What is roller derby?
Originally a banked-track roller skating marathon started in the 1930’s, roller derby is now an excitingly fast-paced, full contact, international sport reborn in Austin,TX in the early 2000’s.
The game (commonly called a bout) is made up of two teams skating on an oval shaped, flat-track on quad roller skates. Four blockers on each team form a pack whose goal is to keep their opponent’s jammer (the one with the star on his/her helmet) from breaking through the pack, while simultaneously allowing their own jammer to pass through and score points. The jammer earns one point for each opponent he/she passes after their initial pass.
A bout consists of two 30 minute halves with one 15 minute intermission. The bouters (players) skate for a 2 minute jam or until the lead jammer (first to make it out of the pack) calls off the jam, ending play and allowing 30 seconds for players to enter/exit the track for the next start of game play.
For a more detailed explanation, click here or check out the official WFTDA rulebook here.