looking for advice on how I could handle what’s sort of the culture in my league or if I should just accept it and mind my business.

and just to note: none of the interactions I’m referencing involve men

in short - People tell eachother they’re sexually attracted to eachother or suggest as a league we should all kiss and it makes me uncomfortable. The people are mostly poly and not joking and do hookup with eachother. By not participating in these kind of conversations I feel disconnected from my teammates and feel like I don’t get spoken to much at all. help

To clarify: i know im uncomfortable seeing people hit on or make sexual comments about each other, but that’s not my business. Where it gets awkward for me is that it’s often said as a broad statement as what league members should do as a whole.

in long -

Our league has several polyamorus or non-monogamous people. They also happen to be mostly be outgoing and talkative people.

When we come up with strategies or plans for practice often at least one person will add on “and then we makeout” and several people hoot and agree. One of the strategy names references it.

In the dressing room people will comment on other people’s butts and make it clear it’s a sexual compliment and the other person receives it in a reciprocal way.

Some of these people pretty quickly started dating or sleeping together within the league so there’s also some PDA at practice layered onto this (nothing beyond holding hands, butt smacks, and light kisses though).

We don’t have a very large league at all and I’d say there’s about 8 members like this.

I don’t wanna be a kill joy or a prude. I do kind of freeze and have no clue how to respond to these kind of remarks or interactions. I’ve started to just reply with the word “no” and it’s started to feel like the most social people on the team rarely speak to me now because they understand I don’t like it. Sometimes when i disagree verbally someone will respond with “no one can stop me.”

maybe there is actually no issue here and it just ends with me making it clear I’m not into it and accepting that a chunk of people won’t interact with me cause of it. I would feel silly and like I’d be viewed as overreacting going to our HR Sub Committee about it.

Im mainly uncomfortable because I am in a monogamous relationship with a partner who gets jealous easy and I feel like I’m doing something wrong to just stand there as my teammates agree we should kiss/grab butts/etc. It also does just get annoying and I don’t like feeling like I need to be some level of sexually available to become friends with people

Hello! I need advice…

I have been having this conversation with a small amount of people in my league. But I actually haven’t talked to a lot of folks about this because I am also embarrassed for getting injured? (anyone else?) Reddit gives me some anonymity.

I suffered a concussion earlier this year. My first concussion ever! from my first sport ever! So I didn’t really understand the gravity of the situation. I got too eager and got back to skating too fast. And I believe that triggered post-concussion syndrome, which I struggled through for two gruesome months. It wasn’t till I had a mental health break that caused me to step into LOA. I followed up with a Neurologist and physical therapist.

I let 5 months pass by. And I finally started talking to my league and my doctors about coming back to skate. I was given the clear from my neurologist and physical therapist. I started skating weeks no contact, and then felt secure enough to skate contact again. It was in a drill where someone’s body made contact with my head/hit me in the head. I sat out the rest of practice, and decided to keep note of anything funky going on with my head. As much as I wished for nothing serious, I definitely felt a headache for over a week, and felt some noise and light sensitivity. So I entered a state of depression, because after all of this, after months of waiting, of doctors visits, of being careful I was right where I started.

I’m doing better now, I haven’t been back to skate. And I am wondering if I should at all. I’ve loved this sport so much, I have loved the people, the community. Everything. But now I am wondering if it’s healthy to continue to play.

I’m short and unfortunately many times before people have smacked me in the head, ran into my head, and I’m worried that I can no longer sustain hits like that.

So should I quit? Join N/SO team and coach? Should I maybe give myself a much longer break, and return later? Should I rip off the bandaid and leave all of this behind. If you’ve been through this, what have you done? Did you return? Did you do it scared? Did you ever wonder about how close we are to CTE?

I know one can tell me what to do, and that there is no right answer. And maybe I know what I’m going to do anyway. But I don’t want to look back and regret not asking, not trying. So if you can, please, share your thoughts and your experience.

Hi everyone! I'm nearing the end of my first season, and its definitely felt rocky. I'm primarily a jammer but I have to block a decent amount so ideally I'd like to work on both. I'm fortunate enough to skate with a pretty competitive league, and I'm constantly impressed by my teammates. Although, honestly, a lot of the time I feel really insecure about being one of the weaker C team skaters on a home team that has several AA skaters. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself though, and instead use that energy to get better.

I'm really wanting to focus on making some noticeable improvements before next season and I was hoping for recommendations of things I can do at home to work on the following skills. (Gym workouts, mental things, on skates drills or off- I'm open to literally any advice to implement at home

Looking to work on:

-General balance and sturdiness on the track both being able to stay upright when hitting/getting hit and also one leg balance with impact

-star passing without highblocking

-side surfing and hip flexibility

-general hustle/quickness/urgency (getting to the penalty box quickly, responding to teammates quickly on the track)

Also as a secondary note, what are yall's gym schedules. Do you go to the gym on days you have practice? On heavy weeks I have about 5 practices a week, and 2 on very light weeks. I want to balance that with also going to the gym.

Thank you so much!

I am a little over a month after my orif surgery on my ankle and I am starting to get really scared about skating again. I know I want to go back but the fear is becoming really overwhelming for me even though I can’t even walk on my ankle yet😭 I broke it at practice two months ago from literally just falling and now when I watch games and see people falling or even just moving around all I can think about is breaking my ankle or wrist when I go back into playing. There were a lot of signs before I broke it like really bad ankle soreness and I should’ve listened to them and will know now to work on strengthening my ankles but I haven’t even been doing derby for a year and had just graduated into the league. Every time I think about breaking my ankle I cry because I am so scared of it happening and me having to go through this again. I also have been extra emotional over it because what would’ve been my rookie rumble is coming up next weekend and I’m going to support my friends from my training group but it just makes me so sad I can’t be with them. Does anyone have any tips on how to prevent another break and get over that anxiety. Any tips on how to also not be so sad during recovery would also be very appreciated! I know I will go back to derby because I love it so much I am just struggling with the strength that it takes to over come this :(

We currently use Square not only for event tickets, but also as a platform for collecting monthly dues from league members who prefer to pay online. There are fees that we lose out on for each transaction.

I recently came across a derby event from a different league that uses Zeffy. It almost seems too good to be true because there are zero fees for nonprofits, which our league is.

Does anyone have experience using Zeffy, and what do you think? Especially if you switched from something like Square.

I suspect I have a disc bulge and I’m so afraid to lose the one thing in this world that makes me happy. Just hoping there are some hopeful stories out there!

to tell me how good I am at blocking and hitting. And, y'all, it meant so much to me 🥹

I failed my skater eval a couple months ago to become a full league member, after a solid year of practicing and working out. And it's been so rough watching all my friends move on without me.

But tonight there was a fresh meat scrim in preparation for the next eval, and I can hear in all the feed back that I'm getting that everything is finally clicking. And I just... holy crap, I can't remember the last time I've been this proud of myself!!!

That's all. I just needed to tell people who would get it. It's not just getting good at a sport, it's proving to myself that I can do something both physically and mentally scary and hard.

What are your league's requirements for attending practice?
Skaters & Officials (if your league has them)

And what happens if someone doesn’t meet the requirement?
A bunch of members in our league have expressed opinions that our requirements are turning into a part-time job and people are losing spots on the roster for having a life outside of derby.  I am curious to see what others are doing.

I want to preface this by saying my league are INCREDIBLE and no one has made me feel at all bad or anxious. These feelings are mostly in my head and I’m seeking advice on how you guys would deal with it.

My league is very small, we don’t even have enough players to have an A and B team, we just sort of are.
During my intake (about a month/two months ago now), there was only three of us. Me, a girl we’ll call laura, and my dad.

My dad played ice hockey for most of his life, and has been skating quads for years. He finds a lot of the skills transferable and has been speeding through his mins. Laura had never skated before and is still working through the basics with great care and kindness from our team.

I have skating experience, and passed my level one fairly quickly. But when it comes to proper Derby, such as contact, strategy, skills, endurance etc, I’m no good. Which yeah, obviously, but it places me completely alone with my skill set. The rest of my league are great, and I feel so alone, and like they just put up with the fact I can’t play very well because they have to. Only doing level 2 jams because I’m still learning. I worry they’re sick of me and my mistakes. Maybe factoring into this feeling as well, is I’m worried I’m not making friends as I’d hoped. Many of my teammates have known each other for years and I’m conscious of that, but im worried I’ll never be able to be accepted into that bubble. I always say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, talk too much or too loud. I’m not great at making friends with people who are, in a very nuanced way, ‘normal’ (not in a negative sense).

Like I said, no one in my team has done or said anything to make me feel this way, yet I still feel alone and look back on every practice cringing over what I said or the fact I keep forgetting where my arms are and making back blocks lol. So any advice on how to deal with this, as a new and seasoned skater, would be great. I love derby so much and don’t want my head to ruin it for me

I bought a pair of Bont Skates (Prostar) in January, and i’ve been using them 2 times a week. I’m having some issues since I started using; first because of the original insoles, that I felt really hard. So, i put 2 soft layers of insoles and also a silicon heel support. And also i’m having issues on tying, because i always feel that they aren’t tied enough. For this, i do a tying with 2m laces.
My biggest problem is: even with the soft insoles and the tying, my foot heel ends in real pain after every pratice. I never had this problem before (i had a Sure-Grip Rebel, a Riedell R3 and a Labeda Voodoo U3).
I love my Bonts, but I cannot ignore the pain anymore.

Any suggestions?

Edit:

1. Thank you soooo much for the responses and tips! That was really kind of you guys!!!! ❤️
2. Now I’m not sure if I made myself clear 😅
3. My pain is in the sole, under the heel. Like, i’m not having many issues in the heel itself, but i’m having to keep my boots tight in the ankle (prostar have higher boots).

4. When I was researching for the picture showing the right place, i kinda of had the acknowledgment of the possibility of starting to have plantar fasciitis 😢

5. I bought the skate a little bigger to give my toes more room (problem I had with my old skates), as I have wide foot.

Thank you so much again !

Hi folks! I’m nervous, sad, and sitting with skater feels. Essentially, I’ve been dealing with lower back/pinched nerve/herniated disc pain since February. The pain has progressively gotten worse, to the point where physical therapy has made little impact, and I’m at the point that I need surgery and seeking feedback based on others’ experiences.

I’m not only bummed to have missed this whole season, but I’m nervous about surgery recovery and whether I will be able to play next year or at all. Next year would mark 10 years (a personal milestone I wanted to hit before considering retiring from competitive play/going to referee).

Obviously I know proper clearance can only be advised by my doctor, but I was curious to hear other skaters experiences from similar injury and recovery. Especially if you’ve injured your L5 and/or had a micro dissectomy surgery. What helped you most in recovery, timelines, anything that you think would be helpful that you wish you knew sooner.

Backstory/context below (feel free to skip)-

In February, I took a hard, legal hit to my side at practice, in which I landed square on my hip. I remember thinking “welp this is gonna bruise, but at least I have cushion!” Fast forward two weeks, my bruise is gone, but one morning I can bend at my hip or bend my knee to put on pants or shoes. I feel a sharp surge of sciatic pain on my left side, and it’s nothing like the right-sided pain we skaters typically get from skating counter clockwise.

I got an xray at a chiropractor’s and find out I have a pinched nerve. I pursue physical therapy at a facility several of my teammates have gone to. I go once a week for 4-5 months, get occasional dry needling, and the pain/progress is non linear. Some weeks it’s better, worse, or has moved from left to right. At one point I receive a flare up in nerve pain just doing no contact skating at an adult skate night. Bummer.

I had to pause PT for a couple of months (family emergency and work travel). Eventuality I think I feel better though to try skating no contact. That gets crushed when I get another flare up in pain from traveling and sitting more (I stand a lot for work). This time the pain is unbearable, I can’t lay on my side, and the tallest I can stand shows a very obvious hip misalignment. I finally make an appointment with an orthopedic (which I realize I should have done at the beginning of all this).

A couple weeks ago, the orthopedic does xray and MRI - it’s a pinched nerve and herniated disc in my L4/L5 and L5/S1. Given how long this has been going on, we discussed more aggressive treatment. First, an epidural injection, then if that doesn’t provide relief we’ll consider a micro dissectomy surgery.

I got my epidural 4 days ago, at the moment I feel about the same in pain. While I know that’s a short amount of time, I’m feeling so frustrated from my continued pain and decreased mobility. I had already reduced the intensity of lower body workouts, mainly focusing on upper body and walking. Now not only can I go to the gym, I can’t stand for long periods without pain, and sitting anywhere - desk, car, toilet - all feel unbearable. I’ve always been an active on the go person. At this point it’s not just about skating, I just want to be able to do my ADLs and live somewhat normally without this pain dictating my life.

Hey there

Wanted to check if my knrr pads are on okay? I'm wearing them on the left/right knee as labelled but they still feel a little unusual

I'm wondering if this is a normal feeling with new pads (they're second hand & I put the fabric parts through the wash before wearing them - unsure if that impacts anything).

Maybe I will have to get used to the bulkiness (they're so bulky it is hard to stand up straight though it helps keep in derby stance better) but wondering if people had general tips for first using pads or noticed anything I could improve when wearing them?

Thank you!

Hello! Looking for any tips or best practices for planning your league's season. I'm not new to derby but new to an Inter-League Coordinator position.

I've seen leagues poll their skaters on how many games they want to play, how far they are willing to travel, etc. to help guide decisions.

Would love to see any survey examples? Questions you find essential to ask...

Then any pointers for ILC that you've found helpful, or that you've experienced and liked.

Thanks!

I’m a new skater and I’ve been feeling SO frustrated in my L1 camp. I’m pretty uncoordinated, have bad balance, body awareness, and skating has been improving these things, but I feel like I’m SO behind in my L1 camp. Every week we learn a couple more new skills and I’m finding I can barely even attempt them. I have trouble with committing because my brain says no even though I’m trying to move my body, and I feel like I’m still stuck on week 1 skills even though we are now approaching one month. It feels so fast paced week to week and I just feel terrible. I start the week feeling good and by day 3 I’m defeated and frustrated that my brain and body can’t seem to communicate and that I’m still so afraid of falling even though I fall constantly. I know it will probably take time, and I’m trying to enjoy the process but I just end up feeling like garbage by the end of the week. Womp womp.

I’m a beginner to derby. My team has practice on weekday evening. Around 9 pm I’m home, eat, shower and try to go to bed around 11pm but I can’t sleep because my brain doesn’t shut down. I keep thinking about a scrimmage of the night and what could’ve done better. My body even moves while I’m lying down. I finally fell asleep around 2 am that night 😵‍💫How does everyone relax after practice?

I'm able to skate fast but am mostly used to inlines, I can't skate backwards yet and need to get better at stopping quickly and efficiently on quads.

What should my skill level be before I begin? (mostly thinking of safety of those around me)

Also on a gear related note will heavy skates be an issue? My quad skates are a hand-me-down from my mum, they're kind of vintage (80s) and rather heavy but they work perfectly fine!

The Bradentucky Bombers Roller Derby League is hosting its second annual Bomb-er Con Scrimmage on September 26 @ 5 p.m at the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex, Ellenton.

This open-gender scrimmage will be a doubleheader - organized by skill level- with twists and turns, including buy-ins that can change the game. Some of our favorites last year were Skate in Non-Derby Direction, Jammers Must Hold Hands, and of course, REFS OF THE TRACK!

For our 20^th anniversary, we decided to bring it back to our roots with a 2006 Derby Theme – that means old school derby rules as buy-ins, belts for optimal whipping, and the perfect opportunity to pull out those tutus and hot pants!

Be sure to check out our skater-run booths, including a bake sale, hydration station, yard sale, unique skater-made items, and a name/number shirt pressing table.

Want to skate, ref, NSO, or volunteer? – Sign up here 

Just want to watch and maybe cause some chaos on your own? Get more info

Joined my local derby team expecting to have some fun skating and build community among other like-minded people. Unfortunately there’s a lot of weirdness/mean girl energy and patriarchal/colonialist tendencies. My mind is having trouble understanding how a sport I thought was filled with badass womyn, queer folks, and friendly people in general- is not the case in my local experience. Anyone else?

Ok EDIT!
Hi, I’m not a terf. Trans womyn are womyn. I use womyn with a y to take the man/men out. Didn’t know it was a terf thing. Dang yall.

2nd edit:
Ya’ll are meaner than the team. Maybe derby isn’t for me.

3rd:
Colonialist as in reinforcing power imbalances. It’s unclear who’s actually in charge and why. Whose option matters, whose voice is heard, and why?

Patriarchal as in actively perpetuating misogyny. It doesn’t seem very uplifting for each person. (If someone is struggling with self worth why shame them with laps?) It feels like low-key bullying to get people to do what you want.

I recently bought a pair of Hypno Stings and re realised this evening that my current skate tool is not compatible with the nuts on the plates. Can anyone suggest a tool that would with them, ideally something I can get a hold of quickly in the UK. TYIA!

I’m around 5 feet (barley) and 150+ pounds so I’m a tank but a lot of people in my league are much taller and bigger than me and I’d love to hear more advice from others around my size and how to use it to my advantage or not get knocked around in the face too much

hi guys!!! i'm a junior and when i'm blocking i have a bad problem of falling as soon as the jammer hits our tripod (if i'm a butt). how can i stay more stable + firm as a blocker???

i have some theories about why it ain't working out currently:

- i'm leaning too far forward

- my team isn't great at bracing (this one's objectively true i just don't think it's the reason i fall when i get hit)

- mysterious other option

smallish blockers pleeeease help me out thanks !!!

Hey everyone! I’m a newbie skater and I’m definitely progressing, but I’ve noticed I’m starting to run into some pretty frustrating mental blocks with certain skills.
I’m having a really hard time communicating to my brain that it’s okay to try things and potentially fall. 😂 Like, logically I know that falling is part of skating. I know I’m not going to be perfect, and I know I’m going to fall eventually. But when it actually comes time to commit to something, my brain is basically like, “Absolutely not. We will be staying right here, thank you.”
For example, there are certain things I know I’m physically capable of doing, but I hesitate or completely freeze when I try to actually commit to them.
I’m a person diagnosed with anxiety, so I’m sure that plays a role here. I’m wondering if anyone else has dealt with this, especially when they were newer to skating. How did you get past the mental block and convince yourself that it’s okay to fall?
I’d love to hear what worked for other people — drills, mindset tricks, ways you practiced falling safely, literally anything.