Roller Derby

Roller Derby practice is every Monday

Not sure what Roller Derby is all about? Modern day Roller Derby is not the roller derby of the 1970's with spandex wearing women who are out to kill each other. Todays Roller Derby is a serious sport combining athleticism and teamwork. Leagues, both adult and junior, are gaining in polularity as more people (especially girls) want to participate in a team sport but not necessarily the "traditional" sports.

The game itself is a series of races between two teams of five players. Each team's jammer is the only player to score points. Three blockers try to stop the other team's jammer while propelling their own jammer forward. Each team's pivot acts like the pace car in a NASCAR race and controls the speed of the pack. She also keeps an eye on the jammers, calls her team's plays and acts as a blocker. Helmet designs differentiate the positions -- jammers wear stars, pivots wear stripes and blockers wear blank helmets.

Each race is called a jam and lasts up to two minutes. At the start of the jam, the pivots and blockers gather in formation at the starting line. The referee blows a whistle, and they skate as a pack while the jammers wait at the starting line. When the pack is 20 feet from the starting line, the referee blows the whistle again, and the jammers start to skate.

The jammers try to catch up to the pack, work their way through and come out the other side. No one scores any points during the first lap, but the first jammer to pass the opposing team's pivot becomes the lead jammer. The lead jammer can "call the jam" before the end of the two-minute period by putting her hand on her hips.

Regarding new skaters -- physique is irrelevant, it doesn't matter if someone hasn't worn skates in years. We hold practices to teach the rules and basic skating techniques, and we will not actually compete until the team is confident that they can do so safely. We also encourage players to skate whenever they can in addition to organized practices.

Your first practice is free.

Please come in to register for either the adult or junior teams.

article from "howstuffworks.com"