A Mixed bag of thoughts: Roller Derby - a seriously strong and surprising sport on skates

Skate of the Dead 2025

Recently I got lucky and found a sport that neither me nor many people that I spoke to knew about. That's surprising because it's played at the World Championship and League levels all over the world. The sport is called Roller Derby. Originally created and played in the 1930s in the United States, the sport was mainly a movement to allow a safe space for people who were differently oriented sexually. Those who belong to the LGBTQ+ world found a space to meet others who identified like themselves and were allowed to be themselves. The sport sort of disappeared until the 90s when it reemerged, first in the US and then in the rest of the world, including Europe. Today it's played all over the world and it's no longer a sport only for the LGBTQ+ community. It's all inclusive and played more for the skating, strength, agility and skill required to be part of the Team.

I got lucky to talk to Marta who is part of the Italian National team but she plays in the Brussels team for League matches. She has now been a part of the Brussels team for nearly 5 years and played overall ten seasons. She explains the game and its rules to

me.

Roller Derby is usually played on an indoor oval track drawn on concrete, wood or linoleum that would fit in a basketball court. Two teams on skates play against each other. The team at any given moment consists of up to 15 members. However, during each session of play, there are 5 members of each team on the track. These sessions of play, that last up to two minutes, are called Jams. The match lasts for 1 hour and is divided into two half times of 30 minutes. Each half time consists of several Jams. Each team sends one Jammer, one Pivot and 3 Blockers to the track for these Jams.

The Jam A whistle indicates the start of a Jam and 3x4 whistles indicate the end. The Jammer on each team needs to get through the blockages created by the 4 members (3 Blockers and Pivot) of the opposing team. The Jammer needs to race ahead and score their point once they have got through the one or several tentative blockings of their opponents. Since both teams are playing and present on the track at the same moment, the result is a lot of physical contact, slamming into a group of players, swerving one's body using all the skill and flexibility that one possesses and picking oneself up and starting again after having fallen down and been pushed down over and over again. Since I got to see the match between the Brussels vs Lyon teams, I can say it looks like a mix between a race, a wrestling match and a rugby match, all done on skates. I was surprised with the amount of physical contact and also with the zero-intentional aggressivity shown by any player. It's also a bit complicated to understand the first time without anyone explaining the details to you. But, I think with time, you understand the game better and better.

While a Jam is in session, there are 7 referees on skates who position themselves in the centre of the oval and on the outside of the track. They need to follow what's happening on the track as everything happens very fast and in all directions considering the number of people involved. There are other officials (not on skates) to support the referees.

The points are scored by the Jammers on the track when they do laps once they pass the Pack of opponents. The points are counted once the Jammer has passed the Pack created by the opponent's Blockers. Each blocker passed is a point scored by the Jammer.

So if a Jammer manages to pass one Blocker and finish their lap, they score one point. If they pass all, then it's 4 points.

The Jammer wears a helmet cover with a star on it. The Pivot has a versatile role. They are a Blocker for most of the Jam session, however they become the Jammer once they receive the helmet cover with the star on it from the Original Jammer. A Pivot is recognised by a helmet cover with a band that goes across the middle.

The Jammer's role is to be fast, agile and very strategic. If you're fast, you're probably not going to be blocked often. But if you're super strong but not super fast, you're probably capable of breaking the Pack and moving ahead.

These teams have players of all sizes, body types, speeds and skills. The Roller Derby team in Brussels has 2 levels. The 'A' level is a travelling team that gets invited to other European cities and the 'B' level is a team who plays mostly locally. Originally inspired by Punk style, many teams in the Roller Derby have Punk inspired names. Each player has a Derby name and some of the players are known by these names more than their real names. These Derby names can be cute, representing a pun or aggressive and often having a story behind them. Marta for example started playing Roller Derby when she was 20 years old in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since she's Italian and in Argentina Italian immigrants are called 'Tanos', she got called 'La Tana'. She still uses that Derby name.

The Roller Derby games are played in World Championships with National teams and League levels. The clubs have a World ranking as their teams compete in different competitions throughout the year. A lot of Roller Derbies happen in small tournaments. For example last weekend, Brussels was organising and hosted Oslo and Lyon. The scores during these matches are kept track of and it works on the teams' global ranking. So, it's clear that as a team they need to participate in a certain amount of games. Each team needs to organise and get invited to different games happening elsewhere. Brussels is currently around the 41st/500 teams in Europe. The Brussels team is a 'Woman' team meaning that whoever identifies as woman or non-binary can join. They don't ask any further questions. On the other hand, Roller Derby is not exclusively for women. While historically it has been dominated by women, there are now many men's and mixed/ co-ed teams. The modern revival of the sport began as an all all-female sport, leading to a continued association with women, but participation has since expanded to include gender-diverse skaters as well.

The World Flat Track Derby Association W.F.T.D.A runs, oversees and organises the global rankings and the regional and global championships and playoffs. The word 'Flat' track is to distinguish the derby that is played on a track laying flat on the floor, which is probably 95% of these games from the original version that used to be played on a Bend Track or a Bike Track. This version nowadays survives only in the North American continent.

Marta used to be Captain of the Brussels team. After the Pandemic, she moved to Brussels and found herself in a Brussels team that didn't have many players. So, now that she and others have managed to create a momentum and have enough members on the Team and fresh candidates who want to learn the sport, Marta is glad to let others take over.

To be a good Roller Derby player one needs to be a good skater and have good core & muscle strength, balance and stability. It's a sport that is strategic and needs some level of spatial awareness. You will get physically strong and can learn to move in the fast paced pack with training. Marta says she has seen people of all sizes, all levels of skating ability and skill sets in this sport.

Above all, the sport is a community-led sport. No person on or off the track can be made to feel uncomfortable with who they are. Everyone is an ally, part of the group and accepted. Maybe you're good on skates and are looking for a sport that can take you to a new level where you can play with a team, learn new skills and above all be respected for who you are, regardless of who you are. Maybe you're just curious and like me can't skate at all. In either case, I suggest you at least find and go see a Roller Derby match nearby.

Below are the fun line ups of teams and officials who participated at the Skate of the Dead tournament at Brussels this month.