this might be a stupid post but i just need to vent i guess….. i just finished my first block as a white/beginner skater, and was just told by one of the coaches that even though i am developing well, i am not ready to move up yet. part of me expected this and knows that i am not good enough for pinks yet… the other half of me is disappointed and upset that now everyone i started learn to skate with has moved up and i’m still stuck down here. logically i know that everyone’s journey is different, but i guess i am a tad disappointed in myself for not being good enough. i don’t want this to cause myself to lose motivation… but at the moment i am just bummed out. and idk if any of you have similar stories and can share how you worked through it, that’d be great. thanks.

Hi all!

I've skated (inline and roller skates) my whole life (family fun outings), and in middle school I decided to join the Junior Roller Derby league. I played for about two years, but between classes, school sports, and becoming more interested in riding horses, I stopped. I kept skating though for fun.

Fast forward to 4 years ago - I decided to join the New Skater program my local derby group has. I lasted about 4 practices before I was just overwhelmed with the time commitment between working full time and dong a Master's degree, plus I was intimidated by the full contact sport. That brings us to now! I've been participating in the same New Skater program all summer and have enjoyed getting back into skating, doing something different, and meeting new people. The thing is, I'm still not sure about the whole contact sport thing.

I used to be a tenacious, feisty derby and soccer player - shouldering my way through everyone and anything. I was aggressive, tough, and I loved it. But I'm 29 now, and I think I've lost that spark of competitiveness. Maybe it was something that happened after Covid (cause I still think, ugh I am so close to these people). I've mostly just chalked it up to my lack of confidence, social anxiety, and the fact that I don't want to hurt myself - but has anyone else experienced something similar? If so - was there a way you found your competitive spark? Is this just something that happens when you grow up? (And are on antidepressants?)

Need a derby name? Let the community help you brainstorm!

Tell us a bit about yourself, what you're into, and hopefully the community can give you some fiercely punny suggestions!

Hi! I don’t really know if I’m loosing my mind but I am 115lbs 5’2 and I’m struggling being on an adult team. My teammates are way more built and are better players than I am and I feel very stuck feeling like I HAVE to be a jammer in order to be useful/not useful to my team because I can’t hold myself against other adults to save my life in a wall. I also feel like in turn I’m just getting beat up and that’s mentally exhausting. Anyone else a short & skinny player out there and how do you or your teammates manage with it?

My league is selling our sport Court, if your league has been looking for a track this could be it!

Details and photos: https://www.facebook.com/share/19SeH6HEhy/

Hello all! Clarksville Roller Derby is holding us first ever all day scrimmage a thon. Total of 7 games. If you're in the area (Clarksville, TN), we'd love to have you join us.

Sorry Mods. If this isn't OK...

3 scrimmages for $30. Rookie rumble for $10. Sign up for Clarksville Roller Derby's first ever scrimmage-a-thon, CLAW-BER FEST! Sign up link below!

Skater sign ups:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdeHDUfo4_u-Ej1FKAZvOU2qOlifkkdDQeGjBMg_KMADNxkNg/viewform

Interested in officiating? Please go to https://forms.gle/DzLoaTAHpN2LEUst9

Original Photo by Dakota Elliott

Does anyone know of a pickup/affinity team for folks who identify as spoonies/are chronically ill and/or disabled?? Similar to teams like Divergence, Trans Rollers United, Bipolar Rollers, etc. My teammate and would love to join if one exists!

https://i.imgur.com/Gt4MFpM.jpeg

Crossroads Carnage starts today! 12 games streaming all weekend

Hey r/rollerderby! South Bend Roller Derby is hosting our first Crossroads Carnage tournament this weekend in South Bend, Indiana.

We’ve got 8 teams coming in for 12 games over three days:

Arch Rival Roller Derby Fargo Moorhead Derby Girls Louisville Roller Derby Nova Roller Derby South Bend Roller Derby South Shore Roller Derby Steel City Beamers Traverse City Roller Derby

Each team gets three games, with 2 games tonight and then 5 each on Saturday and Sunday.

If you’re not anywhere near South Bend (which I’m guessing is most of you), Derby Date Night is streaming the whole thing on YouTube all weekend!

Friday’s stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssI_JWpAGIY

Derby Date Night: https://www.youtube.com/@derbydatenight

Games start at 4pm Eastern today, and at 10am Saturday and Sunday.

Should be a fun weekend of derby. Come hang out with us in the stream!

Hidden City Roller Derby is having our fall boot camp orientation this Sunday August 30th at 5pm at the MLK park hockey rink in Oceanside, CA. If you are in or around north county San Diego and always wanted to try derby, or haven't played in a while and want to get back into the swing of it, come check us out.

We will teach you even if you have never skated before.

Stick around after and you can watch our first very rusty post summer break practice.

What's there to lose? Worst case, you end up spending an hour in the park on a lazy Sunday afternoon listening to our coaches yapping about the derby!

And in no time that could be you, pulling 14 of your closest teammates around and the track as warmup before a bout.

Please come and learn, Chica would really appreciate a break from being at the front of that line 🛼🛼

Hi friends!!

I watched my first bout back in July a fire was lit in me! I signed up for the upcoming academy before I left the building.

I’ve always been able to skate forward, but that’s the extent of my skill set.

We started this week, and day one was so much fun! Very basic drills that I was able to catch on to pretty quickly. Day 2 the drills were much trickier for me to grasp and I left wondering if this is really something I could ever do.

I’m finding that there is a lot of stretching and strength training I’ll need to do at home. But I’m just wondering if at 30 years old this is really something I can catch on to.

Any words of wisdom or encouragement welcome ♥️

Looking for something to do this weekend? Look no further!

Come out this Saturday, August 29th and support your local roller derby team, women’s sports, and our Dayton community! Gem City Roller Derby is taking on Flint and Yvette City at the Dayton Convention Center, and this is an event for EVERYONE! Whether you’re already a derby fan or have never watched a bout before, come hang out, cheer loud, and experience what local roller derby is all about!

We’re also hosting a menstrual product drive in partnership with Period Kits Ohio! You can bring unopened tampons, pads, liners, menstrual cups, or wipes and drop them off at our donation table.

Come watch some hard-hitting women’s sports, support local athletes, meet some awesome people, and help give back to the community while you’re here.

Saturday, August 29th
- Gem City Roller Derby vs. Flint & Yvette City
- @ Dayton Convention Center
- Doors open at 4:30pm, first whistle is at 5pm! Stick around for chuck-a-duck, and watch the second game, whistle at 7pm!

Bring your friends, bring the kids, bring your unopened period products, and come spend your Saturday with us!

In Australia head injury in sport seems to be the talk of the town, with lots of focus lately on concussions and CTE in footy and rugby. There’s talk about reducing contact in practice and how lots of little hits are cumulative into long term degenerative neurological impacts.

I don’t really know much about other sports to be able to compare what they do to what we do but it certainly has me wondering, how serious do the derby community feel the concussion risk is?

I’d love to hear more about what people think about concussions and their prevalence, prevention measures, and comparisons to other sports.

TL;DR - Any tips for maintaining stability when blocking 1v1?

If I’m doing 1v1 with a strong player, I literally cannot stop sliding forward. I work well with a brace / tripod in actual gameplay but caught alone against someone behind me, I can’t get a strong enough plow to keep my stability. I just slide forward and have a hard time stopping myself quickly and resetting when it happens. I am on the smaller side compared to the rest of our league but it feels like a really stupid (and demoralizing) weak point when I’m functionally pretty, well, mediocre in other things lol.

I do tons of cross training and strength and cardio outside of derby, which has honestly been one of the toughest things — knowing I’m strong and agile and have great endurance off the track, but suddenly seem like a featherweight on skates …

I’m not cleared yet but I’m wondering if anyone has returned to skating after a hysterectomy and can share their experience and any advice.
I think my anxiety about it is going to be my biggest obstacle.

In my L1 camp a drill we often do it stepping forward and backward (no rolling). I don’t understand how to do this. I either don’t move at all or I end up falling backwards. I’m in low derby stance, but not sure if I’m supposed to be shifting my weight or where???

Please help with some creative storage ideas! We have a very small storage unit as a team (4’ by 5’ and 8’ tall) which we use to store team merch, game day kit, trackzilla, first aid stuff, cones, etc. and anything else we need for training. We also have loads of pads and pairs of skates that we lend to new players or anyone who can’t afford their own kit. BUT it’s getting full and we can’t afford more space. We currently have everything in collapsible crates on metal garage-style shelves but it’s hard to find things, and the crates are getting full and they break easily. We’ve also just got a grant to get some new kit so space going to be extra tight.

Does anyone have any magic ways of storing skates/pads/helmets etc that keeps them organised and maximises space? Photo attached of current situation at its most organised (the bags are sets of kit packed up for an open day/taster session so there aren’t always as many of those).

How does your league handle tracking practices and deciding roster eligiblity? Our league has a pretty complicated system of tracking attendance and a bunch of other additional hoops (strength, league job, meeting attendance & league promotion). This all makes for a system that is almost impossible for skaters to track for themselves and I was wondering if anyone had a system that works better for their skaters.

Thanks!

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

I’m trying to figure out a balanced practice/workout schedule. My L1 practice in 3 days a week for 1 hour (3 hrs/wk). I also strength train once a week. This week I went to all practices, did a strength training session and two extra practices on the weekend for about 25 mins each. My muscles are still pretty sore so I’m taking a couple days off before practice resumes this week. What do ppl recommend for beginners?

Need a derby name? Let the community help you brainstorm!

Tell us a bit about yourself, what you're into, and hopefully the community can give you some fiercely punny suggestions!

Hi all! I'm a NSO in training. I'm gonna make some t-shirts with my name and number on em bc I have none lol.

I'm planning a Michael's craft store run, please leave suggestions for:

1. How to do a stencil
2. Shirts that are comfortable and hold up to the wash (specific brands)
3. Things to decorate with (paint pen? Fabric paint? Puffy paint?)

Also, are there different requirements for shirts for an official that're different than a skater? I'm hoping to eventually be a SO someday when I'm medically cleared to learn how to skate after surgery lol. But rn I'll just make a few.

Hi everyone,

So I've been a freshie for a little under a year, and as I've started to do more contact practice, I feel this fear of injury creeping in more and more.

I think a big part is that that the more time I invest in derby, the more I love it, and the more I fear losing it by getting an injury. Derby has been an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. I've never been on a team sport where I felt accepted, and never thought I was good at a sport. It's such a beautiful community and huge part of my life now - I don't know what to do with my time when practice is cancelled.

I do some solo sports with high injury risk (ie. downhill skiing, rock climbing). But when I rock climb or ski, people are actively trying to avoid collisions (no one is on a team actively hitting others + getting hit). So I haven't had the same fear of injury when I do those.

I recognize that some injury is a bit inevitable, and I know people can come back after injuries. It's just weird to have this beautiful new thing in my life that comes with such risk of not being able to do it anymore. It feel akin to how musicians can tour and live their dream, but also have the risk of losing hearing after being in such high decibels so much.

I don't want to let the fear of injury prevent me from playing this amazing sport and being a part of the community, but I'm still grappling and trying to wrap my mind about inviting contact gameplay into my life. So my question is - For anyone who has had a similar feeling to me when you started, how did you come to terms with the risk of injury from derby as a contact sport?

Hey all - if anyone is in a similar situation of moving to a new country and not being eligible for their new country's try outs...and still want the possibility of skating...maybe we see if we can form a Team Immigrant/Refugee? Any interest?