Roller derby: Eight wheels of awesome

What sport is almost entirely grassroots and [primarily funded]( and administered by the players? Is dominated by women? Is inclusive of all body types, gender identities, and sexual orientations? Features players who go by punny monikers? Includes [teams organized by ethnic background]( as well as geography? Consists of a culture roughly equal parts punk rock, DIY, badass, empowering, and supportive? Roller derby. Today roller derby athletes show up on ESPN. In previous eras, it was more spectacle than sport, focused on the mostly female participants’ looks and outrageous behavior instead of their athleticism and skill. Though much has changed in derby’s nearly 85-year history—including the rules, track, equipment, and its very legitimacy—at its core it remains the competitive pastime for passionate, talented skaters and their fans that it has always been. Let’s jam. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Obsession] Roller derby September 13, 2019 What sport is almost entirely grassroots and [primarily funded]( and administered by the players? Is dominated by women? Is inclusive of all body types, gender identities, and sexual orientations? Features players who go by punny monikers? Includes [teams organized by ethnic background]( as well as geography? Consists of a culture roughly equal parts punk rock, DIY, badass, empowering, and supportive? Roller derby. Today roller derby athletes show up on ESPN. In previous eras, it was more spectacle than sport, focused on the mostly female participants’ looks and outrageous behavior instead of their athleticism and skill. Though much has changed in derby’s nearly 85-year history—including the rules, track, equipment, and its very legitimacy—at its core it remains the competitive pastime for passionate, talented skaters and their fans that it has always been. Let’s jam. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Reuters/Eric Thayer By the digits [1:]( Jersey number that was permanently retired in honor of 21 skaters and derby personnel killed in a fiery bus crash in 1938 [5:]( Number of championships the winningest team, the Gotham Girls, has won since the competition began in 2006 [30:]( Number of seconds a player must serve in the penalty box for committing a foul [33:]( Median age of American players, according to a 2015 participant census [53%:]( Share of players who sustained at least one significant injury in a year’s time, according to a medical study [67:]( Active Men’s Roller Derby Association teams [119:]( US junior roller derby leagues, for children and teens [460:]( Flat-track derby leagues currently sanctioned by the US-based authority, including 160 leagues outside the US on six continents [919:]( Biggest score differential in any flat-track bout, in which Victoria beat Dragon City 921-2 [50,118:]( Derby game attendance record, at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Sep. 15, 1972 Glossary The basics --------------------------------------------------------------- Bout—a derby game or match Track—oval ring on which a bout is played; most contemporary derby is played on a flat track Jam—a period of play during a bout during which scoring can occur; two minutes maximum, with five skaters per team Jammer—the player on each team whose goal it is to score; wears a helmet cover with a star on it Blockers—the four players per team who play both offense and defense, trying to block both the opposing team’s jammer and the opposing blockers to clear a path for their own jammer Pack—the group of all eight blockers, which both jammers must pass to score points Wall—a formation of blockers designed to block the other team’s jammer from breaking out of the pack of skaters to score Pivot—the one blocker on the track who can switch places with the jammer; wears a helmet cover with a stripe on it Star pass—when the jammer removes her helmet cover and passes it to the pivot so she can switch to being the jammer; only one star pass is permitted per jam Lead jammer—the first jammer to emerge from the pack; scores points by passing the other team’s players as she skates around the track Power jam—when one jammer is in the penalty box, leaving only the other jammer on the track Calling it off—when the lead jammer ends a jam early by tapping her hands on her hips; usually done to keep the opposing jammer from scoring Fresh meat—novice players Explain it like I’m 5! How they roll --------------------------------------------------------------- When it first started, roller derby was basically a skating marathon, in which a two-skater team raced another. It quickly evolved into a competition between two teams of five, played on a banked track, featuring theatrics and aggressive contact like punching and hair-pulling. The modern version toned down the violence, dialed up the athleticism, added new rules, and is played on a flat oval track, often marked with temporary tape. Gameplay starts with the first jam, with four blockers from each team lined up opposite the two competing jammers. At the whistle, both jammers try to push through or evade the opposing team’s clump of blockers. The first jammer to succeed and break away becomes the lead. After skating around the track, she tries to break through the pack again, scoring a point for each blocker she passes. [This explainer video]( shows how it’s done. Quotable “All I want out of it is to make good money, get out of it in one piece, and years from now when I say I was in the Derby I want people still to know what it is. I want that.” —Roller derby superstar Joan Weston, in the 1969 [Sports Illustrated article “The Roller Derby”]( Giphy Pop quiz Which is the derby name of one of the sport’s biggest-ever stars? Princess SlayaJoan JetpackKiller VeganBonnie Thunders Correct. Nicole Williams, AKA Bonnie Thunders, has been called “the LeBron James of roller derby.” Those other names are used by players, though. Incorrect. At least, not yet. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Brief history [1935:]( “Transcontinental roller derby” debuts in Chicago as the brainchild of promoter Leo Seltzer, with two teams of two—one man and one woman—marathon-racing around a banked track. [1938:]( Roller derby grows into the two-team sport of today, introducing elements like physical contact suggested by famed sportswriter Damon Runyon. [1948:]( CBS airs co-ed derby bouts in New York, drawing national attention. [1949:]( The first-ever Roller Derby World Series is held at New York’s Madison Square Garden. [1959:]( Seltzer’s son Jerry takes over running roller derby, kicking off a new era that includes features in Sports Illustrated, Time, and Life magazines as well as sell-out crowds at venues like Madison Square Garden and Oakland, California’s Coliseum. [1973:]( Jim Croce’s song “Roller Derby Queen” comes out on his album Life and Times. [1978:]( The short-lived NBC sitcom The Roller Girls runs for four episodes. [1989:]( The fictional TV series RollerGames premieres, running for just one season, featuring some skaters from the defunct Roller Games league. [1999:]( The TV show RollerJam debuts, [ending in 2001](. [2001:]( Women in Austin, Texas, reclaim derby and kick off its modern era as true sport, formally forming the [Texas Rollergirls]( two years later. [2004:]( The precursor to the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is created to oversee the sport. [2009:]( Drew Barrymore directs and stars in the roller derby feature film Whip It, with Ellen Page, Kristen Wiig, and Juliette Lewis. [2011:]( International derby star Suzy Hotrod of New York’s Gotham Girls is featured in ESPN’s “Bodies We Want” issue. Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with Roller derby? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Obsession email – to the email – Giphy Fun fact! Roller derby play proceeds counter-clockwise around the track. In some cases, [reversing direction is even illegal](. Watch this! Bonnie Thunders --------------------------------------------------------------- What does it take to be one of the best jammers of all time? ESPN created a highlight reel of Bonnie Thunder’s signature moves after she left New York’s Gotham Girls for the Rose City Rollers of Portland, Oregon. take me down this 🐰 hole! Some players think of their derby names as their alter egos, others as just nicknames. Either way, they tend to be clever, often vaguely intimidating plays on their own names (Kate Sera Sera, Ambergeddon), twists on fictional or historical figure names (The Merchant of Menace, June Carter Smash), or epithets (Bricktator, Trauma). It’s unclear exactly how and why this practice started, but today the whole derby community—adult and junior skaters, referees, coaches—all go by derby names. In fact, they even tend to call each other by their monikers even off the track. Want your own derby name? [Try an online generator.]( Reuters/Eric Thayer Poll Do you know how to roller skate? [Click here to vote]( Hell yes!I wish.Are you kidding? 💬let's talk! In yesterday’s poll about [Kool-Aid]( 44% of you said it’s a drink of the past because it’s “artificial and bad for your health,” while 33% said “no, I love that summer nostalgia.” 📧 Mark writes: “No mention of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test?” It’s a classic of New Journalism by Tom Wolfe about Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters; the title is a reference to [communal acid trips]( that sometimes involved LSD-laced Kool-Aid. Last year, Jenni Avins [wrote about the book’s cultural prescience]( for Quartz. 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20roller%20derby&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 🎲 [Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Holly Ojalvo]( and Zoey “Gnarwhal” Ojalvo of Gotham Girls Junior Derby, edited by [Annaliese Griffin]( and produced by [Luiz Romero](. The correct answer to the quiz is Bonnie Thunders. Enjoying the Quartz Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! Want to advertise in the Quartz Obsession? Send us an email at ads@qz.com. Not enjoying it? No worries. [Click here]( to unsubscribe. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10011 | United States [Share this email](