CT Roller Derby Daughters of the American Derby revolution

Your GuidE to Derby Gear

Above: The Elm City Bone Crushers playing against the Long Island roller rebels in their championship game of the season.

www.sincityskates.com

Choosing your pair of Roller Derby skates First off all – ask yourself a few questions: Have you made the team? Have you passed try outs? Will you continue to skate for fun or exercise even if you quit play-ing roller derby with a team? Do you have a set budget in mind for your derby quad skates? Are you okay with starting out on “starter” quad skates and upgrading when you know a bit more about roller derby and have an idea of what you like in a quad skate?

Tips For Fresh Meat Roller Derby SkatersConsider the team you are trying out for – are they com-petitive? or will they accept everyone? If you are trying out for a competitive league, you should have your own skates & be comfortable skating by the time try outs roll around. Keep in mind that some leagues will accept and train everyone who’s will to learn! Your team may have extra skates kicking around for fresh meat to test out – so check your local league website for more details.

Low Budget – Cheap Roller Derby Skate Options • Borrow a pair from another roller girl in the league during tryouts. • Rent a pair – local roller rinks rent out skates, keep in mind that these aren’t optimal for derby skating – but if you’re still finding your skate legs, then all practice on 8 wheels is good practice!

OUR PICKS: Affordable Roller Derby Skates

Riedell R3 — A vinyl boot with extreme padding and a comfortable fit to provide a quality entry level skate. This skate is an excellent value for beginning skaters!

Riedell Vixen is a great beginner value Derby Skate, with the lightweight durability of the PowerDyne Triton alumi-num plate and the Speed Groove built-in to the Radar Flat Out wheels.

Middle Tier – Affordable Roller Derby Skate Options • Purchase an entry level speed skate and upgrade the wheels (flat-out, turner, etc) • Purchase a pair of good quality speed skates with nice leather boot (riedell 125, 265), nylon plates & good quality wheels (flat outs, speedray)

OUR PICKS: Seriously Awesome Roller Derby SkatesRiedell She Devil Derby Roller Skates – One of Riedell’s more popular skates, the She Devil returns with a leather 126 boot built on a special D/B combo last designed with a woman s foot in mind.

Riedell Rogue Derby Track Skates – To help you weave past your opponents with ease, the Riedell Rogue Derby Track Skates use narrow Radar Flat Outrageous wheels and a supportive leather 795 boot,.

Know The Game inside the Track and Out

Roller derby is a full contact sport & an exciting game to watch. The basic rules are fairly simple, once you pick up the lingo!

The object of the game is to score the most points by lapping opposing team members on the track. A roller derby game is called a Bout. Each Bout consists of multiple Jams. A Jam is a 2 minute period in which teams attempt to score points.TEAMSThere are 5 players on each team: 1 Jammer – the point scorer 3 Blockers – playing defense 1 Pivot - plays defense, but is the leadership position in the pack, calling the shots. In order to tell the skaters apart, the jammers wear a helmet cover with a star and the pivot wears a striped helmet cover.The pivot & the blockers make up the pack – their job is to stop the opposing team’s jammer from breaking though the pack & scoring, all the while helping their own jammer advance.

GAME PLAY Derby is played on an oval track with two competing teams. The pivots & blockers from both teams skate together on the track to form a single pack. Once the last pack member skates 30 feet from the starting line, a whistle is blown & the jammers begin to skate. The jammers must skate and muscle their way through the pack and completely exit it to gain the ability to score points. Once the jammer fights her way out of the pack, she then races around the track in order to lap the pack. At this point, each time the jammer passes a member of the other team, she scores one point for her team.

BLOCKS & PENALTIES Modern day roller derby isn’t a no mercy knockdown drag out event – there are official rules & limitations that are enforced. For example, skaters receive penalties for all of the following: blocking with any part of the arm below the elbow, tripping, charging from behind, making a block above the shoulders, or blocking when a player who is out of bounds (i.e. off the track). This is a very abbreviated list of fouls.RESOURCES This guide covers the basics of roller derby game play – for a complete list of standardized rules & regulations for flat track roller derby, feel free to visit: Women’s Flat Track Derby Association – Stan-dard Rules

Still confused? Feel free to watch this awesome video (by the hammer city roller girls) that explains roller derby game play:- See more at: http://rollerderbyresource.com/info/how-to-play-roller-derby/#sthash.wvhtOuTs.dpuf

To read more Roller Derby Rules click the link below to find more Roller Derby information from the

Womens Flat Track Association:

www.wftda.com/

Click the track to watch “How to play Roller Derby” on youtube

Events:

Nov 201311.03.2013 - 10:00 am - 12:00 pm - Junior Derby Bootcamp - Undisclosed Location, Waterbury CT

11.16.2013 - 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm - November 16 Home Bout- Connecticut Sports Center, Woodbridge Connecticut

Dec 201312.07.2013 - 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm - December 7 Home Bout - Connecticut Sports Center, Woodbridge Connecticut

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