College Times

Media Credit: Ryan Ruiz

In the last decade, perhaps no retro sport has made as remarkable a comeback as roller derby. All around the country, leagues have sprung up from Tulsa to Tucson – hell, in the Phoenix metro, there are three leagues alone – organized and played, primarily, by women with day jobs and a passion for the sport. But to the average layman checking out the sport for the first time, all that skating round and round in circles as elbows fly and girls fall can look like nothing more than sanctioned chaos.

With the help of the captains from the five teams of the Arizona Derby Dames, we set out to try to explain:

Click the photo to see a list of legal and illegal moves.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

1. Each team starts with five players on the track – three blockers, one pivot and one jammer.

2. Pivots and blockers start the game in a single pack. The jammers line up 20 feet behind the pack.

3. The ref blows the whistle, the pack starts skating. The pack must stay together and complete one loop of the track.

4. Once the pack laps the jammers, the ref blows the whistle again. The jammers then begin skating.

5. After passing the entire pack once, jammers earn a point every time they pass an opposing pivot or blocker.

6. The first jammer to pass all the opposing blockers and pivot becomes lead blocker. While a jam typically lasts 1½ minutes (time varies from league to league), the lead jammer can call it off early by placing her hands on her hips.

7. Jammers can opt to pass off to the pivot if they desire by passing the star on their helmet. If they’re lead jammer, they lose the position for the jam.

8. At the end of each jam, teams line up in a pack and begin again.

9. Players are typically allowed to block using any part of their body above the thigh, but they may not use extended forearms, elbows or hands, or their heads.

10. Play continues for three 20, or two 30, minute periods.

For a slideshow of the legal and illegal moves, click the photo above.

THE POSITIONS
Blocker No Helmet Marking	Jammer Symbolized by star on the helmet	Pivot Symbolized by stripe across the helmet

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