Derby FAQs

Many folks are fascinated to hear that I’ve joined a roller derby league. Here are some of the questions I’ve heard most frequently:

What’s your name?

Every Derby Girl gets a special derby name, that must be unique across all derby girls across the entire Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. I think many of my friends are more excited about the notion of helping me select a name than actually hearing about the sport! There is a master roster to check your proposed name against, and a feature to determine if it is too close to an already registered name. In special cases, you can request permission to use a similar name. I know “Drrty Grrl” from Ohio asked permission of another player (likely Dirt E Girl) if she could use the name with a different spelling. The player agreed. In another case, a player requested permission to use a permutation of a name, and was denied. This is serious business! I’ve received quite a few suggestions from folks, but have yet to make a decision.

Who do you play against?

I joined the Denver Roller Dolls League. There are currently three teams in the league: the Green Barrettes, the Bad Apples and the Shotgun Betties. With all our new recruits this past month, my guess is that another team will be formed within a year? These teams play against each other. There is also a travel team, the “Mile High Club”. This is basically an all-star team, and these are the girls who play against teams from other leagues. It’s based on their performance that our League is ranked in WFTDA (we are ranked #16 out of 46 active leagues – not bad for a league that just launched a few seasons ago, and started 2008 at #25!)

Isn’t Derby staged?

No.

Can you get hurt?

Yes. But that’s why we have to wear knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, helmets and mouthguards. Yes, mouthguards. Ew.

Is Roller Derby like Roller Hockey?

No – there are no sticks or balls or pucks in derby, just girls skating really fast. Each team has a “jammer”, who is the point scorer. They score points for every member of the other team that they pass (after lapping the entire pack once). The point is therefore to try to prevent the other team’s jammer from passing you, and helping your own jammer pass the other team. Each “jam” lasts two minutes, but it may be called off early by the “lead jammer” (the first jammer to lap the pack without getting a penalty).

And you’re on quad wheel skates? They still make those?

You bet!