Roller derby: it's fierce, fun and anyone can have a go

Flat-track roller derby – popularised by 2009's Whip It, Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut – is one of the few sports where women largely outnumber men.

It's a contact sport where bumping, pushing and pulling other players is part of the game, so it might be surprising to learn that it was women skaters from Austin, Texas, who rescued roller derby from its dying fate in the early 2000s to build an all-women league that would eventually reach every major city in the US.

Word of its revival soon spread and derby leagues were kickstarted across the globe, including the all-inclusive, all-gender, not-for-profit Wollongong Illawarra Roller Derby (WIRD) league, founded in 2009.

Don't be put off by a vision of raucous, rockabilly-esque skaters engaged in combat.

WIRD media officer Amy Joyce – aka Kranky Crumpet – said that roller derby, whilst physically demanding, is safer than it appears, and is a sport that anyone can play.

“It's not as violent as some people think. I know some people have told me they're a bit worried about coming to see people get hit – that’s not the case. We're all safe, we wear pads, we hit safely, so it's a bit of fun, a bit competitive,” Amy said.

“A lot of us are quite proud of not being sporty – that might sound funny, but I'm not sporty, I've never done sport in my life… I'm not muscle-y by any sense either, but there's a place for everyone. You kind of find where you fit and what you do.

“And that's the best thing – we can teach you from scratch… you can just take it at your own speed and you don't even need to do contact. You can be a social skater, a ref or a non-skating official if you want, which is great.”

For beginners, learning the rules of the 60-minute game (called a bout) and the particulars of each position – the point scorer, called the jammer, the pivot and the blockers – can be complex.

To be selected to compete for WIRD’s adult teams – the women and non-binary Steel City Derby Dolls, or the mixed-gender Steel City Rollers – new players must undergo four levels of training, at approximately eight weeks per level, before they are deemed bout ready.

“You have two teams on the track at any one time, each team fields five players, so that's four blockers," Amy said. "One of them will be a pivot… and the pivot's job is to, basically, when the jammer [gets] tired, the pivot will take the jammer's panties [as their helmet covers are known].

“The jammer's role is they have to get through the other team's pack by any means necessary – basically, that's why there's lots of hits, because the blockers need to block the jammer, maybe block the other team, and one of the ways you can do it is by knocking them off the track.

“The two jammers, one from each team, they'll try and get through on their initial pass. Whoever gets through the packs first will become lead jammer, then they have a cool ability of they can call off the jam whenever they want, if they lead, by touching their hips three times, otherwise the jam will run for two minutes.”

Once a jammer breaks away from the pack to become lead jammer, they will gain a point for their team each time they pass an opposing team’s player until the two-minute jam is over, or until they call off the jam early to avoid being overtaken.

As a niche sport with limited leagues in the area, bouts are often few and far between throughout the season, but Amy described the the state's community of roller derby players as tight-knit.

“Everyone's so nice, there's no team rivalry, everyone has fun,” she said.

“You'll see at the beginning of a game that two teams might be having a dance and then at the end you'll see skaters from opposing teams hug each other or have a laugh because we're just all friends, we all just enjoy playing the sport, and that's what I love.”

Whilst bouts are scarce, training is not, with senior players meeting once a week at the University of Wollongong’s Sports Hub to practice. WIRD’s junior team, Nuts and Bolts, which caters for skaters aged seven to 17, has 40 players who take part in weekly training and bouts.

Next on the agenda for WIRD is the Eastern Region Roller Derby (ERRD) SMACKDOWN, the state’s biggest roller derby tournament, which will be held in July, drawing teams from across the country.

“We usually do quite well… but we are looking a bit more like a newer team at the moment [so] I'm not sure how we’ll go in July, but stay tuned,” Amy said.