derby girl

Dear W.F.T.D.A Rules Committee

2008-07-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

3.0 rules are being enforced incorrectly and there should be an immediate recommendation posted regarding a change to the following:
(And I've got a suggestion on how to fix it...read on.)

6.2.10.4 A skater improving her position by re-entering the pack from out-of-bounds in front of multiple skaters.
6.2.10.5 A skater improving her position by re-entering the pack from out-of-bounds in front of the foremost opposing Blocker.

Why did we make this rule? To stop players from intentionally cutting the track--taking a minor when their cut had a major impact on the game. We wanted to stop that, and and this rule did but with some serious un-intended game-changing consequences. Players are now focusing on forcing major fouls. Its the only rule that puts potential power on the opposing team to actual draw MAJORS on their opposing team. And a major on a jammer has a WAY BIGGER impact on the game than a track cut around the last player. Not to mention the insane can of worms regarding how to fairly call and when to fairly call this major.

The Way It's Called Now
The way it is being called now is : 'at the moment the players are past or the track is cut..',: which has been clearly (currently) defined as EXACTLY when ANY part of their body becomes back in-bounds. This has opened up two horrible cans of worms:

How and when to call it is being disputed by refs the country over.
Teams training on 2001 ways to exploit this rule -- thereby changing the way the game is played. This is not and never should an outcome of a rule change, in my humble opinion. This is only due to the insanely strict way this is being enforced--hit girl out of bounds on the inside HARD and voila! if she doesn't bail onto the ground--MAJOR. Awesome! (no.)

THE FIX
There are two different types of cutting:jammer cutting and blocker cutting, and the advantages are gained in slightly different ways at slightly different times but you can call them with the same rule basic rule of thumb-- Call it at the point and advantage is clearly gained. Sprinkle that with a little interpretation of intent and you've got a much simpler-to-call, less exploitable, totally effective rule that helps the game.

Jammer doing the cutting:
How to call it: Call it when they don't yeild the advantage. Just like a false start.

Call it a Major: If the jammer doesn't go back and re-pass those player--ie she skates away thinking she just got away with something--whistle and a Major.

Don't call it: If she gets hit out of bounds on an inside corner (probably just to draw the major... ) but then instantly drops her position back behind those skaters and repasses them in bounds--No Major impact, no Major call.

Blocker doing the cutting:
How to call it: Call it when they don't yield the advantage. Just like a false start.

Call it a Major:If they pass and don't immediately rectify the situation i.e.; drop back out of bounds and re-assume their original position, then that's gaining a major advatange and has a major impact on the game--Major.

Don't call it a major: If they are hit out of bounds and immediately drop back re-establish their origional position, no major. They were hit out of bounds.

Why:

Make it a bit of a judgment call for the refs--which is actually a GOOD thing. Because then blockers can't count on it being called a major and will shy away from TRYING to draw the foul. If a couple of majors get missed in this fashion is better than extra majors getting called that were unintentional.
Get's us back to the reason this rule was made: If a skater intentionally cuts the track and gains the advantage they will be sent to the box.
Less penalties = Better game play
More penalties just called for the sake of calling them = poor game play and rules-exploitation-based game play.

This rule as it's currently being called is not in the spirit of the game.
I love all you refs and rules geeks. Count me among your biggest fans.

XO Kitt.

Jammer + Narrow Wheels?

2008-04-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

New Wheels. These are narrow. They don't collect the muzz* yet they are grippy enough for the crap floor we skate on**. It has always been a drama: hard = no muzz but no grip. Soft = no grip because of muzz magnet-ing.

Narrow was the big question. I can say the following:

1. Narrow has made me feel way more maneuverable. (or it could be partly because I have such fabulous grip where once I had none). And just for the record: I was no slouch before--seriously, I just feel way more wily.

2. I maaaay may may maybe may feel a tad bit slower. Either from the push or from the softness. But really for me the wily (at this point) trumps the flat out speed on our track. It's not like you're really racing outside of the pack for very long. Mostly you're trying not to get laid out and scoring mad points.

*Muzz : Man-fuzz, the fuzz on the the track presumably left by the (predominantly male) hockey players, likely their body hair. Mmm.

**Crap floor: Sport court (old) that is rarely, if ever cleaned or swept.

Travel Team Updates

2008-03-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

So we have our new travel team posted up at:

http://www.bayareaderbygirls.com/teams/bad_allstars/

New WFTDA rules state that we can care a roster of 20 girls as a pool. We can pull any 14 players to play in any game. Even if the game(s) are part of a tournament--we can switch the roster between games. So this is exciting because it gives us a larger group of girls to train with and those girls push themselves harder knowing the opportunity is there for anyone of them to skate in any given game.

In other news the great and all-mighty Pia Mess of Rat City has joined us. As you will note from our All Star Team Page. YEEEE HAW. More coaching, more perspective, more blocking, more jamming.

Again. See us play at the Big One Tournament.

Annnnd We're Back, Outlaws and Ankles

2008-03-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

Yes! The Oakland Outlaws just beat the Richmond Wrecking Belles in a well fought first game of the season. Some notes:

Liza Machete of the Belle's decided not to play the game and only coached
Mandi Festo, in her first game back for the Belles in a year, hurt her knee and was out the second half of the game
Deadly Nightshade, starting blocker for the Outlaws broker her finger in the first jam of the second half and was transported to the ER.
Jennacologist, starting blocker for the Outlaws hurt her knee in the second half and was out the majority thereof.
I was in my first game back since I broke my ankle. (Other than a scrimmage with the Sonoma Girls)

So in conclusion. We were down two starters, they were down two starters. We rule. Thanks.

So. The Big One Tournament is soon. You gonna be there? I've got a sitter so I can play!

Taquila Mocking Bird

2007-10-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.helptequila.com/

Seriously. For the love of derby.

We knew it would happen... someday

2007-10-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

So there's the picture of my temporary splint, my baby's stroller and my one crutch.

Yeah. So I broke it in a blocking drill. In two places for extra punctuation.

I have two kids, I am their sole care giver during most of the week. One of my kids is actually a baby and I can't even carry him around for two weeks. I can't go down the stairs (and we live on the second floor). I can't do laundry. I can't carry the dishes. I can't do anything my job involves for at least two weeks and I may need surgery. (I really hope not)

I am no Taquila Mockingbird -- but it's a good reminder of the risks involved in an aggressive sport. My husband I and I were always aware that this would happen some day. After three years and countless drills, falls and minor bumps that time is now.

Thanks to my mother who will be staying with me for a few weeks. And thanks to all the B.A.D. Girls who are more than happy to help out in any way possible and have made it known over and over again.

Conversation with Orthopedic Surgical Intern at the Urgent Care Clinic at UCSF:

DR: When did you do this?
ME: Two days ago.
DR: How did you get here?
ME: I drove.
DR: (looking at stroller and my one crutch) You really shouldn't be walking on that.
ME: (looking at stroller and my one crutch) Uh...
DR: Roller Derby? (I had already told him)
ME: You should go. November 3rd in San Jose.... (I briefly explain the game)
DR: You drove?
ME: "..."
DR: Do you have any shorts? You aren't going to be able to get those jeans off once I put this on your leg.
ME: No...
DR: Uhm. Here's a gown?
ME: Super.

Sorry!

2007-09-09T22:48:00.000-07:00

It's true. I fell off the wagon. Of the blog here. We've all done it.
Anyway. Apologies over.

Coupla things:

New B.A.D. website go look.
BAD is in San Jose for the remainder of 2007. Read our news.
The eight -player, under-dog team of the season just won! That would be my team, the Oakland Outlaws. Aoooowwwwwww.

How we did it?!??

We stopped giving ourselves an out for only having eight players
We played like a team with communication all the way

We are still in search of a long-term coach for the BAD All-Star team. If you're our guy/gal give me a holla.

We (the B.A.D. All-Stars) are going to play The Carolina Roller Girls in Carolina in November. Details are on the website. But stay tuned as we prepare for this very important game.

Trip to 2007 Dust Devil Tournament

2007-02-15T09:02:00.000-08:00

Feel free to follow along on the journey of mama-turbo and baby-turbo as they travel to Tucson for the 2007 Dust Devil Tournament.

Kids and Shirts and Captain Kitt

2006-11-26T23:50:00.000-08:00

Not in that order.

Well, I am a captain again. This Thursday we, the coaching comittee will announce the new teams and their captains. It's going to be... different.

In other--not-so-insignificant news. I have been skating again. Though infrequently due to a breastfed baby who is totally nose-up to all variety of artificial feeding implements. That is to say: no bottles. DAMNIT. hrmph. Still working on it. It's good to be... sort of back.

And last but not least. I got a wild hair up my arse to do this: Derby Girl Store. So get on it and buy your derby wife a holiday gift. Oh, and give me some feedback.

Bumbershoot Tournament

2006-09-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well, my ladies are back home. A little bruised but none the worse for wear. I wasn't there myself. From what I hear--we have some work to do. The competition was fierce.

The question is: how do we get better faster than everyone else gets better?

Is it a matter of recruiting? Is it a matter of coaching?

Recruiting: Catch the eye of the "athlete"... ?
Coaching: We coach ourselves for the most part right now. We are learning a lot as we go. We bring in outside coaches for clinics but currently we don't allocate any part of our budget (or energy for the most part) on getting and keeping an outside coach.

It's an interesting quandary. I can't wait to hear what our coaching committee comes up with.

Meanwhile:

The good old days

2006-07-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

Those were the days. Before the rope lights.

The league's second game.

You're all growns up and you're all growns up. I haven't been to a practice on months. It's really killing me. I don't have anything interesting to write about yet... except that I am excited for the bebe and excited about re-entry to derby.

Sounds like there's going to be some changes in the coming year in terms of how we create teams. Stay tuned (as if there is anyone tuning) for details.

Also check the messageboards at www.bayareaderbygirls.com for pictures from the last bout...

The All-Star Bout--Coach Kitt part Deux

2006-07-06T14:44:00.000-07:00

We beat the Sin City crew a lot to a little. It was a blast. There wasn't much I needed to do. The SF All Star crew really had it under control. We worked out a line up. I cheered and jeered from the bench. And they did the rest. Rock on ladies.

The next bout is July 15th. People should be there.

As for 'skater kitt' she's really getting antsy. The new arrival should arrive around the first week in September. Much like his older brother. I am hoping to get back on skates within a month of his birth. But god knows how that's going to work out.

Baby on the rink. Tits on demand. Skates on the feet.

roll out.

B.A.D. Ass Bout

2006-04-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

April Fool's Day, 2006 shared it's glory with the 2nd bout of the 2006 B.A.D. Season. Oakland lost to San Francisco by one point in the final jam of the bout. Nail-biter, I tell you.

I was announcing, for the first time in my life. It was a blast. Though, someone came up during the first break and gave me a load of shit for screeching in her ear. She happened to be sitting 4 feet from the giant speaker. I wasn't quite sure what this 50 year old woman expected me to do exactly. But none the less. I had a good time.

The entire purpose of this post is to commend the teams, the league, the volunteers, and the fucking bout coordinator and staff. Oh! And the rinkydinks—who are just amazing. The whole crew really came together on this one. From what I heard, since we didn’t spend money on bands, we spent money on things like: tarps (making it possible to have drinks on the rink (thank god)), rope lights (making our track look sooo much better), and last but not least—a better sound system.

It was hands down the best event we've had. And of course, we sold out. And we sold out without bands, so in case there were any questions about what people came to see. There you have it. They came to see roller derby--the way we play it. Rock on B.A.D. Girls. I can't wait to get back in the saddle.

Kitt

Tucson Dust Devil Tournament

2006-03-01T00:40:00.000-08:00

It was pretty awesome.

I thought I'd be pissed not playing. (Maybe more on that later) But I went as a coach. And as the head coach for the last month or so, and being center track with a team of women who are skating their asses off, leads me to believe there will be life after derbygirl in the form of derbycoach. It was actually pretty damn gratifying.

So here's the breakdown for those of you not up to speed:

The Dust Devil Tourn was the first national flat track derby tournament ever.
It was held in Tucson from the 24th through the 26th of February 2006.
The winner could hold claim to being the best flat track travel team in the nation.

So the way the tournament worked was:

Three days, 20 teams
First day:

4 pools of 5 teams each playing a round robin
Each pool was seeded with teams 1-5, 1 being the top ranked team 5 being the lowest ranking team.
The seedings where based on how long the league had been around, and how many inter-league bouts they had played.
The top 3 teams will advance to the second day.
(We were seeded 5th of the 5 in our pool--good luck, right?)

Second day:

Single elimination begins.
Two rounds

Third day:

Semi Finals
Finals (for 3rd place and for 1st place)

So there we were. Looking up at our pool:

Arizona Roller Derby
Mad Rollin’ Dolls
Windy City Rollers
Dallas Derby Devils
B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls

Yep. There we are. The youngest, least experienced team on the board. Here's how Day one panned out:

Dallas Derby Dolls vs. BAD 15 to 21
Mad Rollin Dolls vs. BAD 27 to 14
Chicago Windy City Rollers vs. BAD 6 to 26
Arizona Roller Derby vs. BAD 25 to 25

So, we won 2, tied 1, and lost one. But look who we tied?! The first place seed. We lost to the second place seed. Every other pool of 5, the top three seeds advanced... very predictably. In our pool, team 1, team 2 and... team 5! advanced to the second day. Rock us.

We got the short straw for the second day two fold. We were to check in at 7am (guah) and play Carolina. Whom we watched completely trounce their competition the first day save for Minnesota. In the end, we lost to Carolina that fated morning, but not without a fight: 107 to 77.

Arizona, that team we tied ended up in 3rd place over all.

What does all this mean. Not a ton. But for a league that's only been around a year, has had zero inter league bouts, and has only had two home bouts: We kick some major fucking ass.*

*And that was without me skating. ;)

Flyering: Are we Pornographic?

2006-01-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

Jesus! No! We're not pornographic. For the love of all that is decent. It's a goddamned sport. It's no more pornographic than women's basketball or soccer. Sure we ham up our femininity more. But that's all.

This girl last night at the Sleepy Time Guerrilla Museum show, who was standing with 4 man-folk around her in a semi-circle, looked at me like I was wearing pasties at church when I gently, even somewhat meekly, asked the group; "Would any of you guys be interested in seeing all women's roller derby in Oakland at the end of the Month?" "Um, no. Thanks. [smirk]" said the girl, clearly speaking for all six people present. "These guys (as if I was asking only the men-folk) are sensitive guys."

God. The hundreds of retorts I came back with--all too late. Followed by hundreds of just plain questions I now hold for her and her sensitive male entourage. The top on my list, of course, being: What is it that lead her to believe that her "sensitive" friends would not be interested in "roller derby". Yeah, I put the quotes on both of those words for a reason, ok. What does she mean by sensitive? And what does she think all women's roller derby entails?

Perhaps I am reading too much into this. Perhaps she's just a bitch. Perhaps her therapist's been out of town in Bermuda for a couple of weeks. Perhaps she thinks it's too violent for sensitive hipsters.

But my real point is: Was it something I said?
(or was it the pasties?)

New Skates, New Season, and Tucson

2006-01-15T20:37:00.000-08:00

Ok. I have like 15 things to post. But it's been a while. We'll go semi chronologically.

1. Rockabetty Bruisers--changed their name to Long Island Roller Derby (I think I got that right). The real point here is: I skated with them over the holidays and they were awesome. Really nice. A very very young league and they really have their shit together. I know they think they don't. But they really do. I added two new drills to my book and hopefully left them with one. If you live in LI. Go check them out.

2. The 2006 B.A.D. Girls season. The scheduled dates are: Game I: Jan 28th. Game II: March 4th. Game III: April 1st. The last two are still semi-tentative. But you at least get the idea. I am really excited about this season. We learned a lot from our exhibition bout last fall and now are are ready to really rock. (and roll).

3. I got new skates. They're awesome. My brother gave me 3 bills toward them so I pitched in an extra 250 (ew. that's a a lot). But!
1. Riedell 695 boot
2. Snyder Advantage plates
3. Bones Reds bearings
4. Hyper-Shaman wheels

All of which I have skated on exactly once so far. But so far I can say: Extremely responsive. A big difference in rotational weight that I can actually notice. Very comfortable and stable boot. I am super-psyched. I hope I stay that way.

4. Tucson Dust Devil Tournament. Yep. We're going. So help us. Day 1: mini-bouts to determine your seeding for the single elimination tournament. Of course, you could get eliminated before the single elimination tournament even begins by sucking at the mini bouts. Only 4 of 6 teams in each pool of mini-bouts even advance to day 2. It's totally terrifying. We still don't know what the final set of rules will be. We don't know how any of these leagues play. Big problems could ensue, for instance, if we play a team that plays dirty. We play a super clean game with body checks and no use of the arms. And certainly no elbows, no tripping, no intentionally falling in front of another player. It's just going to be a complete crap shoot-- all these all-star teams, most of which have never played against another league, just like ours, coming together under one roof to figure out who's the best of the nation. It's going to be interesting. Stay tuned.

Everything has changed

2005-10-27T17:12:00.000-07:00

You have no idea the amount of fun that was had at our first bout.

You have no idea. First of all, the SF ShEvil Dead won THAT'S MY TEAM BITCHES! That's right. We won. It was no easy contest, but through muscle and brains and sheer determination we beat the Oakland Outlaws to the roaring approval of over 750 paying onlookers. That's insane! Our first bout, and there was a 750 person + turnout?

Our goal was to skate and have fun at our first bout. Our goal was to have "some people there." Crazy. I think we owe most of our attendance to the works of the wily and unpredictable Iva Vendetta. She is our PR Mistress and Media Hoar. She's unrelenting. She has way too much responsibility within the league but somehow manages to flog herself into the wee hours of the morning when most of the league has no idea what exactly she's been up to or should be up to. All black magic to most of us. All we know is **750 people** were at our bout.

So that brings me to another topic I am sure other leagues are struggling with:

This league is non profit. (duh) It's run with a "for the skaters by the skaters" mentality. That said. We don't, for the most part, have the foggiest idea how to run a company. And that is plainly what we are trying to do. I can count on one hand how many of us
(I know of ) who have actually worked for a good-sized company and count on less fingers how many of those people where managers of budgets, projects, had any oversight, etc. We are the C-level staff. We are the makers of dreams.

So my points are two:
1-this is hard to do. I am one of the few and proud had-worked-at-a-decent-sized-company-with-marketing-and-pr-departments, and mostly, it's hard to explain all the stuff you want to explain at meetings without sounding like a bossy bitch. So I try and do it in little pieces. So far I think I am sucking at not sounding like a bossy bitch.

2-There were still 750 people at our event that I had pretty much zero to do with (working on the new website: www.bayareaderbygirls.com). The league without any of my assistance (as if it where some grand prize) got 750 to cheer loudly at a venue with insurance, lights, dj, bands, the crowd had banners and signs, they had programs, there was beer, there were two sponsors for the event giving us $$ to be there. So, maybe I should just shut up? Eh?

This changes everything

2005-09-15T22:05:00.000-07:00

Last wed I skated with the Gotham Girls of NYC. It was incredibly different from what we are doing in the Bay Area. Not because of anything more then them having been around for a year longer... but drastically different none the less. I hardly know where to start.

First. They have refs. The refs are unpaid volunteers who come to every practice and set up the track, they ref the practice jams, they are willing derby-man-slaves. This may seem like no big deal, but having refs at practice *defiantly changes everything*. At B.A.D. we have to set up our own track, and we have to use cones. Not only does this take about 20 minutes out of our practice time, you can skate in and out of a cone track with ease, creating a breeding ground for accidental-out-of-bounds-cheating. We set the track up after we do drills, so our drills are rarely preformed on the actual track.

Second. They have very (it seems) established chain of command. Not necessarily hierarchical. But there are girls in charge of specific departments. The girl who is head of coaching was conducting stretching whilst in the foreground there was a girl having a mini-meeting about having roping on the outside of the track. If girls started slacking off with the stretching you heard: "Stretch while you talk ladies!" Not that we don't have a chain of command... but the Gotham Girls seem to have it more honed then we do... they seem to be able to multi-task in ways we can only dream of.

Third. They have teams. We just formed teams... so I barley understood what that could mean. As it turns out--if we can do it like the GGRD, it's going to be awesome. During the scrimmage part of practice, each team and their captain went into a huddle of sorts. We worked out who was playing what for the next jam. After each jam the captain told her girls what she saw they could improve on and what she saw they did well. Having this kind of feedback made a world of difference.

Forth. They have positions. I had just spent a long time on the phone with Ivanna Spankin from Sin City, learning about tactics and positions, how to run a line-up, how to handle a bench. It was awesome. All I needed was to see it in action. And that was exactly what I got from GGRD. I skated with the Brooklyn Bombshells for the evening. Aside from being a total unmitigated liability as the #4 skater... I think I did ok.Har.

Positions change everything. All of a sudden, instead of just skating around in a pack--you've got a specific job to do... you've got to stay on the inside (for example), stay with your pivot, and work together in very specific ways-- to accomplish much more specific goals. I know that sounds vague. I will post more on strategy as I learn it. But the basics are there are four positions in the pack assigned by numbers 1-4, with 1 being homologous with the pivot position.

Surley Vixen Kicked my Ass

2005-09-06T00:49:00.000-07:00

Kicked my ass last Thursday.

She was sneaky--she hovered on the outside of the track, just behind me (we
were both playing pivot). As her jammer rounded the pack, and I
was guarding the inside, she swooped in and with a full head of steam, plowed into me.

It was awesome.

I went flying into the inside of the track. Her plan backfired a
little though: I was such a "no-contest" when she delivered her blow, that
she went flying through me like a paper wall--and herself landed inside the
track right along beside me.

Beware of the surely vixen.

p.s. I got up before her and proceeded to kick her jammer's ass.

Kitt the Captain?

2005-09-04T00:57:00.000-07:00

I was selected by Stitches Stew, head of the coaching committee, to be the captain of one of our two teams. I am now the proud captain of the San Francisco Shevil Dead. I am so excited I could pee my pants.

As it turns out, however, this entails a lot more work than had I originally thought. Even with Sassy Slayher as my fabulous co-captain--it's gonna be some work. We have to split up our girls into levels of play, forming some semblance of strings (first, second, third). We have to consider what positions each girl would be best fit playing. We have to organize an extra weekly practice (and imbibe-ment session) in order to work on tactics and strategy.

All in all: Me = superpsyched.

Violet Temper and the League Rules

2005-09-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

Violet Temper from Philly Roller Girls was at practice last night! She skated super. And she reminded us that we need to work on pack formation during lineup and we need to concentrate on skating within arms-reach during the entire jam.

I am on the coaching committee and last night we had a meeting to discuss rules for our first bout. (Which is going to be awesome and is going to be October 22nd at Dry Ice in Oakland.) We are looking at different sets of rules from other leagues across the country. Of our major points of contention are:

Jammer re-engagement

The ability to skate back up to the jammer even after she has passed you in the pack, without incurring additional points against you when/if she passes you once more. This makes it much harder for the jammer to get out of the pack--potentially making for a more interesting spectator sport--more physically violent, and less an all out speed race.
The con of this is that the jammer could literally not get out of the pack for the entire jam if her blockers don't help her out.
This would make the sport so much more interesting for me.

Length of jams

Single jams 2 minutes to 90 seconds, but in most leagues the "lead jammer" can "call off the jam" after she successfully laps the pack twice. (which she would do if the other jammer hadn't gotten to the pack a second time, thereby securing her hold on twice as many points.)

Number of periods

3, 4 or more periods?
I think we are going with 3 15 minutes periods, for our first bout.

Legal blocking

Use of the arms will be limited to above the shoulder. You can not use the arm in any kind of swing. The arms are basically an extension of space... at least that's my understanding so far.

We haven't even gotten to scoring yet--I think it goes like this:

Score a point for every person in the pack you pass *after* you've lapped the pack once.
Score a point if/each time you lap the other jammer.

Anyway. We have to read up more on everyone's rules. The ULC (united leagues commission) is working on nation-wide rules but they will not be completed until after our first bout. When they are we will adopt those. Then IT'S ON BITCHES! INTER LEAGUE BOUTS!

In the meantime come out our benefit on the 17th at Studio Z, in San Francisco to raise money for the bout!

Roller Con 2005!

2005-09-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

So there I was--at RollerCon.
In Vegas, for only the second time of my life. And there I was, surrounded by awesome, strong-hearted, strong-willed, strong women (with a lot of ink). The women of roller derby's future. I met girls from all over the place. I had the best time.

You remember roller derby.

While our new derby nods in approval at the retro-stylings, there are a few differences: First, and most importantly, the new leagues making up the National League Coalition are women-only and skate on flat tracks only. We do however use only quad (not in-line) skates. There are defiantly D.I.Y. and punk rock underpinnings.

Anyway, I hope to post here more about derby, how I got started, current happenings, photos... etc. So stay tuned. Rock on roller girls.

In the meantime, listen to this NPR coverage of RollerCon and the resurgence of derby.