Contemporary Roller Derby is a fast, athletic and skilled contact sport played on old school quad roller skates. Flat track games or ’bouts’ are held on smooth surfaces such as polished wood, sports court or concrete. Some leagues play bank track derby on a specially built track, though there are currently no bank track leagues in Australia.

The Game

Teams may have up to 14 players, but 5 players from each team are only allowed on the track at one time.

Two teams of five players each skate in a pack counter-clockwise around a track. Their positions are:

1x Jammer (star helmet)

4x Blockers, one is the Pivot (striped Helmet)
The bout is divided into halves and consists of two minute periods called ‘jams’.

The objective of the game is to score points while stopping the opposing team scoring points. The Jammer scores points for their team by passing the opposing team players. Jammers start after the main pack and have to get through the pack and lap them. They score 1 point for each member of the opposite team they pass on the second lap through the pack.

The first Jammer to get through the pack is the ‘Lead Jammer’ and can end the jam by putting their hands on their hips.

Blockers make up the main pack. Their aim is to prevent the opposite team’s  Jammer getting through while helping their own Jammer score points.

Good play: Skaters may use legal blocks with the butt, hip, upper arms and torso.

Bad play: Elbowing, using hands, heads or feet is forbidden and is penalised.

Penalties

Major penalties are awarded for illegal or dangerous conduct eg: kicking, tripping or pushing from behind, and see the player sent to the penalty box for 1 minute. If a player receives 7 major penalties in one game they will be ejected.

Minor penalties are awarded for illegal play causing only minor impact with other skaters. They are recorded, if a player has 4 they are sent to the penalty box to serve a major penalty.

CRDL follows the Women’s Flat Track Derby Associations Rules set that can be found here: http://wftda.com/

Gear

Quad skates are a must.

To play Roller derby you are required to wear full saftey gear this includes:

Helmet, mouth guard, elbow pads, wrist guards and knee pads.