Rose City Rollers

Roller derby was never something that stuck out to me, as I knew next to nothing about it. Was it people on roller skates racing? Was it like basketball on roller skates? I clearly wasn’t in that realm.

However, on Jan. 11, the opening night for the Rose City Rollers league season, I went to their Oaks Amusement Park home (The Hangar) to take pictures of the matches and left with a new favorite sport.

The rules of roller derby are pretty simple. A match consists of two 30-minute halves, broken up into smaller periods of up to two minutes called “jams.” During these jams, there are two teams with five players each on the flat oval track. Four of them are defensive players called blockers, which make up “the pack.” The fifth player is called a “jammer,” indicated by a star on their helmet, whose main job is to pass the blockers, scoring points with each opposing blocker they pass. When a jam has finished, those five players are switched out with their teammates.

While roller derby is definitely a full-contact sport, with players decked out in helmets, knee pads and elbow pads, there is excessive contact that can be deemed unsafe (i.e. contacting the player’s head), sending the offending player out to sit in the penalty box. This can lead to some pretty strong reactions from players and fans alike, questioning the referees’ decisions (just like every other sport).

Because it was the opening night of the season for this league, the seats and stands alike were completely sold out. Fans were packed like sardines, with the hum of excitement all around.

The first matchup featured the Guns N Rollers vs. the Heartless Heathers. I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I read through the pamphlets the event staff were handing out to try and familiarize myself with the rules. One thing I wasn’t expecting is that the players choose their “stage names,” which lead to some great finds such as “Amara-can Gangster,” “OSHA Violation” and “Judge Booty.”

After the lineups were announced, the first jam began. The players lined up, and the whistle was blown. I’m not poetic enough to describe the action well, so I’ll leave it at “pretty damn exciting” – the jammers rolling into the blockers forming a wall, only to break through, with the crowd going wild. Blockers’ bodies slammed jammers out of bounds, forcing them to get up, roll back and re-enter the rink, with the crowd grimacing each time.

It was an electric vibe in that building, with everyone enjoying themselves. Even the players, right as they were lining up to start clashing in the jams, would be laughing and dancing together as the break music was playing. There were moments throughout the match when both teams’ blockers were holding out, causing virtually no movement in the rink, which just built up the excitement of which team was going to push through first.

The first match of the night ended with the Heartless Heathers pulling away to get the win with 119 points, and the Guns N Rollers trailing close behind with 112 points. When the final score popped up on the scoreboard, the crowd went wild. All the newbies in the crowd (myself included) were encouraged to come out and give high-fives to the players and they circled the track.

I was basically head over heels at this point, having been focused on photos for the first match. Now I was ready to fully lock in and just watch and enjoy the second.

The next match was the Break Neck Betties vs the High Rollers. Some standout names from this match were “Catcher in the Thigh,” “Greys Lobotomy,” “Thors Slammer” and “The Rodent of Unusual Size.” Same as the first time, the names were announced, the players lined up, and the whistle blew. Exciting action, nail biting blockades, falls that made you want to look away, and jammers breaking through to send the crowd into a frenzy.

During halftime, the staff brought out a T-shirt cannon to shoot freebies into the crowd, which of course everyone loved. The winner of the match was the High Rollers with 124 points, beating the Break Neck Betties with 66 points.

This was only the opening night of Roller derby league play, with many more matches to come. Be sure to grab a ticket to at least one of these nights, because maybe you’ll be like me and find your new passion by chance.

Laramie OeDell