Roller Derby FAQs
What is roller derby?
Roller derby is a full contact sport played on roller skates. Its origins come from humble beginnings as a form of entertainment played by women while men were overseas in the military. Over time, roller derby evolved to incorporate elements of spectacle and theatricality, featuring impressive collisions and dramatic performances. In our present day, roller derby has witnessed a remarkable resurgence and has emerged as a fiercely competitive and inclusive sport.
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What's the goal?
Roller derby is basically a fancy footrace. One skater on each team scores points for their team by passing skaters on the other team.
The team with the most points at the end wins.
How long is a game?
Each game is two 30 minute halves.
The halves are broken down into increments called jams.
Each jam can last up 2 minutes.
Jams can be called off earleir than that by the skater who is designated as lead jammer.
Roller Derby Vocab
Jammer
Blocker
Blocker
This skater wears a star on their helmet cover and is the point scorer for their team in each jam.
They get a point for each blocker on the other team they pass with their hips.
Blocker
Blocker
Blocker
The skaters that are responsible for preventing the other teams jammer from getting through, aka "Blocking" and also providing assistance to getting their own jammer through.
Pivot
Blocker
Lead Jammer
This blocker has a helmet cover that has a stripe down the middle.
The pivot is the blocker that is able to pivot to become the jammer if needed.
Lead Jammer
Lead Jammer
Lead Jammer
This is the jammer who gets through the pack of skaters first.
This skater gets the privillage of ending the jam when they would like by tapping their hips twice in succession.
The Pack
Lead Jammer
Star Pass
The pack is the largest group of skaters from both teams within 10 feet of each other.
The pack is the area where skaters are allowed to engage other skaters in hits and contact.
Star Pass
Lead Jammer
Star Pass
If a jammer decides for strategy (or exhuastion) that they need to have a break from jamming and the jam is not over yet, they may take their helmet cover off and pass it to their pivot on their team.
