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Roller derby
Female roller derby was brought to the Jackson area via Jackson’s Original Roller Derby League, the Capital City Roller Girls in April of 2007. A second roller derby league, the Magnolia Roller Vixens, was formed in May 2008.
The History of Roller Derby
During the worst of the Great Depression, a Chicago promoter named Leo Seltzer came up with the idea of a skating spectacle to compete with the dance marathon craze then sweeping the country.
Far from the raucous sport you see today, the debut Roller Derby on August 13, 1935 in the Chicago Coliseum was an endurance test. Billed as The Transcontinental Roller Derby, it featured teams of one man and one woman who took turns skating 57,000 laps, or the equivalent of a 4,000-mile cross-country race. Roller Derby was an instant success, drawing 20,000 spectators in the first week alone. Seltzer soon took his show on the road.
Legend has it that “true” Roller Derby surfaced in Miami in 1938, when famed New York sportswriter Damon Runyan saw a few contestants tangle during a “speed jam.” Runyan suggested to Seltzer that body contact and keeping score might boost attendance. Presto! The following night, Derby returned to the track, ready to rumble.
In the 1950s, the new medium called television catapulted Roller Derby into a national phenomenon, drawing thousands of fans and making legends out of women challengers like Midge “Toughie” Brasuhn and Gerry Murray. There were the Pioneers in Chicago; the Jolters in Cincinnati; the Chiefs in New York; and the champion Bay Bombers in Northern California.
How to Play Roller Derby
This is the short of it. For a more detailed account of the game please go to www.wftda.com, or watch the video on our myspace page.
There are 2 teams on the track at once.
Each team has no more than 5 skaters on the track.
The teams are made up of one pivot, three blockers, and one jammer.
Pivots wear a stripe on her helmet.
Jammers wear a star on each side of her helmet.
Glossary:
Pivot: Skates at the front of the pack and determines that pace at which the pack skates. She is the last in the line of defense for her team. She can become jammer if the star helmet cover is passed to her.
Blocker: Works with other 2 other blockers on her team and their pivot to move their jammer through the pack. Also while preventing the opposing team’s jammer from passing.
Jammer: Scores the points for her team. Starts bout 20 feet behind the packs. Must skate through entire pack once before she can start racking points. For each skater of the opposing team she passes, she gains a point for her team. She must pass them leagally, though or the points don’t count.
Bout: The game. Consists of two teams of 5 players each. 3 periods per bout that each last 20 minutes. An unlimited number of jams can happen in any period. Each jam can last up to 2 minutes. After each jam is over, the teams have 20 seconds to get in formation for the next jam. If a skater is missing when the 20 seconds are up, her team just skates with one less player.
Each jam begins with one whistle to start the pack and a second double whistle to start the jammers. Four whistles means the jam has ended.
A jam can end because a) time ran out or b) the lead jammer called off the jam.
The lead jammer is the first jammer that can make it through the pack inbounds and without any penalties.
Then, without incident, the lead jammer can call of a jam at any time usually to prevent the opposing team’s jammer from scoring further points.
This is signaled by placing her hands on her hips.
