Imagine, beads of sweat flying off your forehead and landing on the scratched hardwood floor as you make a sharp turn. Hair is sticking to the back of your neck and people are spitting out blood left and right. Hips are knocking against one another as bodies are slammed and jostled for someone to come out victorious. You’re zooming through the tracks like a loose freight train and your heart is thumping out of your chest trying to escape. You hear roars and gasps from a clumped together crowd who resemble a school of fish. You have entered the exhilarating world of roller derby.
My first introduction to the world of roller derby came from the mid-2000’s movie, Whip It, directed by Drew Berrymore and starring Elliot Page. However, roller derby has a long feminist driven history that dates back to the 1930s. On August 13, 1935, sports journalist Leo Seltzer had the idea of holding a transcontinental roller derby at the Chicago Coliseum, after reading a magazine that said 93% of Americans at the time roller-skated. Seltzer wanted roller derby to bring excitement and thrill to the public suffering through the Great Depression era and he accomplished that when a whopping number of 20,000 people showed up to the event.
Roller derby’s popularity skyrocketed in the 1970s when it was advertised as an eccentric sort of wrestling on wheels. A unique wardrobe consisting of intricate costume designs, face paint, and fun stage names, attracted audience members to the sport. Roller derby was one of the few sports that were women-centered and promoted the idea that women can participate in activities that pushed physical limitations without questioning one’s femininity.
A roller derby match is played by two teams of 5 skaters comprised of 1 jammer and 4 blockers. A jammer’s job is to score points by completing a lap against the other team around the track. The 4 blockers try to stop the other team’s jammer from advancing and creating a clear path for their own jammer. Roller derby is played in two periods of 30 minutes, with episodes called “jams” that can last 2 minutes. At the start of a jam, jammers compete to get ahead and whoever prevails becomes the lead jammer. The lead jammer then has the opportunity to end a jam early.
With roller derby’s growing popularity over the years, roller derby leagues have sprung up all over the globe. Miami even has its own local league called Vice City Rollers that constantly encourages the public to get involved. Roller derby eliminates all expected societal standards and is an inclusive environment for all women to feel empowered.