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EmailYou-Know-What on Wheels: Girls Roller Derby Is a Real Contact Sport
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Why should the boys have exclusive rights to contact sports? Sure, there are all-male and co-ed roller derby leagues and teams, but here in the Valley, we have a few exciting all-female leagues that battle it out on wheels. Girls just wanna have fun!
Roller derby can trace its roots back to the late eighteen hundreds, but the sport has undergone radical transformation over the last century-plus. Contemporary roller derby is not only a rougher, flashier activity but it’s also a more grassroots, do-it-yourself undertaking. Over the past decade, it’s achieved unofficial sport status. Leagues have sprung up or expanded throughout the country and in other parts of the world, even popping up on the big and small screens in projects like the 2009 Drew Barrymore-Ellen Page flick Whip It and the 2008 “Talk Derby to Me” episode of Psych (USA Network). Injuries ranging from impressive bruises to broken bones have not deterred a number of ladies of all ages and backgrounds to take to the track, and crowds sometimes numbering in the thousands show up for the fun.
The rules are fairly consistent and follow regulations set by one of several different sources. Flat-track roller derby tends to follow rules set by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). The basics: teams of up to eighteen players rotate five players on the track at a time for a succession of brief segments called jams. Each five-member team on the track consists of three blockers led by a pivot (marked with a striped helmet) and followed by a jammer (marked with two stars on her helmet). The objective? The jammers score points by passing each opposing blocker (and pivot) while their own blockers also take up the offensive and help them through the pack. It might look like chaos at first, but there is a method to the madness.
The Valley is home to two prominent derby leagues. Arizona Roller Derby is a flat-track league that began in 2003. Four of its members broke off in 2005 to form a banked track (track elevates from the inside to the outside) league.
Arizona Roller Derby
Arizona Roller Derby was founded in 2003, making it one of the oldest leagues in the United States. Last year, ARD was restructured from a limited liability corporation to a nonprofit 501(c) corporation. The league features both travel and home teams and competes on an international level.
The Teams: Bad News Beaters, Brawlarinas, Bruisers, The Smash Squad, Surly Gurlies, and Tent City Terrors
The Games (called bouts): two 30-minute halves
The Jams: two minutes
The Schedule: The championship bout takes place on April 9. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the bout starts at 6 p.m.
Where: Castle Sports Club (11420 N. 19th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85029-3613)
The Tickets: $10 in advance (through the Web site) or $12 at the door. Children ages 16 and under are $6.
The Web Site: arizonaderbygirls.com
Arizona Derby Dames
After four years of flat-track competition to raise funds for a banked track, the Arizona Derby Dames celebrated a first banked-track season last year and are back for their sixth overall season in 2011. The track is mobile, serving as a practice track for the dames in a warehouse that is then dissembled and reassembled at their competition venue once a month for back-to-back games.
The Teams: Bombshells, Brutal Beauties, Coffin Draggers, Runaway Brides, Schoolyard Scrappers
The Games (called bouts): four 12-minute quarters
The Jams: 60 seconds
The Schedule: with exceptions, once-a-month double-headers through September: April 16; May 21; June 10, 11, 12 (National Banked Track Tournament); July 23; August 20 (triple header playoffs); and September 24 (championship bout)
Where: Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum (1826 W. McDowell Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85007)
The Tickets: $12 for adults; $20 for VIP seating; kids 12 and under get in free
The Web Site: arizonaderbydames.com
By Cassaundra Brooks
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