It starts with a whistle. Women burst into flight on roller skates. Round and round they go. Broken noses… purple bruises… they fight through body checks, duck under airborne opponents and it’s all for the love of a great sport. The Roller Derby is on the rise all over the World as a professional sport for women.
Roller Derby Roots
Roller Roots
The Roller Derby started way back in the 1930s. By the 1950s, it was a major sporting event at Madison Square Gardens in New York. However, it transformed into a spectacle rather than a sport. The women were basically WWE wrestlers on wheels, and if you watch a clip it was all a staged, comedic routine rather than what it is today… an extreme sport where women compete to win.
Roller Rules
Tenacious Teamwork
It works like this. Two teams with 5 skaters each skate around a track for 15 minute periods. Each team has a designated player called “the Jammer”. Everytime she passes a player on the opposing team, she gets a point. The other players on the team try to block the jammer from passing them. It gets rough because the blocking turns into huge hits!
Neat Nicknames
Serious Sport
Roller Derby girls have fun nicknames that they use on their Roller Derby team. What would your name be?
- Princess Pancakes
- Honeybee Homicide
- Brutiful
- Sandra O’Clobber
- Goldie Knoxx
ESPN Coverage
Roller Rink
The Roller Derby is a great thing for women because it gives them a chance to play a contact sport professionally. The roller derby is very big in California, Australia and even Japan. Most of the Roller Derby athletes still need to work other jobs, like working in an office or teaching children, but as the sport becomes more popular, maybe one day they will be full-time Roller Derby athletes.
Derby Diva Destiny
Team Champs
If you’re interested in pursuing a career in the Roller Derby, save up some cash and buy yourself a pair of roller skates. To be a professional Roller Derby athlete, you need to be a great skater.
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