t get it registered because it’s too close to some other names. And, I don’t really like it all that much, so at the end of our season, I’m 90% sure I’m going to change it to Sugar Shock.
The new roller derby is very, very real. The derby from the 70s was mostly fake, kind of in the same way professional wrestling is fake. They are really athletes, and throwing each other around, but it’s choreographed.
Modern roller derby is not quite as violent as it used to be. We can’t throw elbows, clothesline people, trip, etc. A lot of people think it’s still fake because it’s still very showy. The girls have fake names, and adopt derby personae to match.
That’s about as far as it goes. We practice 3-4 times a week, and have real, non-choreographed bouts against other teams. Girls slam into each other so hard it will make your brain rattle, and in 50% of the bouts I was in this year, someone ended up with something broken.
