Category Archives: True Derby

Derby attracts a wide range of skaters. They come from all backgrounds and in all flavors. Each is following her own path. Here are a few of their stories.

True Derby

DERBY POP QUIZ #3- Where in the world is derby?

Time for another roller derby quick quiz….

Roller derby is global. Almost 2,000 official leagues in over 50 countries.

So, in which country is roller derby most popular?:

  1. United States of America
  2. Finland
  3. New Zealand
  4. Japan.

The answer may surprise you, my dear.

This information below thanks to The Frogmouth Blog

“The United States, where roller derby started, has the most roller derby leagues;…

BUT the United States is not where roller derby is most popular. The U.S. has 848 leagues for its population of 322 million, or 2.6 leagues per million people. But New Zealand has 29 roller derby leagues for its population of fewer than 5 million— 6.3 leagues for every million people. By this measure, roller derby is more popular in New Zealand than in any other nation in the world, followed by Australia (4.9 leagues per million people), and Canada (4.6 leagues per million people.)”

The answer is #2 – New Zealand!

“Roller derby is more popular in New Zealand than in any other nation in the world.”

“The U.S. comes seventh behind Finland, Iceland, and Sweden. And many other countries play too. For example, France has 116 leagues, Argentina has 65, Spain has 33, and roller derby is also played in non-western nations including Latvia, Lebanon, South Africa, and Japan. This is remarkable, not only because roller derby is such a young sport, but also because the United States has had so little success exporting its other sports around the world. America’s two most popular sports, American football and baseball, are played in very few countries, with only basketball having any real international presence. This is yet another way in which roller derby is exceptional.”

So now you know next time someone asks.

SKATE ON!

Darla

Art of the Listen - Bench Talk, True Derby

A BARREL OF THOUGHTS….

So, here’s a special bench to celebrate the opening of rodeos across the US this month. And all the people who love to talk about the sport.

One thing about benches, you tend to walk right by them and not give a second look.

Except maybe this one in Dothan, Alabama..

Even I, Darla, (whom I humbly consider to be a connoisseur of benches) had to do a double take.

What is it? Barrels? Like the kind the rodeo riders race around? Apparently so.

Makes you just want to try to sit on it, no? Or maybe not. Or at least have a conversation about it…

Derby is that way. Here you are, a normal looking human being, and you tell someone you do roller derby in your spare time and the answer is usually, “Wha.a.at?

Makes them look again at you in a new and interesting way.

(Now, rodeo, that may be a little different because all rodeo folk have this kind of swagger that makes you look again, anyway…)

Point of this barrel of thoughts is that maybe today is a good day to take a second look at the people around you and not just walk on by again. Maybe you don’t know as much about them as you think.

There may be a barrel of stuff you could find out if you just ask a few bench talk questions.

…except maybe not on this bench.

SKATE ON, Y’ALL!

Darla

(Thanks to Travis for sending the photo.)

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True Derby

FAST GIRLS

Just how fast do you have to be in order to qualify as a “fast girl”?

Dear, that’s been the proverbial question throughout the ages of high school locker talk, has it not?

(Ok, if you’re too young to understand that term, try “easy”.)

Well, now the question has evolved away from hallway whispers into some hard, fast rules for qualification as a roller derby competitor.

Oh, yes. I know you skated as a kid. But can you……..?

…Skate 27 times around a regulation track (think skating rink) in 5 minutes?

…Skate backwards at a good pace around the entire track?

…Hop over a 6 inch object while skating at a good pace?

….Turn 180 degrees while skating, both clockwise and counter-clockwise?

Or meet any of the other qualifications set by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association for approved competition?

Didn’t think so……(unless you have already graduated from derby “fresh meat” bootcamp!)

Hope that gives you a whole new way to look at these truly fast girls…

SKATE ON!

Darla

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True Derby

POP QUIZ #2 – HOW did DERBY GET STARTED?

(1953 Photo of the New York Chiefs)

Time for another quick derby question to test your knowledge of the sport.

How did roller derby begin? Pick one:

A. Roller derby is a sport invented by the roller rinks in the 1950’s to increase business.

B. The medical community in the 1940’s recommended that girls skate together in a controlled environment to burn off excess energy in a genteel manner.

C. Roller derby began in the 1930’s as a spin-off of the popular dance marathons.

D. All of the above.

Drum roll, please, my dear.

The answer is C.

Skating marathons grew out of the American craze for dance marathons. In 1933 Leo Seltzer of Chicago devised a marathon on wheels whereby men and women skated around a rink for up to 12 hours. By 1940 derby had become a contact sport with co-ed teams and a set of rules, a kind of traveling show across the US.

The sport of roller derby had its ups and downs (so to speak) and was somewhat dormant until 2000, when a group of women in Austin, TX brought modern day roller derby back to life. Derby today features teams across the world and its own World Cup competition.

Now you know, just in case someone asks.

Skate On!

Darla

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True Derby

Where the boys are….

Perhaps you didn’t know, but there are guys in roller derby. There are male roller derby teams across the world, co-ed teams and the entire back up squad of announcers, coaches and referees.

But in Vienna, the boys (in this case the spouses and significant others of the fearless roller derby girls) have taken support for the Vienna Rollergirls to a whole new level.

Meet the Fearleaders of Vienna!

Let’s hear it for this incredible, international sport!

SKATE ON!

Darla

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