fiveonfive | issue 19 | Spring 2013

WOMEN’S FLAT TRACK ROLLER DERBY MAGAZINE ISSUE 19, SPRING 2013

proud partner of the WFTDA

fiveonfivemag.com

fiveonfive contents 34-35

4-5 advice

ask ms d’fiant and suzy hotrod!

WFTDA Shelly Shankya provides an in-depth explanation of WFTDA’s new Division playoff structure.

6-7 business running a functioning organization

8-15 health and fitness

16-23 games and coaching

Bob Ayers

derby super foods low back pain and derby yoga for derby girls

42-45 Deaf skaters

goal setting stats

The Border City Brawlers and Deaf skater Stormy share their experience growing together and learning to communicate.

26-32 gear 36-39 junior derby the next generation littles

Jules Doyle

knee pads check your gear

48-49 Traveling Light For Derby

40-41 rookie letter to my newbie self

50 international derby 52-58 art and media 63 classifieds

Traveling for derby presents its own set of unique problems. What should you take?

What should you leave behind?

Ivanna S. Pankin lays it all out for us.

editor miss jane redrum fort wayne derby girls copy editor vera n. sayne rocky mountain rollergirls content manager annsanity boulder county bombers art director assaultin’ pepa rocky mountain rollergirls contributing writers ms d’fiant angel city derby girls suzy hotrod gotham girls roller derby charla duncan greensboro roller derby amber russell boulder county bombers dr j. sioux falls roller dollz catholic cruel girl rocky mountain rollergirls cat owta hell roughneck roller derby francey pants denver roller dolls harmaknee big easy rollergirls coach pauly e-ville roller derby elecktra highvoltage tucson roller derby ivanna s. pankin socal derby shelly shankya ICT roller girls feist e. one boulder county bombers pain eyre border city brawlers the dolly lhama pow town roller derby gil leora windy city rollers ellen parnavelas london rollergirls marquise de zard central coast roller girls cover photo jules doyle axleadams.com fiveonfive magazine info@fiveonfivemag.com facebook.com/fiveonfive fiveonfivemag.com The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the contributing writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of fiveonfive magazine.

from the editor Welcome to the 19th issue of fiveonfive magazine!

Recently, I had the opportunity to meet WFTDA’s new Tournament Director Alisha Campbell when she came through Fort Wayne earlier this month to scope out the town. Fort Wayne has been selected as one of the host cities for a 2013 Division Playoff tournament, and I couldn’t be more excited. Like many of you, I’ve traveled all over the country to watch the best teams compete at the tournament level, but this fall, they’ll be coming to me.

It might seem early to be thinking about tournament season, but with the changes in structure coming into play this year, it’s sure to be an exciting season.

Not only has the structure changed, but some new leagues have stepped up to host this year, as well. Mark your calendars and be sure to attend at least one of the Division Playoffs!

September 6-8, Fort Wayne, Indiana September 13-15, Richmond, Virginia September 20-22, Asheville, North Carolina September 27-29, Salem, Oregon The 2013 WFTDA Championships will be November 8-10 in Milwaukee, WI, hosted by the BrewCity Bruisers.

Still confused what all these changes mean for tournament play? Check out the WFTDA article on pages 34 and 35. Shelly Shankya gives us the low-down and provides meaningful insight into the decision making process.

Also in this issue, Ivanna S. Pankin offers some good advice for checking your gear, including a valuable pre-bout checklist, on pages 30-32, and the Border City Brawlers share their experience embracing a deaf skater and learning to grow together. Check out that article on pages 42 through 45.

As always, we couldn’t do this without you. If you have a story idea or would like to become a contributing writer, send us an email at editor@fiveonfive.com. We’d love to hear from you. And don’t forget to like us on Facbeook and follow us on Twitter for even more fiveonfive content and news.

Miss Jane Redrum Fort Wayne Derby Girls Fort Wayne, IN editor@fiveonfivemag.com

contributors

Many thanks to our contributors who come from all over the roller derby community and share their knowledge based on their countless hours of dedication to this sport!

Check out additional contributors at fiveonfivemag.com.

Elektra Highvoltage Nice Shot Amy! Photography

Elektra “Elektrassassin” Highvoltage is a member of Tucson’s WFTDA charter team Saddletramps and a banked track team, Team Bionic. She has been skating since late 2010. Elektra wrote recaps and previews for Team Bionic under the alias Clark Kent. Outside of derby, she is a photojournalism student at the University of Arizona.

Dr. J Judith R. Peterson, MD is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine. She has been a consultant to the Sioux Falls Roller Dollz. She has lectured and written extensively on derby health and injury.

Coach Pauly

Nicholas Charest

Coach Pauly is an internationally recognized roller derby coach and former head referee. With over 9 years of derby coaching and referee experience.

He has worked with over 100 leagues worldwide.

He started his career coaching AZRD’s Tent City Terrors to a #3 national ranking in 2006. In 2011, he helped the E-Ville Dead (E-Ville Roller Derby) take 1st place at the CWRDA Western Regional Tournament. Most recently he and Team Canada took silver at the Roller Derby World Cup. Coach Pauly has worn many hats in derby and is willing to share anything he knows with anyone.

If you would like to talk derby email him at Derbywhisperer@gmail.com.

April O’Hare Photography

Vera N. Sayne

Francey Pants

Dave Wood Photography

Vera N. Sayne has been a member of the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls since 2008.

While no longer an active skater due to the time constraints of being a single mom and a medical assistant, she still stays actively involved in helping to run the league’s business. Currently she is head of finance and head trainer of the Rocky Mountain Rollerpunks: Littles. Vera has also been copy editor of fiveonfive magazine since 2009.

Sandrine Rangeon, a.k.a. Francey Pants, skates for Denver Roller Dolls, Team Bionic, and Team France. Before derby, Francey was an international ice hockey and roller hockey player. With a bachelor’s in physical education and a master’s in sport psychology, Francey naturally found a passion for coaching roller derby leagues across the world.

advice

Suzy Hotrod

Ms D’Fiant

Gotham Girls Roller Derby New York, NY

Angel City Derby Girls Los Angeles, CA

DEAR BLOCKER AND JAMMER, How do you prevent the plateau? What motivates the best to get better?

-POLLY PLATEAU

DEAR POLLY, I think plateau is an ongoing place that everyone checks into before having a growth spurt. No one is constantly moving upwards. (We also take some steps backwards in there.)

Finding motivation is easy because I see lots of skaters who have incredible skills all the time. (You can go to wftda.tv and see some right now!) I want to be a Franken-player. I want to learn how to do every great move that every great skater has done. But I don’t want to become them. I want to be myself. I just want to learn how to do new things. I find great motivation in learning how to do things I can’t do. Trying to learn them, failing, falling down, and eventually getting it, or eventually never getting it and just barely improving on it. When the shit hits the fan, sometimes these things squeak out at crazy times and I have a moment where I amaze myself and wonder where the heck that came from.

I find motivation off the derby track, as well. Since we’ve all succumbed to the jock sickness, maybe you agree with me that those biographical montages of athletes tug at the heartstrings and motivate you to be the best. Non-athletically related, I love any type of band biography story of paying your dues and working your way up. Whatever fits your style, it’s important to get excited by things, so let loose and get fired up about something or someone.

Go ahead, let it get personal; let your heart get involved. I think in order to kick out of the plateau, your heart has be the thing pushing your body. Sometimes your brain can be your worst enemy: by over thinking and second guessing. Follow your heart and want something, and go after it. Die trying for it.

Oh I do find it so convenient, that I have Bonnie Thunders as my team captain, so it’s really easy to have someone locally motivating me who is incredibly skilled at playing the game and also great at leading a team to improve their game. So yeah, I’m kind of spoiled.

While you may not have that luxury, I hope you are able to look within your sport, look within your team, and look within yourselves for the next thing to “struggle with” and conquer as you reach your next goal.

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DEAR POLLY, You cannot prevent the plateau. And you shouldn’t. Hitting a wall is what will make you push harder and experience a jump in your game. That said, let’s talk about how to get through the plateau, which in turn will motivate you and your team to get better.

In my personal experience, I needed to digest a lot of information to get past my plateaus. One of the first ways this happened was educating myself on the rule set. Sure, you read it once and then get to playing. But when you’re past the basics, sit down with a friend and really talk it out. Have a highlighter and a pencil; make notes. I set my goal to be the smartest person on the track, and through education, I was able to become a much better player.

Once you’re confident on the rule set, read the Officiating Manual.

Knowing the game that happens around the track is very valuable, as well.

Having a keen awareness of the status of the players and the game will really benefit your team.

But that’s the pivot talking. In addition to exercising the mind, you need to increase your physical game. When I first started, the only way to do this was to go to RollerCon or reach out to other teams to be a guest skater. Now there are endless amounts of camps, trainings and weekends. Go to them!

Learn from the best and practice it when you get home. Also, don’t discount cross-training. So many of our skaters have become stronger from crossfit, I’m losing count.

I asked some of my teammates about how they pushed past their plateaus and found this particularly interesting from Hollywood Scarlets’ Captain and Training Director, Chica Go Lightening: “When I was much younger and swimming competitively, I did this science project to show my event time history and project my improvement.

The chart showed a steep incline and then an arc that leveled off. The only way to change the arc, or to start a new upward climb would be to change something dramatic in my training. Swimming times are much easier to show this way, but the principle is the same. If I want to be stronger and faster, I have to do something new. Something big.”

I think I’m going to go and run some stairs now...

Chica sums it up best – Do something new; something big!

Bob Ayers

DEAR BLOCKER AND JAMMER, What do you wish you knew when you first started?

-JUST GETTING STARTED

DEAR JGS, I think in this case, ignorance is bliss. I knew nothing when I first started roller derby. To be fair very few people knew anything about roller derby. It was 2004 and there were like six leagues in the whole world. I think a little blind faith and a little bit of crazy is what everyone needs when they get started. I didn’t know I even had it, but I guess I did because for some reason I kept going back to practice even though I thought it was pretty stupid. It was five girls in full protective gear barely able to stand up trying to play whatever the heck roller derby was, while the jam skaters literally did circles around us. But for some reason, I did it, and I kept doing it. I guess like the Chris Farley’s roadie character in Wayne’s World 2, “I GOT NO PLACE ELSE TO GO!” Somehow roller derby fit into my life like a missing puzzle piece. I guess if I knew it was going to evolve into an athletic amateur female sports revolution, I would have ditched the awful fishnets sooner? (Note to world, I am not a fan of fishnets or <oof> tutus.)

I didn’t know roller derby was going to get bigger. I would have taken better notes about how we started our league. Then again, everything evolves so quickly, none of that original info would be useful in today’s modern derby world. I am actually happy that as roller derby grew, I was able to grow with it.

I’m not sure it would attract me as it is right now if I hadn’t grown up alongside it. I quit doing sports in high school because I didn’t like the people that played sports. Roller derby was different when I joined in 2004. I loved the “Land of Misfit Toys” vibe it had. But that is long gone, and I wound up accidentally becoming the person I never liked in high school: the jock. But I came to it through my own discoveries.

Not because my mom forced me to participate in it from an early age.

I guess the thing I want others to know is to always keep evolving and don’t hold on to anything.

Live in the present; live for the future. Don’t stay attached to the past. In order to be part of this sports revolution, there has to be a significant amount of evolution taking place. Anyone going into roller derby today needs to know that it is a sport and you are an athlete. The athletic competition you’re participating in starts greatly within yourself, to be the most athletic fit version of you that you can be. Then give that to your team as you work together to create something revolutionary.

Have a little blind faith and let the current carry you to this crazy roller derby life.

DEAR JGS, I had to let this marinate a few days and here’s my answer – Not a damn thing.

It would be easy and understandable to say – I wish I knew how to skate. But I did know how to skate. I wasn’t a hockey champ or a rink rat, but my friends and I liked to roller skate and later rollerblade in the 90’s. For a significant period of time in college, skating was my only mode of transportation.

Granted, I had formed terrible habits, but still I was fortunate enough to know how to stop, jump, and skate forward. So there’s that.

It would also be quite understandable to say – I wish I knew how much work would be involved. Now, not to brag, but I have never been scared of a challenge. I picked up guitar with zero musical experience, sang in bands when I couldn’t really sing, played new sports, started businesses, and in college I was one of three women in my major over the course of four years. But in 2005, if I realistically knew the amount of time I would dedicate to roller derby and the Nile-sized river of drama I would wade through over the years without any understanding of the love and community that became such a huge part of my life, I just don’t know if I would’ve done it.

That’s a scary thought, right? If roller derby didn’t come into my life, I would be like everyone else. You know when you look at a person and think – you would be so much happier if you played roller derby. Too bad there’s just no good way to explain that to civilians. I could draw the same parallel to becoming a parent, but this isn’t a parenting column. And, that decision was a lot harder than starting roller derby! But I digress.

I hate surprises. But the last eight years have been a wild and joyful ride that forced me to grow in ways I never would have imagined. I’m glad I didn’t see it coming. If I remember correctly, back then I just thought I was going to start a new sport in my little town and get in shape. And now, two kids in and every reason to leave the sport and yet I can’t because the truth is, I never feel as much like myself as when I step onto the track.

I wouldn’t have understood that eight years ago. To be honest, I’m not sure I understand it now but I wouldn’t change one thing.

need advice? email advice@fiveonfivemag.com fiveonfivemag.com | Spring 2013 | 5

business

running a functioning organization CHARLA DUNCAN, GREENSBORO ROLLER DERBY

This is a pivotal time for roller derby.

In the wake of the first World Cup, talk of the Olympics, and recognition of skaters in the mainstream sports world, it is crucial for leagues to start thinking about the growth, direction, validity, and sustainability of the sport. For years the culture of roller derby has been in competition with athleticism and validity in the sports industry. Members and affiliates know that the unique balance between the color of the sport and the strength and discipline is not always mutually exclusive, but one does not set the bar for the other. The media and newcomers to the sport often focus on the grassroots origin and aesthetics, in turn overshadowing athletic prowess. As a result, roller derby remains, to many, a quirky fringe sport, if not entirely unknown.

The question then becomes about the identity of the sport, your league and its subsequent strategy. League operations can often get caught up in a reactive and short-term approach to organizational structure. However, there are ways to operate non-profit organizations and businesses that work for the long-term. If of roller derby wants to move away from perceptions that categorize the sport more as a club or hobby, moving into a new level of the sports world, certain issues must be addressed. Retaining an identity as a female sport with progressive underpinnings is important, as is making sure the sport doesn’t become static.

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I. IDENTITY Developing a league’s identity is necessary to balance the creativity, aesthetics, and philosophies of derby with professionalism and business savvy. Organizational identity can be broken down: 1. Vision: how the league sees the bigger picture 2. Mission: how the league will achieve the vision 3. Goals and Objectives: how to work toward the mission; many organizations follow Meyer’s S.M.A.R.T. goals 4. Values: acceptable standards that guide actors and actions 5. Visual Identity: branding 6. Personality: the culture of the league All of these things must be identified and planned to form the basis of organizational strategy. Mission is your guiding force. If an action or policy does not lead back to your mission, its legitimacy is in question. Elements one through six should be thought out, and included in by-laws. If a skater cannot tell you what her league’s mission is, or the values of her league, her buy-in is compromised. Additionally, she cannot be an effective representative of the organization.

II. ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING Leagues, both start-up and veteran, should do a scan of the environment that they are operating under, and constantly assess their positioning (competitive advantage and unique placement in the community). A common tool for analysis and planning across all sectors is the

SWOT analysis (internally and externally). SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

The key here is to be honest and creative. A strategic environmental scan also looks at barriers to entry, substitutes/competitors, buyers/funders, and suppliers.

III. STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT Strategy is not just for game-play.

Built from league identity and the environmental scan, it can be applied to many facets of the league: communication, sponsorship, financial development, league and spectator growth, training, member buy-in, volunteers, collaboration (with other leagues or organizations), and diversifying (ex.: creating a junior league). Moves made need to be purposeful and impactful. Due to resource constraints, namely time and manpower, leagues can find themselves making moves that are short-sighted, don’t follow any strategy, and don’t relate to the mission. What results can range from issues like fundraisers that lose money to low skater morale to simply not acknowledging the capacity of your league or city to operate in a certain fashion.

Strategy can also be applied to retrenchment. Reduction and removal should not be handled recklessly. To do so may result in offending members, community members, and potential funders and supporters. Strategy protects and builds your reputation, and works to design and choose organizational trade-offs.

Communication – The way you

under sound financial and legal

develop a governance policy manual that

communicate (internally and externally) can make or break an organization.

Communication not only includes marketing; it also includes how you plan to handle negative PR. Communication includes how you promote the sport, as well as how you communicate with other leagues. For example, how might leagues across a state join together to promote

practices, and overseeing strengthening programs and services. Boards also help to enhance the public standing of the organization. Management is responsible for planning and implementing policies, programs, and events. In the case of derby, these positions would be Training, Sponsorship, etc. Board members are members of the community who are

the sport of derby? How do leagues communicate in ways that positively or negatively fuel rivalries? How do league members communicate with each other or with leaders?

IV. GOVERNANCE Governance in a sport that prides itself on female empowerment and a history of DIY beginnings invites the “by the skater, for the skater” philosophy of operations into question, and no doubt with controversy. There is no denying the strength of the work that has been done, but like it or not, it’s time to face the capacity of “by the skater, for the skater,” whether that means keep it or modify it.

How many leagues face issues of leadership burnout or low interest in leadership positions? How many leagues have skaters that face a clash in to-do lists with time in a sport without paid positions? Outside perspectives and help can be valuable.

invited to serve for a finite amount of time, and the selection process is strategic.

Following this structure of separation between board and management would be a huge shift for derby. Bringing on outside perspectives, dedicated to the mission, while incorporating their professional opinions and guidance, could be beneficial to development.

Inviting respected members of the community and the business world to be affiliated with the league can work to enhance reputation and grow spectator base and funding support.

Before these ideas get lambasted with calls of philosophy-drift, remember that inviting people to serve on your board can fit your league identity. Board members can include: a lawyer, a respected non-profit CEO of a women’s organization, the communications director for a business whose values are aligned with yours, a retired skater or a sports medicine professor who has attended all of your bouts. (Note: boards do not meet nearly as frequently as management.)

is separate from the by-laws. These manuals incorporate all policies and procedures that are specific to how the leadership operates.

V. PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND MANAGEMENT One of the first introductions a skater has to performance measurement is the passing of the minimum skills. Leagues are no stranger to performance metrics when it comes to skating. However, metrics should not be limited to what happens on eight wheels. They can be applied to every facet of operations, from finances to marketing and outreach. To give you a general idea: 1. Measuring bout attendance: WFTDA is a good example of an organization that monitors who attends bouts by measuring demographics in their demographic surveys. Leagues should be doing the same. You can only begin to change who is attending your bouts by knowing where you stand.

2. Measuring sponsorship impact: How happy are your sponsors with your business relations? Who is a repeat sponsor and why? What percentage of your bout attendance is a result of your sponsorships?

3. Measuring skater performance/morale off the track: Attendance rates, satisfaction surveys, reasons for leaving, etc.

1. Board of Directors vs. management: In the non-profit and business world, the board of directors is separate from management. The board is responsible for overseeing the work of the executive director, making sure the organization is adhering to the mission, is operating

2. A governance policy manual: No matter how you choose to set up your governance structure, leagues should

Our sport has evolved since its resurgence in early 2000. Leagues need to make sure to evolve with it or risk being left behind.

fiveonfivemag.com | Spring 2013 | 7

health and fitness

derby super foods AMBER RUSSELL, BOULDER COUNTY BOMBERS

five fantastic foods for the new year 2013 is here. It’s time to kick start those resolutions with the addition of some powerful foods to your every day routine.

So what is a “Super Food”? The term is pretty vague. For me, in order to be “Super” you need to have a little extra somethin’ somethin’. I like to define it as a food that takes nutrition to the next level and has a little something extra that makes it stand out.

There are numerous foods that fall into this category. I’ve selected five that are not only easy to incorporate into derby life, but have added benefits that make them ideal for athletes, as well. chia seeds Ch Ch Ch Chia... the pet plant craze that swept the ‘80s is back! Chia seeds have recently exploded onto the nutrition scene. Long before the topiary sensation, Chia seeds were an essential part of the Maya and Aztec diets. This member of the mint family was commonly used by Aztec Warriors during conquests for endurance and medicinally to ease joint pain. The word “Chia” is roughly translated to mean strength in the Mayan language. Currently it is considered one of the best sources of Omega-3 fatty acids, which are great for keeping your heart healthy. Chia seeds are also a wonderful vegan source of calcium and iron; one serving contains nearly 10% of your daily value of each. Endurance athletes utilize the health benefits of these seeds by consuming a gel composed of Chia seeds and water. Since Chia seeds can hold ten times their weight in water, it is an excellent option to keep your body hydrated. It can also easily be added to smoothies as well. And for my fellow vegan derby gals, add about a teaspoon to three teaspoons of hot water and you’ll get a great heart healthy egg substitute for baking. And if it turns out Chia seeds are not your thing, you can always add some animal shaped greenery to your home décor.

dark chocolate I’m pretty sure there is no need to convince anyone that chocolate is awesome. Let me just add a little more justification for indulging in it. Chocolate is made from cacao beans. These little beans pack a huge health punch! They are high in essential minerals, including iron, which aids the body in transporting oxygen through the blood to your muscles and organs. Cacao beans are also full of antioxidants, which reduce cardiovascular disease, combat signs of aging, and boost the immune system. Cacao also makes you happy. It contains a multitude of stimulating and pleasure inducing compounds that leave you feeling peppy and satisfied. So when the desire strikes to elbow an opposing blocker in the face, reach for a little dark chocolate instead. For the biggest benefit, stick to chocolate bars containing at least 70% cacao. Or if you’re really ambitious, go straight for the source; many health food stores carry raw cacao nibs.

They are slightly bitter, but are great on their own or added to granola.

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maca This is a must add to any smoothie routine. Most commonly consumed in its powder form, Maca has a malty flavor and not only is it tasty, it’s packed full of health benefits, as well. Native to the Andes of Peru, this super root was traditionally consumed by the Inca Warriors before battle for superior endurance and strength (I see some pre-bout rituals in your future). Maca is loaded with vitamins, fatty acids and amino acids which account for its endurance and immune strengthening properties.

While this is reason enough to take it, here’s a little something else. Maca is known for its positive effect on sex hormones. This super food has the ability to improve libido, power up sperm counts, and tame menopausal symptoms. In summary, it’s super on the track and in the bedroom!

nutritional yeast I’m sure I’ll get a few eyebrow raises with this one, but trust me, these bright yellow flakes are incredible. Nutritional Yeast is deactivated yeast (no rising here) that is grown on molasses. It is a popular nutritional source worldwide and often used to prevent vitamin deficiencies. In the United States it goes by “Nooch”, Ethiopians call it “Yeshi” and if you go down under you might see “Savory Yeast Flakes” on the health food store shelves. One ounce of “Nooch” contains 14 grams of protein, that’s roughly 30% of the daily recommended amount. It is also full of B Vitamins (usually fortified with B 12), which are essential for nerve function. B Vitamins increase energy, reduce depression and anxiety, support healthy brain function, and boost immune function. They also keep your hair and nails looking great! Nutritional Yeast is also a good source of dietary fiber, which aids in digestion and cholesterol regulation. Sounding more appetizing? Nutritional Yeast has a naturally salty (low in sodium) cheese flavor, making it ideal to sprinkle onto popcorn, kale chips, or whatever you fancy. I like to use it to make a killer vegan “cheese” sauce by combining it with coconut milk, turmeric, paprika and sea salt.

turmeric “The Queen of Spices” is commonly used in Indian cuisine and known for its bright yellow color. This sunny spice is loaded with medicinal properties. Its active ingredient, curcumin, has antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties, making it the perfect cure-all spice. Turmeric is also full of antioxidants, vitamin B6, potassium, and iron. This spice goes well with almost anything; you can throw it in a curry, sprinkle it on potatoes, or even use it in desserts. I love spicing up brownies by combining it with complimentary spices like, cayenne, cinnamon and gram masala.

And if you happen to get a little banged up on the track, apply it topically to help stop swelling, ease pain, and heal wounds. It’s also a great in tea form to detox the liver... not like any of us need that, right?

Tasty, nutritious, convenient and just flat out super, these foods are a great addition to the Derby Woman’s Diet. Eat well, hit hard, live fiercely, and have a fantastic 2013! fiveonfivemag.com | Spring 2013 | 9

health and fitness

low back pain and derby D R J, S I O U X FA L L S R O L L E R D O L L Z

I think every skater will experience low back pain at some point in her skating career. The crouched position alone is stressful on your spine. When you add to that the twisting involved in keeping an eye on what’s going on behind you, the shoving, and the falling, low back pain becomes pretty much ubiquitous for the skater.

But – you can help yourself in minimizing the impact of low back pain on your skating career. So let’s talk about keeping your low back healthy for skating and some strategies to prevent low back injuries.

Core strength is critical, people! Get those abdominal muscles and back muscles strengthened. Good core strength will also make you more stable on your skates and helps to prevent low back injuries.

Some good core strengthening exercises are side planks and front planks. Basically, to do these you are contracting ab and core muscles to lift your trunk from the mat. The lat pull down machine is your friend, too. It works the latissimus dorsi muscle, which is a very large muscle that traverses from your upper arms all the way down to your low back. Modified sit-ups are good, too. One version has you bend your knees with your feet flat on the floor. Cross your arms over your chest and contract your abs and come up a ways from the mat with your head and shoulders keeping those abs tightened. Talk with a personal trainer at your gym to check your technique to help avoid injury and improve your routine.

So you have figured out a strengthening program for your core. What is next?

Stretching exercises are helpful too. Most skaters know to stretch before they skate. Most skaters though do not cool down and stretch after a skate. Doing lighter intensity exercise for a bit after a hard workout allows blood that has been pumping hard to your legs to redistribute, and a stretch after a workout helps muscles reset to normal activity. Skaters

should think about adding a cool down and after stretch to the usual workout and drills.

Strengthening and stretching are a huge start to being a healthier skater. To be a really healthy skater, you need to be a healthy person. Athletes who have poor general conditioning get fatigued faster. They make errors in the basic biomechanics of doing sports activities. And then they get hurt! You cannot condition for derby only by strapping on skates and doing drills at the track. You must go to the gym separately to do general conditioning to be in optimal shape for derby. The better your general conditioning is, including your cardiovascular conditioning, the better skater you will be and the less likely to get yourself injured. So how do you get conditioned?

A good goal for conditioning is to do 150 minutes or more of moderate activity per week. You could get there with 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise 5 days a week. Running, swimming, elliptical – all will get the job done. 50-85% of your heart maximal rate is a reasonable training zone – it is never a bad idea to consult with a personal trainer to help coordinate a program that will work and that you enjoy! Start at the low end and advance slowly. To calculate your maximal heart rate take 220 minus your age and multiply that by .50 and then by .85 – that will give you your maximal heart rate range. Conditioning for derby is like everything else in derby-you need to start with basics and keep adding. As your conditioning improves, you can do more intense exercise. Start slow and add to your conditioning program gradually to see your best results and to avoid injury. And of course, any skater with a significant past medical history, including asthma, should touch base with their primary care physician about optimal ways to train and exercise their heart.

Another important topic in avoiding low back pain is smoking cessation. Smoking is generally terrible for your health and terrible for your skating. Think about it as a habit that is

Core strength is critical, people!

Get those abdominal muscles and back muscles strengthened.

Good core strength will also make you more stable on your skates and helps to prevent low back injuries.

10 | Spring 2013 | fiveonfivemag.com

nocklebeast

bad for your heart and your lungs. Smoking also makes back pain worse. Back pain has been associated with smoking in medical literature and it seems generally wise to discontinue this bad habit to prolong your skating career.

The above are some general thoughts on avoiding low back pain. What about if you have low back pain? What are some simple home treatments you can try? Ice helps many people with low back pain. Don’t put ice directly on your skin though.

Some people do better with heat, however, make sure not to go sleep with a heating pad on. The over-the-counter medications, such as acetaminophen, can be helpful. Follow directions and don’t mix medications together or with alcohol. Let your doctor know what you are taking.

Not all low back pain is the same. Some people really need to see a doctor to get the treatment they need. If every single time you skate, you have low back pain, you need to see a doctor. If you have low back pain and any burning when you urinate, you need to see a doctor to be sure you don’t have a kidney infection. Any skater with severe back pain or low back pain after direct trauma needs to see a medical doctor. Any

skater with low back pain and fever or a rash needs to see a doctor. Any skater with low back pain and pain or numbness down her leg needs to see a doctor. If your leg feels weak or you have abdominal pains – go see your doctor. Any skater whose low back pain is not resolving a day or two after a skate needs to see a doctor. Any skater with low back pain and loss of control of bowel or bladder function needs to see a doctor emergently.

Like we said earlier in this article, low back pain prevention is the key. Who wants to lose time from the greatest sport ever?

Be a smart and healthy skater. If you smoke, quit. Improve your cardiovascular fitness to increase your endurance for skating and decrease your risk of injury. Warm up and cool down. If you are injured or in pain, get yourself medical help. That way, you will stay on track and on your skates.

This article is intended to provide general medical information for educational purposes and does not provide professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is not intended to be and should not be used as a substitute for informed medical advice from a health care professional. Please consult your personal health care practitioner with any questions you may have about a particular medical condition or treatment plan.

fiveonfivemag.com | Spring 2013 | 11

health and fitness

improve your game Roller Derby Agility Skills and Drills One-hour instructional DVD: in-depth break downs, including a video glossary of terms like edges, weight placement, how to get more bouncy, line drills, cone drills, hockey stops, and a few tips about the mental aspects of training.

The deliberate practice (as revealed in the books “The Talent Code” and “Talent is Overrated”) coaching techniques include: breaking down the steps to their simplest form, observing technique in slow motion, repetition, modified versions (with Isabelle Ringer) for beginners, and how to utilize both structured and organic practice. These methods (all intentionally utilized in the DVD) invite breakthroughs, correct bad habits, and most importantly; make you more agile for roller derby!

Filmed by an award winning video/editing crew, the DVD has been labored over and loved into being with a vision of helping every skater in roller derby (who wants to) learn to see the more complex concepts of agility as both simple and accessible; stepping up their individual contribution to the team. shop.bonniedstroir.com

fitness fx The DVDs feature leading health and fitness experts, who have created a range of modern and dynamic workouts that aim to get you fit and athletic using current, effective training methods. They’ve listened to the public and know that we would rather be taught by exercise professionals than celebrities and that whilst music to motivate us is important, we don’t necessarily want to perform choreographed dance moves to it. They know athletic bodies rather than ‘skinny’ are now top of the agenda; that we’re busy and want something that is effective and doesn’t waste what little spare time we have; that men watch workout DVDs too and that people want a choice over what style of workout they do.

Understanding this, fitness fx is proud to launch its latest series of DVDs, which pair great motivational music with dynamic, athletic moves created by some of the world’s leading fitness presenters – the same experts who train fitness instructors around the globe. These workouts cut straight to the point with effective regimes to get you in shape quickly and effectively whichever sex you are, and feature a bonus 30-minute training session called T3 (excluding groove fx). T3 stands for Train, Track and Transform – you’ll train smarter, track your result and transform your body. fitness-fx.com

Roller Derby Athletics Roller Derby Athletics provides sport-specific training advice, workout videos, training programs, and personal coaching for roller derby athletes.

Free workout videos published every other week provide derby-specific routines to train your endurance, power, strength, and agility. We don’t waste time with exercises that a derby athlete doesn’t need. The workouts are challenging but brief, simple to follow, and can be done in your living room or at team practice, with no equipment.

The resources at Roller Derby Athletics cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an athlete, including mental preparation, nutrition, injury prevention, and physical preparation for the sport. We want to give readers the tools and information they need to achieve their goals in derby, and in life. Sport is empowering, and we know that when a skater works hard and achieves the success she is looking for on the track, that can truly translate to all aspects of her life outside of roller derby. rollerderbyathletics.com

12 | Spring 2013 | fiveonfivemag.com

ROYGBIV Salad Catholic Cruel Girl, Rocky Mountain Rollergirls photo by Jean Schwarzwalder ingredients: Red 2 red bell peppers, de-seeded and chopped Orange 3 medium carrots, peeled and shredded Yellow 2 cups frozen sweet corn, thawed Green 1 bunch Lacinato kale, chopped coarsely Blue 1 pound purple potatoes, scrubbed and cut into medium sized chunks Indigo ½ head of a small purple cabbage, de-cored and sliced super-duper thin Violet 1 cup flame raisins (or any purple-ish black variety) White 2 cups navy beans Bonus ingredient – unhulled sesame seeds – enough to sprinkle throughout In a medium saucepan place potatoes and enough water to cover generously. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat when a fork can easily be inserted into potatoes (Be mindful not to overcook.

We want them to hold their shape)

dressing: 1/8 cup toasted sesame oil 1/8 cup brown rice vinegar 3 large garlic cloves, minced 3 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper Juice of 1 lemon Place oil and vinegar in a small bowl and whisk until combined.

Add garlic, ginger, red pepper and lemon juice. Whisk some more.

Slowly drizzle over salad and toss with tings until dressing and salad are combined.

This salad keeps in the refrigerator for a good 5 days so you will have enough for your lunches for the week. Yum, yum, ha-ha tasty!!

Feel free to exercise creative freedom. Don’t sweat it if you can’t find purple potatoes or if you hate raisins. It will still be delicious.

While potatoes are cooking prepare red peppers, carrots, kale and cabbage. In a large bowl combine above ingredients and add the corn, beans, raisins and sesame seeds.

Gently toss to integrate all ingredients.

When potatoes are cooked, strain them and rinse with cold water. Pat dry and add to the salad mixture.

fiveonfivemag.com | Spring 2013 | 13

health and fitness

yoga for derby girls C AT OW TA H E L L , R O U G H N E C K R O L L E R D E R B Y

What is the perfect complementary companion to roller derby? If you said beer and cigarettes, skip this article. It’s yoga. Derby is pounding and slamming; yoga is lengthening and aligning. Derby is brute force and yoga is smooth balance. Yin and Yang.

Anyone can be a yogini. You don’t have to be Buddhist, speak Sanskrit, chant, meditate or be vegetarian. If you do poses with reverence and that’s all you do, it is enough. It is yoga and you are a yogini.

Some basics: Patanjali wrote The Yoga Sutra, 2500 years ago. This text describes yoga as having eight limbs, but most of us become acquainted with yoga through limb number three: asanas or postures. There are many types of yoga asanas.

The most common is Hatha. The word Ha means Sun and Tha means Moon, and together, they are a harmonious union and balance. Hatha requires both surrender and effort.

Within Hatha yoga, my favorite is Ashtanga vinyasa, which is vigorous and demanding and ideally suited for this vigorous and demanding derby girl. But you can shop around to find a style that is perfect for you.

To paraphrase Bryan Kest, one of the world’s top yogis, “Yoga is not about being loose or strong; it is about letting go of tension. So you don’t have to be loose or strong to do yoga.”

Just show up. Yoga is like derby: you are never too old nor too young; you are not too small or too big, too fat or too thin, too

weak or too tight. Wherever you are, you are perfect to begin.

Here is a different version on the classic sun salutation that I find rewarding. This is my variation, but you can play with the vinyasa and compose your own combination to suit your body’s tastes. Yoga poses are powerful; they can heal and the variety within a pose is nearly infinite. You can modify and adjust each asana to make it easier or more challenging, depending on where you are in life or just where you are that minute, that hour or that day. When doing your practice, relax, be gentle, accept yourself as you are in the present moment, do not force your body into anything, have compassion and breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe. You can breathe as hard as you need to but you should have calm, nose breathing through your entire practice. Any time your breath becomes ragged, uneven or out of your mouth, back off.

Regular yoga will help your strength, endurance, flexibility and balance, all of which are vital in a strong derby player and it is one of the most loving things you can do for yourself.

See you on the mat! Namaste and derbylove!

plank

tadasana

volcano

tree

chaturanga

14 | Spring 2013 | fiveonfivemag.com

standing forward bend

one arm plank

extend forward bend

up dog

down dog

lunge

side angle pose

triangle

vira 1

down dog

half moon pose

vira 2

vira 3

plank

one arm plank

standing forward bend/volcano

tree

standing forward bend

extend forward bend

repeat rows 2 through 5, switching sides

cat

cat

bow

cobblerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

reclined leg stretch

twist

wide-angle forward bend

pigeon variation 1

plow 1

one legged forward bend

pigeon variation 2

plow 2

pigeon variation 3

happy baby

savasana

fiveonfivemag.com | Spring 2013 | 15

games and coaching

goal setting S A N D R I N E “ F R A N C E Y PA N T S ” R A N G E O N , D E N V E R R O L L E R D O L L S

Goals are similar to New Year’s resolutions: We stick to them for a while, then we forget about them and go back to our old habits. However, improving sports performance inherently means changing old habits into better ones. Setting the right kind of goals will provide direction and enhance motivation, which will help you stick to your plan and achieve your goals. the SMART principle To set goals effectively, each letter of the SMART acronym has to be reflected in the goal statement. s for specific Goals that are too vague or general, such as “I’m going to become a better derby player,” have to be reformulated in a more specific manner (e.g. I’m going to make the travel team roster). m for measurable For example, “I’m going to skate 27 laps in 5 minutes” or “I’m going to score 50 points per game” are goals that include a precise measure of success.

goals. The pyramid activity will explain how smaller goals can be used toward a bigger, long-term goal.

want to skate 27 laps in 5 minutes” or “I want to average less than 3 penalties per game.”

t for time bound What is the timeline to achieve your goals? For example, if your goal is to make the travel team in your league, what is a realistic timeline for you to be added to the travel team roster?

process goals Focus on the behaviors required to reach a higher level of performance. For example, a jammer can set very specific goals like always looking at the skates of the blocker who just hit her off the track, to make sure she avoids cutting the track. A blocker’s process goal could be to always be touching one teammate to force herself to stay in the wall.

By setting goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound, you will have a concrete plan for achieving those goals. types of goals Three different types of goals can be used: outcome goals, performance goals, and process goals.

a for achievable Even if going to the Olympics is an achievable goal to some, most people will have to aim lower to be realistic. Goals have to be difficult enough to be challenging, but realistic enough to avoid frustration and reduced confidence. In case of an injury or other drawback, goals can be reviewed to remain achievable according to the circumstances.

outcome goals Focus on a competitive result and therefore not only depend on your own performance, but also on the performance of your teammates and opponents. For example “I want to win the Hydra” or “I want to beat this team.”

r for relevant Each goal has to fit into the bigger picture and help you achieve your long-term

performance goals Focus on achieving performance independently of others. For example, “I

16 | Spring 2013 | fiveonfivemag.com

goal setting pyramid On a blank sheet of paper, draw a pyramid similar to the one shown in the figure. By filling out this pyramid with your own goals, you will learn how to create a goal setting plan to achieve your long-term goals.

Start by filling out the top with an outcome or performance goal that you want to achieve in the long-term (over a season or several seasons). A long-term goal could be making the roster for the travel team in your league. In the middle tier, find two mid-term goals that will help you reach your long-term goal. For example, you may want to be able to

Mike Butler â&#x20AC;&#x201C; IGP Photo

skate a certain number of laps in five minutes and improve a way to measure achievement. your +/- by a specific number when you are on the track Take the time to think about your own goals and during games. Achieving these two goals will strongly what you would like to achieve. Then fill out the increase your chances of making the travel team. To pyramid and stick it on your fridge or in a place long-term outcome reach these two mid-term goals, you will set where you will constantly be reminded of your or performance goal short-term goals that will keep you on track. For goals. It is important to write down your goals example, you may want to go skating outside in the pyramid because committing your for one hour twice a week in addition to goals to writing will help you clarify them mid-term mid-term regular practices, study bout footage for and motivate you to take action. performance goal performance goal three hours every week, write down The pyramid can also be filled out strategies to commit them to as a team, which will help ensure memory, etc. Remember the that all the skaters are on the SMART principle when setting same page and committed to short-term short-term short-term performance goal performance goal performance goal goals, so you will have the same goals. a clear timeline and

fiveonfivemag.com | Spring 2013 | 17

games and coaching

stats HARMAKNEE, BIG EASY ROLLERGIRLS

WFTDA statistics are invaluable. Pour over the sheets and you’ll see which jammer has the highest lead percent, which blockers were in high scoring packs, or who had the most penalties. The go-to stat is often vtar +/-, which compares the point differential for each jam a given skater skates in to those of her teammates. How many times, however, have you looked at vtar and been shocked to see that a less skilled skater outperformed one of your best skaters?

The penalty summary, another useful tab, is an easy way to track the most frequently occurring penalties, yet how often do the statistics on the page diverge from the recollection of skaters (most notably that a game was being called in a particular way relative to certain penalty or set of penalties)? If a team is going to truly understand and use WFTDA statistics, it is important to understand both the flawed side of statistics and how to apply them to specific team problems.

VTAR can be very beneficial, but at the same time can be inaccurate. For starters, it is a stat that addresses an individual, yet roller derby is not usually a sport where a skater works in isolation on a specific job. Secondly, the point differential in a pack is highly affected by how many players are on the track and not in the penalty box. Some studies have shown that the difference between a four versus four pack and a four versus two pack is as much as 3.17 points on average.1 When a coach is faced with a small pack, he or she will likely field the strongest players, yet players who are in smaller packs are, over time, going to have a much lower vtar. Power jams often create outliers of 20 or more points which skew the data and can greatly affect a skater’s vtar.2 Finally, WFTDA separates pivot and blocker, though

20 | Spring 2013 | fiveonfivemag.com

the most accurate statistics about blocking would have to weight both equally.3 This is not to say that these statistics are useless, but rather that using them requires a deep awareness of what affects them and how they can be studied to best benefit your team.

The most effective uses of WFTDA stats are those that directly relate to a problem for either a skater or the team. There are skaterspecific statistics that can be averaged and provide important information, such as who accrues the most penalties; however, it is important to consider that correlations from statistics to performance have a higher level of validity with more data. One game should not be the deciding factor that majorly changes a roster, lineup, or training focus. Personally, I’ve chosen a standard of six jams and three games. If a skater was in less than six jams in a bout (found in bout summary) or skated less than three bouts, I don’t include those stats in her averages. Once these benchmarks have been reached, it is a simple task to cut and paste something like the percent of time in the box and keep a running average for each teammate (see tips for using excel in this article). Coaches and captains can then keep these skaters more accountable for which penalties they are getting and why, and can work specifically on this at practice.

Another excellent use of penalty statistics is evaluating how many players the team has on the track per jam (four versus three, four versus two, etc.). What percentage of jams does the team skate with a full pack in a given game? Or over a season? In my research, this has ranged from 60% to as low as 4%!

If this average percent is known, coaches and captains can then gear practice to match which size packs you are most likely to play. Chances

are a three on three pack is more common than four on four. (In fact full packs are so rare in roller derby, maybe they should rename this magazine.) There is a simple way to figure out your team’s full pack percentages, even though it too has its flaws (I do not account for packs that may have four on four for 30 seconds, two on four for 10, etc.). Go to the lineups page of the stats book, and look for little slash marks and numbers in the small boxes next to your skaters’ numbers.

These indicate during which jammer pass a specific blocker went to and returned from the box. One simple evaluation is just to count the number of jams that have no slash marks or numbers in the whole pack and divide by the total number of jams. This will tell you what percent the team has skated with full packs. If the league did not fill in these marks, you can also use the penalties tab and write down the jam number for each penalty, then total these in a similar fashion.

This information can be used for drills as stated earlier, to study the effect of low packs on the team’s chances of winning, or to identify how much time the team should focus on reducing penalties. It takes more time to count each pack and total as four versus four, four versus three, etc., but this too is a useful and easily calculated statistic.

For my league, I identified that penalties were greatly increasing in the second period, and not just in terms of accruing the four minors. This was having a detrimental affect on our score, and it was clear that we needed to identify who was going to the box more in the second half. The penalty summary tab does not separate by periods, but the penalties tab where they are first entered does. For each period, minors are totaled, and majors are listed and are easily countable. Copy and paste the skater list, then in

the next column type in the skater’s total major penalties. Do this for each period. In the next column, find the difference between the two periods by typing “=” clicking the period two box, typing “-” and clicking the period one box, then enter. This will give you the difference between period one and period two. However, skaters in fewer jams will often have fewer penalties, so find the percent by dividing by the total number of jams that skater participated in (found in the bout summary tab). This number can be changed into a percent and sorted by the highest to lowest.

Once this data is compiled, coaches and captains can use this to change the endurance level and focus of drills, recommend cross training, or change lineups for period two.

These are just a few examples of how to use WFTDA stats to your team’s benefit. Having a solid sense of what goes into each statistic helps you identify its potential flaws and best uses. Copying specific information from the sheets and averaging it in excel is an excellent way to start addressing team problems. While I have focused in this article on penalties, this is by no means the only part of the game stats that can be studied. I have used stats to analyze how well one blocker plays with other blockers, to see with whom she should partner more, and to track which blockers are in a jammer’s highest scoring non-power jams. One of my off-the-track goals is to continue to come up with stats analysis applications with hopes that more teams will use this incredibly powerful training tool. Our sport can continue to grow through this understanding.

TIPS ON USING EXCEL Shortcuts (command on a Mac or control on a PC)

Command C: copy Command V: paste Command Z: undo Click and drag to highlight or select cells To use a formula, first type = Type “=Sum” or press ∑ then highlight cells you want to add Type “=average” and highlight cells you want to average (mean) Click on the cell with data you want to use rather than retyping the number inside of a formula Once you have done a formula for one row, you can copy and paste it into the rows below and excel will continue to update the correct answer for each row, automatically using the cells in the next row to calculate.

In a formula where you don’t want excel to use the information in the next row, type “$” before clicking the cell and it will always use that same cell in the original row or column.

Copy and paste will save you lots of time, especially when you want to isolate one statistic.

However, all of the stats and skater names in the wftda file are based off of formulas, which means they won’t look the same when you paste them (you will see REF# which is an error message). Use excel’s “paste special” in the edit menu and choose “values”. Some computers will also show a little

1

Kristopher Pflipsen, queenoftherink.com/situation/jam-expectancy-study-pack-situations 2 In this type of situation where outliers above the third quartile exist, the best measure of central tendency is the median (an average using the middle number in a set of ordered data), but WFTDA stats sheets only provide mean-based calculations 3 I have devised a simple excel formula to calculate this and can provide via email

clipboard icon when you paste; clicking on that will give you the choice of “values only”. Excel will copy the names or numbers exactly as you see them in the stats file.

fiveonfivemag.com | Spring 2013 | 21

games and coaching

coach’s corner by coach pauly

know your roll

part 19: what’s your number? episode 2

Welcome back everyone! I hope the New Year has been awesome for all of you. In the last edition of fiveonfive, I was laying out my path for evaluation and placement of skaters.

No matter what league structure or level of game play you have to place players on teams. In the beginning, teams were formed based on numbers alone. If we had enough skaters who could skate, we played. Now we have evolved to drafts and tryouts to place skaters. If you couple evaluation number with a clearly defined draft policy it makes it easier for everyone involved.

When I was still in Arizona, I came up with a basic draft policy that outlined the process used to place each skater onto a team.

Since then it has been modified for specific use by the leagues I have shared it with. My current league drafts skaters quarterly.

As with all things, the draft is only as good as the sum of all of its parts. The draft is comprised of three components. You have the captains, the draft coordinator, and the draftees.

• Captains: each house team has two captains and each of them is invited to the draft but only one needs to be present.

• Draft coordinator: an active skater or current member of the league who will coordinate with team captains and the TD to oversee the draft and ensure distribution of players via the league draft policy.

• Draftees: any skater who has joined the league and passed all minimum requirements to be a member in good standing can be drafted.

Two weeks before the draft, the captains have to send in their team evaluation numbers/roster to the draft coordinator and the rest of the captains. The draft coordinator (DC) sends the captains the draftee evaluation numbers/roster to the captains. Within the two weeks the captains can and will review the evaluation number of each of the other teams, as well as the draftees numbers and team preferences. The captain also has the right to remove players from their rosters. If a skater has been on the disabled list or has not been able to make attendance, whatever the reason, captains have the right to talk with their teams and the skater(s) in question to decide whether to take them off the roster and try to pick them up in the next draft when they are 100%.This allows them to open positions on their rosters and bring team totals down. I have found that two weeks is ample time for the captains to discuss team dynamics and needs with

22 | Spring 2013 | fiveonfivemag.com

their teams and strategize as to which draftee best would suit them. The two weeks also allows for roster discussion between the captains. The captains are responsible for team evaluation at the house team level. From time to time the numbers may come into question. In this case, the other captains and the DC will come together for group discussion. If the captains cannot come to an agreement to what evaluation number best suits that skater, the DC will make the final ruling.

Once all of this is completed we are ready to draft skaters to teams. The DC emails the draft worksheet to the captains. The draft worksheet is a document that I created that lists the draftees chronologically by when they joined the league, separating the newbies from veterans and transfer skaters. It lists the skater’s team preferences, as well as their evaluation numbers. The document also shows each team evaluation totals, which sets the teams draft order. The team with the lowest number picks first. Any time there is a tie, the DC will use a random method to decide who picks first (draw straw, coin toss, roshambo). The draft worksheet also provides the captain with the contact info for each skater in the draft. This information will be used at the end of the process.

On draft night, DC welcomes everyone and makes sure they are ready to proceed. Each captain will have a copy of their roster/evaluation. If everyone is good to go, the team with the lowest number gets the ability to pass or pick the first person on the list. If they pick the first person on the list, they add that skater’s evaluation number to their team total, and if that number is still below all the other teams, they have the right to pick again. As you can see, this draft isn’t like an NFL draft where the team gets the #1 draft pick. It works based on a team’s strength using evaluation numbers. As the draft moves through the list, captains may have a strategy to acquire a specific skater and they may pass other skaters to have the right to pick that skater.

In the process they may sacrifice their chances in the future to get key players. So how you draft today may put your numbers so high that you may not get the same draft position in the next draft, drastically affecting your team strength.

As we go through the list of draftees, some or all of the captains may not want a specific skater. There could be various

reasons why. Attendance problems or attitude can affect them in the draft. In the event that a skater is passed in the first round, they are tabled. If they are passed a second time, they are notified by the DC that they were not selected. Each team captain must then compile the reasons they passed on the skater and the DC will forward them to the skater. If the skater has any questions or would like further feedback as to what they can improve, they can also ask the captains for further info. That skater will be put into sub pool until the next draft three months from that date.

After the numbers are added, the captains call each of their draft picks to confirm that they accept or deny their placement.

Once all of the captains have confirmed that draftees have all accepted their placement, they are free to announce it as they see fit. If a draftee doesn’t accept, they will also be put into the sub pool until the next draft three months from that date.

With travel teams, you use the evaluation numbers to rank your skaters, add that to the needs of the team, and share that info with your team after the tryout. In the end, we pick 20 and have a 14 person playing roster that is decided two weeks before each game. Our travel team tryout coincides with our draft, so it makes it easier for everyone.

I recommend you work up a mock draft with the parameters given and work it through using your skaters. See how you end up and tweak what you need to.

If we back track a bit, it will bring us to the sub pool. The sub pool is where skaters who are members in good standing go until the next draft. This is also where those skaters who have been passed in the draft or have decided to not accept placement are placed. The sub pool allows the teams to draw a player from it to fill their rosters when they are down players due to scheduling, injury, and so on. It allows teams and skaters the chance to test drive the other so to speak. You may want to add specific guidelines as to how many times a skater can play for each team or outline rules about Semis or Championship games.

By combining the evaluations with the draft and sub pool, you give your league a sound tool that will help with organization.

‘Til next time, see you on the track…

If you have any questions, comments, or feedback please email me at derbywhisperer@gmail.com.

DRILL drill: erect a jam

purpose: to help with quick wall construction and team cohesion

Depending on how many skaters you have at practice, have everyone come to the middle of the track and split up equally by skill set. Have the first four blockers and two jammers from each team kneel on the inside line.

On the first whistle, the two opposing pivots start to skate. Once they pass the pivot line, blow the second whistle to start the jammers. All pack rules apply so the two pivots must remain in play of each other while blocking the jammers.

As the jammers reach turn four, blow the whistle and release the remaining three blockers for each team.

Now that the pack is all in, all pack rules apply so each team has to think fast to deal with the oncoming jammers.

Let each jam play for the full two minutes. Have each group kneel and get set to roll. When the two minute time expires, start the next group in sequence. You can start a pivot and one blocker or start three blockers and let the pivots start last. It all can be changed to work on specific situations.

fiveonfivemag.com | Spring 2013 | 23

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gear

knee pads E L E C K T R A H I G H V O LTA G E , T U C S O N R O L L E R D E R B Y

The importance of adequate protective pads cannot be emphasized enough.

When a skater tries out for the first time, her fresh meat coach will tell her all about it, and as the skater advances into scrimmaging and eventually skating bouts, she will physically feel the need to be protected by good, functioning and durable protective pads. The intensity of the sport has been reiterated countless times before and it may even seem a little cliché, but it’s undeniable that that is the truth, and with such intensity comes the obvious need for adequate protection.

Injuries suck. Safety prevents injuries.

Safety is sexy.

Some brands have been favored over others among skaters for various reasons. This guide features protective pads manufacturers and their derby-related products: 187 Killer Pads’ Pro Derby and Pro-Designed custom sizing for derby.

But keep in mind that what is right for a skater with years of experience who somehow manages not to fall during practice is probably not right for a fresh meat skater who barely stays on her skates. This is not meant to be the absolute guideline, nor does such a thing actually exist.

In the end, each skater has to choose what is right for her, taking into consideration any history of injuries, how much protection she is willing to sacrifice to reduce the bulk, and of course, the budget.

26 | Spring 2013 | fiveonfivemag.com

187 Killer Pads Pro Derby Knee Pads According to Pitchit at DerbySupply.net, 187 Killer Pads are the top selling protective pad brand and no other brand “comes even close to it.” Like most of the protective pad brands, 187 Killer Pads were originally designed for skateboarding.

The brand is famous in the skateboarding scene for sponsoring world-class skateboarder, Tony Hawk. It is not an exaggeration to say that 187 Killer Pads have been largely preferred throughout the derby community in the earlier years, and even now. The company took notice, and they came out with a derby-specific knee pad design, the Pro Derby.

The Pro Derby knee pads are a slightly less bulky, derby version of the Pro knee pads. Except for the x-large size, the Pro Derby pads use a smaller cap designated as size C1. The design uses 187’s trademarked Lock-In Core System, which makes it possible to remove the foam, in addition to the Lock-In cap system, which separates the hard shell cap from the body.

The core system is an addition from the original Pro knee pad design. A trademarked technology called the “Rapid F L E X Hinge” has been added in the Pro Derby design, which “allows pads to respond freely to full range of motion; straighten or bend leg with little or no resistance.” Both the Pro and the Pro Derby knee pads feature a trademarked V-22 Dual Density Foam design, which really means there is plenty of cushion to last through “multiple hard impacts,” as stated by the company. There are also replaceable caps, although the caps that came with the pads are quite durable and are likey to last for years. The Recaps (replacement caps) come in 10 different colors and two different sizes. They must have done their research on roller derby, because derby girls love fancy colors!

The protection is there. This brand designs their pads so that the wearers of the pads can fall from the top of a steep bowl to the ground. But lots of protection also means that even though they say that the Pro Derby is “low profile,” it may not seem so low profile compared to other brands’ products. If

Jules Doyle

a skater is looking for the kind of low profile in the likes of Atom Gear products, then she may find herself uncomfortable with the bulk of the cushion in the 187 Killer Pro Derby knee pads. However, if the priority in choosing knee pads is having lots of cushion and protection to endure the hard impacts from falls, the 187 Killer Pads Pro Derby might be a good choice.

Pro-Designed Custom Sizing Wild Bill, the owner of Pro-Designed, Inc. knows what’s up.

It may not be a widely known fact that this guy has been around since nearly the beginning of derby. The locals, namely the Texas Rollergirls, have definitely seen him around for about a decade. He didn’t start by making pads for derby, though. Actually, he’s an experienced veteran of 27 years. Wild Bill says that he started in 1985 when a guy approached him who wanted him to repair some wrist guards. One thing led to another, he said, and within ten months, he became recognized. After years of perfecting his craft of pad making, his clientele now includes derby girls, a circus family, skateboarders, a marine biologist, military branches, NASA, and the ladies at the library at the Smithsonian, just to name a few. Yes, the Smithsonian. The point is that this guy, Wild Bill, knows a thing or two about really good pads, and even better, he knows what derby skaters need.

Custom sizing (and awesome, pink leopard fabric or something like it, if you want) is what really separates Pro-Designed pads from other manufacturers. Sometimes, figuring out what size to get can be extremely difficult, especially if the order is being made online and there are no means of trying the pads on. Even when it’s possible to try them on, sometimes a skater can feel like a large is too big

but a medium is too tight. With custom sizing, that problem is solved. The measurements required to order a pair of knee pads are thigh and calf circumferences. For elbow pads, bicep and forearm circumferences are required. For wrist guards, bend of wrist and span of knuckles with fingers closed are required. This way, you can almost guarantee that the pads will fit well, and good fit prevents the pads from slipping off or cutting off your blood circulation.

A section of the Pro-Designed website is dedicated to roller derby and its specific needs. The four knee pads listed as suggested pads for roller derby vary in sizes and bulk.

The Super Single knee pads are possibly the most protective, with heavy bulk. Because of the bulk, perhaps, Wild Bill states they are suitable for pivots and blockers. Then there are the Mini and the Mini Ramp knee pads with less bulk. The Mini knee pads have smaller caps and are in general, lighter. The happy medium between the Mini series and the Super Single would be the Q knee pads with smaller caps and narrower sides but with padding exactly where you want it.

There are other sweet extra custom features, too, like eight different custom fabrics, such as the blue puma or camo, and seven spandex color options. It’s definitely neat and adds some character, but remember that custom costs money. The protection, fit, and customer service are all almost guaranteed with Pro-Designed, but the price is higher than the massproduced brands with no custom options. The Pro-Designed knee pads range from $88 to $133. Other custom options cost extra as well. But the investment is definitely worth the protection, fit and durability, and Wild Bill sees to it that his customers are satisfied.

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gear

check your gear I VA N N A S . PA N K I N , S O C A L D E R B Y

check before the bout I recommend you check this stuff the week before your game, right before your last practice, ideally.

1. Check your trucks. Look for stress cracks and fractures at the pivot point and at the rings.

2. Check all your bushings. You most likely have eight at the trucks, around your kingpin, and four more that we call pivot cups, where the trucks go into the plates. Look for cracked, worn or misshapen bushings. At the pivot point, check that you don’t have too much play. Look for the bushing material sticking out if you haven’t ever checked them before. Bushings go bad fast! If you have Delrin or brass (hard) pivot cups, check that each is still symmetrical and not hollowed out.

Replace any bad ones, but make sure you skate on the replacements before your game day. If your old bushings were more than six months old, they were “worn in”, and the same new ones are likely to feel a little different. Plus you want to dial in your truck adjustment in a no-pressure situation (not during warm ups for your game, when you’re nervous).

3. Check your adjustments. With your hand, dingle your trucks.

There should be no rattle. If you like loose action, consider softer bushings rather than having your trucks so loose that they rattle. Softer bushings can mimic the performance of a loose adjustment, without the strain on the kingpin and extra wear and tear on your bushings. If you can move ANY nut on your skates by hand (not using a tool), REPLACE IT. All the nuts on your skates have nylon rings that lock them down. Once the nylon ring deteriorates over time or with use (I’m looking at you people that obsessively adjust your trucks, or change your wheels constantly), that nut no longer locks – which is B-A-D. Very bad.

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4. Check the nuts on your kingpins. In some models, including Powerdyne Revenge and Reactors and Crazy Venus plates, there are nuts at both the top and bottom of your kingpins.

Check that the one closest to your plate is flush with the plate.

It’s more and more common for the nut closest to the plate on the kingpin to loosen, working the kingpin out (see photo). In some plate models, this hollows out the hole the kingpin sits in and can result in your kingpin rocking, which robs you of speed, ruins your plates, can cause instability (makes you fall), and will likely eventually lead to a break in kingpin and/or trucks. All bad! Check it regularly, because if it works itself loose and you catch it right away, you can tighten it – no problem. But if it is loose for too long, repair often requires a new kingpin, or even a new plate.

5. Check your stops – are they at the right height? Do they show visible wear or metal? I usually rotate mine, because like most skaters, I tend to wear one faster than the other.

So I’ll replace the worst one and move the okay one over.

Jennifer M. Ramos

For the last few years, Sin City Skates has operated as the Skate Techs for lots of tournaments, and that experience has taught us a few things that can make your life a lot easier as we approach spring tournament season. Most of the things we repair and adjust during bouts (usually during a jam the skater wishes she was IN rather than sidelined with her skate up on one of our knees) could be avoided with some reasonably simple preparation. So during WFTDA Champs last year, I made a couple lists.

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gear

6. Check your bearings. If they roll slowly, stop rolling right away, or you can hear or feel debris, clean or replace them. If after cleaning your bearings, you still have a bad one and no time to replace it, you can move that bearing to your shittiest wheel and rotate that out of your high-wear spots on your skates (until you have time to get new ones).

7. Check your wheels. Right – this is a good time to rotate them, so that your most worn wheels end up in the places you use the least, and the ones with the least wear end up in the spots you really use – for most of us who learned to skate for derby, the wear spots are going to be the front left (inside) wheel of both skates, where you dig to make those left turns.

The wheels you use least are likely to be the exact opposite, back rights. If you do a lot of hockey stop or single-foot plows, skate outside, or wear soft wheels, you might notice coning on some wheels. Rotating is often still fine until it gets so misshapen that you can tell when you’re skating, in my opinion. Hand-tighten the nuts when you replace your wheels, until you get to the nylon on the nut – then use a tool to finish tightening. If you can hand-tighten past the nylon ring, that nut is FINISHED. Replace it now, rather than after your wheel comes flying off during a jam.

8. Check your laces. It may sound stupid, but would you rather change the almost shredded one now or let it break and flap around tangling in your wheels during a jam? bench check The fast check over is especially important for multi-game tournaments, which can take a toll even on parts that were fine last week. You can do this 30-second check on your bench right before the game – ideally right before warm ups start, so you have time to deal with problems.

Check for movement and tighten, if needed: - toe stops - axle nuts (that hold wheels on) - mounting nuts (that hold plate to boot) - kingpin nuts, both top and bottom

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Check your trucks again for cracks and stress fractures (especially the rings around the bushings) carry in your bag 1. An extra toe stop 2. Extra axle nuts 3. An extra truck 4. Tools that fit YOUR skates/plates 5. Extra laces Jason Ruffell 6. A Spare Favorite Wheel 7. Optional but great: extra pivot cups / bushings. Okay, you’re probably not going to have that, but don’t worry, we do.

If you’re the type to check your skates before a game, you may not need to carry any of that stuff for yourself. But believe me, the gear always comes in handy, and your best jammer (you know, that one who freaks out if her gear is even slightly different than usual) is sure to blow out a stop or break a truck when you really need her on the track. I carry an entire set of super grippy Sugars just so my jammers can borrow them at away games. Of all the stuff listed, an extra truck and tools that fit your plates is DEFINITELY the most important, especially if you have an unusual setup, or one of the plate models that suffers relatively routine truck failure. None of it takes much room in your bag, and you will be SO happy to have it when you need it. I am a pessimist, so I also carry spare helmet panties and my uniform in my skate bag for away games, just in case the airline loses my luggage. You never know.

Want more?

• You can find a lot more detailed advice here: sincityskates.com/blog.aspx • This diagram may help you identify parts of your skates: sincityskates.com/images/downloads/sincity_anatomy_of_a_skate.pdf • The second page of the link above is an easy how-to for bearing cleaning. A more detailed set of instructions for bearing and wheel cleaning and rotation can be found here: sincityskates.com/images/downloads/sincity_cleaning_bearings_and_wheels.pdf

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wftda

new divisions and rankings systems shake up WFTDA competitive structure S H E L LY S H A N K YA , I C T R O L L E R G I R L S

2013 marks the inaugural season for WFTDA’s newly adopted Divisions and Ranking Systems, which have been under development for more than four years. The impetus for change was to organize WFTDA leagues’ chartered teams into skill-based Divisions based on a worldwide ranking and implement a mathbased ranking system.

The most notable feature of the new system is the dissolution of geographic regions, an organizing component of WFTDA play since 2007. Regardless of geographic location, teams from all over the globe will now be ranked using a math-based system to determine their placements.

“Our member leagues voted to adopt this change because it means the most competitive teams will qualify for Playoffs and, ultimately, place into Championships, regardless of what region of the world they call home,” Bonnie Thunders, WFTDA Game Play Manager, said. "As the WFTDA expands and competition fluctuates, it's important for us to be agile. A skill-based Division structure also better includes our international membership, rather than trying to place European and Australian teams into a structure originally designed for North America.”

At the time of tournament seeding, the top 40 teams will be divided between the four Division 1 Playoffs using “S-curve” seeding, similar to what is used to seed the NCAA basketball playoffs. Seed number 1 will be in a Playoff tournament with seeds number 8, 9, 16, 17, etc.; Seed number 2 will compete in a playoff against seeds number 7, 10, 15, 18, etc.; and so forth. Teams 41-60 will be seeded into their two tournaments in a similar fashion.

Because Playoff tournaments will be seeded purely by ranking with no regional focus, it is possible that a team in California may be in the same Division 1 Playoff tournament as a team from Florida or from Germany. The top three finishers from each Division 1 Playoff will advance to Championships; the top two finishers in the two Division 2 Playoffs will also compete in the Division 2 Final and Third Place games on Championships weekend.

“The idea of an S-curve structure is to create equally balanced Playoff tournaments in terms of the level of competition. Now we will have four tournaments set up based on rankings rather than geographic location, which means that if a particular part of the world is strong, teams from that area will still be able to be seeded based on their overall ranking in the organization,” Karen Kuhn, WFTDA

“Our member leagues voted to adopt this change because it means the most competitive teams will qualify for Playoffs and, ultimately, place into Championships, regardless of what region of the world they call home.”

Bonnie Thunders, WFTDA Game Play Manager The new system also allows more teams to participate in the tournament structure. Teams ranked 1-40 at the June 30 rankings release will be seeded into the Big 5 (Division 1) Playoffs, formerly Regional Playoffs. Eligible teams from Division 2 (teams ranked 41-60) will also have a Playoff season in 2013. Two new Division 2 Playoffs will feature 10-team single elimination games with a consolation bracket over a three-day weekend, similar to the Playoff structure for Division 1. Division 3 includes the remaining teams. As the WFTDA grows in membership, additional Divisions may be added and additional tournament opportunities may be developed.

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Managing Director of Games, said. “They will not be shut out of a spot because there happens to be a lot of talented teams in their part of the world. One tournament will not be stronger than the others, which helps guarantee that the competition in each Playoff will be balanced and the best teams get spots in the Championships.”

Tournament bracketing remains the same for both Division 1 Playoff and Championship tournaments, featuring advantage seeding. “The bracketing does lend an advantage to teams with a higher rank,” Kuhn said. “The top four seeds are spread across the tournaments, but then seed 4 will have to contend with Seed 5, while Seed 1 will play Seed 8, hence the slight advantage.”

wftda.com/news/wftda-divisions-and-rankings-systems-details-announced

As the WFTDA becomes a more globally competitive organization, the elimination of regions means teams may have to travel farther to their Playoff tournament, as compared to the Regional Playoff model of the past. “Travel considerations will definitely be a new issue for teams this year because they will not know which tournament they will seed into until the June 30 rankings are released,” Kuhn said. “It is a shift in the requirements of competitive play for our Membership.

This was something the Membership discussed for some time and for which they ultimately voted. I think overall the Membership decided that more balanced tournaments were important for the growth and health of our sport and the tournaments, even though the travel requirements create a heavier burden on team fundraising.”

Since tournament eligibility now hinges completely on Division assignment by ranking, it is critical that WFTDA update the system to rank teams across the entire organization and to provide more accurate and predictive rankings from which Divisions can be assigned. “We need an organization-wide Rankings System to be able to move to the Division system of game play,” said Teenie Meanie, WFTDA Rankings Manager. “No one in our membership felt they could vote for a worldwide ranking, and many were starting to feel unsure of even voting in their own regions, as we are growing so quickly. The vote system was always criticized as being a popularity contest. A math-based system creates an equitable structure for moving in rank that is applied equally to all teams.” Rankings will be published on a bimonthly basis, six times a year, as opposed to the previous quarterly ranking posts every three months.

The implementation of Divisions also relies on a small increase in the number of games that teams are required to play, improving the comparison data and therefore the accuracy of the ranking.

Following Championships each November, Division assignments will be published in a special rankings release. A team’s Division assignment in November will determine their game play requirements for competitive season. In the case of Division 1 teams, four games must be played – three against Division 1 opponents and one against a Division 1 or Division 2 opponent – to be eligible.

The WFTDA announced the specifications of the Division restructuring in early January 2013, creating the three divisions based on the June 30, 2012 WFTDA rankings. While Division assignments and game requirements will remain consistent throughout the year, teams may move in the rankings. Teams in Division 3 may move up in rankings throughout the 2013 season and qualify for Division 2 Playoffs in the fall; the same holds true for Division 1.

“To launch the system, we chose the June 30, 2012 rankings as the baseline for Division assignments to create the cleanest possible fixed starting point,” Kuhn said. “It was the last rankings release before 2012 Playoff tournaments, and the last ranking to completely account for all the Playoffs (in 2012, the first three Playoffs took place in Q3, and South Central Playoffs fell in Q4). In the future, we will set Division placements based on a rankings release immediately following Championships, and each year this will start the next Competitive Season.”

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junior derby

the next generation E L E K T R A H I G H V O LTA G E , T U C S O N R O L L E R D E R B Y

More and more, younger skaters are taking the track and competing in the WFTDA. With the sport being only a decade old and still in the process of constantly developing, the changes in its demographics may not seem so apparent or tangible. However, it is quite apparent that the number of junior roller derby skaters is rapidly increasing around the world.

A portion of the WFTDA’s next generation is brooding here and now. A 10-year-old somewhere in Indiana or a 13-year-old somewhere in California is learning to play roller derby in the hopes of becoming the next Bonnie Thunders.

In fact, the beneficiaries of junior programs are already out there. Luce Bandit of the Texas Rollergirls and Lindsey LoBlow of the Oly Rollers are both graduates of the Tucson Derby Brats, which is one of the oldest junior derby programs in the nation.

They both graduated the program into adulthood and joined Tucson Roller Derby, and from there, they branched out.

There are others out there, and most certainly, there are more coming.

There are approximately 224 junior derby leagues worldwide, according to Darryl B. Payne, founder of Junior Derby News and coach of the Darlings in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Some leagues are not yet listed and he guesses there might be junior teams associated with military bases overseas.

Junior derby is some serious early training. There are many prominent and capable skaters who have little to no prior training in skating in general or team sports; however, having prior experience (or even expertise) in training of some kind can generally lead to some edge in learning to play roller derby.

Many skaters come into roller derby with speed skating or hockey backgrounds. But even they have to learn the rules and to play the game upon joining their WFTDA league. These junior skaters already know the game.

“In junior derby, we work on a lot of our basic skills for pretty much ever,” said Weirdy, a transitioning junior skater.

“A lot of fresh meat [skaters] coming to the adult derby program have no foundation skills.”

Jules Doyle

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After nearly four years of skating for the Tucson Derby Brats, Weirdy skated her last bout as a junior on Jan. 5, 2013, against the Phoenix Derby Brats. In February, she will finally be turning 18. Unlike some of the other transitioning junior skaters who take breaks to attend college or explore the world before joining an adult league, Weirdy plans to join Tucson Roller Derby as soon as she turns 18.

She is planning to try out for the All-Star team in the future, and hopes to become a good asset to the team. But it’s not all excitement without apprehensions. The different sizes and harder hitting in adult roller derby leagues could be a challenge when she joins T.R.D., said Weirdy.

Junior skaters are generally smaller, especially when there are skaters who are 10 years old.

The junior program at Tucson Derby Brats is open to skaters from ages 8 to 17. Some leagues encourage skaters to start even younger. San Fernando Valley Junior Roller Derby is open to junior skaters from ages 7 to 17, according to coach and founder Killo Kitty.

The training that the junior skaters get is not much different from what the adult skaters get, according to both Killo Kitty and Payne. S.F.V. Junior Roller Derby practices once a week on Friday for sure and every other Monday. During their practices, the juniors scrimmage a lot and work on endurance and skills.

The Darlings practice twice a week for two hours, according to Payne. They have a good relationship with some of the speed skating coaches at the local rink, and the junior skaters are able to participate in the speed skating drills.

“I have a feeling that in the next two or three years, we’re going to be heavily populating the Detroit Derby Girls roster with junior skaters,” said Payne. “They’re going to have skills; they’re going to have agility; and they’re going to have strength.”

The junior skaters have a very deep learning curve, said Payne. He also believes that the current juniors will make it more competitive in the future. The landscape of the roller derby players will probably be set forward a little bit, he added.

The involvement of adult skaters in surrounding adult leagues is an important factor in the growth of junior roller derby leagues.

Being able to watch competitive roller derby and having the adult skaters come and train the juniors can be immensely helpful to the growing junior skaters as they are the juniors’ role models.

“We learn the way they play,” said Bustyer Butt, 14. Bustyer Butt plays for S.F.V. Junior Roller Derby and her mother, Killo Kitty, is her coach.

Some junior derby teams even share a name with their local adult leagues: Rose City Rosebuds are the juniors affiliated with the Rose City Rollers out of Portland, Oregon.; Rocky Mountain Rollerpunks are the juniors affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls out of Denver, Colorado. Most of the time, the junior leagues are closely affiliated with their local adult leagues.

Parents who play roller derby often encourage their children to play roller derby, and sometimes become involved in coaching.

That is indeed the case for Killo Kitty and her daughter Bustyer Butt.

Bustyer started with the L.A. Derby Dolls’ junior program and moved when her mother started S.F.V. Bustyer’s goal is to eventually be able to skate for Team USA in the Blood and Thunder Roller Derby World Cup. Payne’s daughter, Gnarly Quinn, will turn 18 in July. She will be JoeRollerfan.com the first graduate of the Darlings, and she plans to skate with the Detroit Derby Girls.

The early training is not the only benefit of junior roller derby.

The empowerment aspect of roller derby applies to both adult and junior skaters, said Payne. The juniors learn to feel empowered through interacting with their teammates and training together. Such empowerment encourages the teens to build more self-confidence, as well. The juniors also develop strong camaraderie, cooperating with others, leadership, and awareness for physical fitness.

“If my daughter didn’t play roller derby, she’d be super conscious about her size,” said Killo Kitty. “But I know that she actually loves her size – she has the ‘badonkadonk’ that can take out any jammer who crosses her path.”

Some may not continue to play roller derby as adults, but it is undeniable that a number of junior skaters involved in roller derby now will grow into adulthood and transition into competitive WFTDA play. There is news of junior tournaments in the works and there are more and more junior roller derby functions around the nation and beyond. The junior roller derby community is expanding, and those kids are fierce and intelligent. They are the next generation of roller derby.

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junior derby

littles V E R A N . S AY N E , R O C K Y M O U N TA I N R O L L E R G I R L S

I have been with the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls for five years. I have worn many hats: volunteer, NSO, skater, ref liaison, skater relations, bout production, head of finance...

You name it, I’ve been involved somehow. But, the best and most rewarding hat I have worn to date is head trainer of our Rocky Mountain Rollerpunks – Littles.

Our Littles range from six to eleven years old and we have both girls and boys skating.

When we first started our Rollerpunks program three years ago, we had all the kids (6-18) skating together. For the first two years, the Littles, while enjoying the experience, weren’t growing as skaters.

They were nervous on the track with all the bigger girls whizzing by them, and there weren’t enough trainers to break them out in groups. Last year was our first at breaking the kids in half by age, and it was the best thing we’ve done with this program for our Punks.

I ended up becoming head trainer of the Littles because my son, Little Bit N. Sayne, is one of our skaters. As a committee, we had talked about letting go of the Littles and putting our focus on the teenagers, but I just couldn’t face going home and telling Little Bit he couldn’t skate anymore, let alone breaking the hearts of a dozen other Littles who absolutely love the sport. So I stepped up and took them all on and haven’t regretted a single moment.

Our first couple of practices were rough because we were all feeling each other out. We had a small handful of trainers and twenty wily kids. As a mother, I wasn’t afraid of disciplining if necessary and lavished reward as often as possible. A pat on the helmet, a high five, and mostly just a big smile while saying “good job” earned their respect quickly. I know a lot of people shy away from this age group because they are like herding cats, but once you can get them corralled, it’s like a fine-tuned symphony. The kids are eager to please and are like putty waiting to be molded.

We have an interesting mix of kids. We have some who are autistic, three boys, some very girlie girls, and tomboys, to name a few. All of them, though, have a strong love 38 | Spring 2013 | fiveonfivemag.com

Dave Wood Photography

for derby. Working with these multiple personality types can be a juggling act if you let it be, but all in all they’re people with the same desire to play. I have watched them grow and become confident in who they are on and off the track. They have built very strong friendships and look out for each other. They watch and idolize the teens and the adult skaters. It thrills them to no end when we have a guest trainer come and work with them. And their favorite trainers are our teenage Punks.

The growth we have seen in these kids is truly heartwarming. One of our boys has learning difficulties and behavioral issues. He would buck at discipline and didn’t like being touched. Working with him was a challenge in the beginning, but has become one of my greatest joys.

He brought tears to my eyes when I had the kids do a demonstration at one of our half-time shows for our adult league at the Fillmore Auditorium. He came up to me after we finished and gave me a huge hug. I wasn’t expecting that knowing who he is and what his limits are. From that point on, he opened up and gained so much confidence in who he is as a person, let alone a skater, and has become one of our strongest jammers. He gives hugs to everyone.

If you are working with children of this age group or are thinking of starting a junior program that includes this age, here are some things that work well for us and help keep them motivated.

• Discipline. Enough said.

• Set a time when they need to be on the floor and stick to it.

If they are late, bench them and they will never be late again.

Usually just the threat of benching is all it takes.

• Be firm and in control. Don’t allow them to overrun you or you’ve lost and it will be difficult to gain that ground back.

• Reward them. High fives, encouraging words, thumbs up and big smiles are of utmost importance.

• Rules. Set them and stick to them. One of our big rules is no begging to jam while on the bench. They know if they beg they won’t get to play. No one has ever tested us on this one.

• Sticker rewards. All of the trainers at practice keeps an eye out for a skater who stood out to them, whether it be behavior, skills, sportskidship, pushing hard, you name it.

We call them up in front of the group, announce why we feel they deserve a sticker and then honor them with the sticker on their helmet. (We have one boy who refused stickers and I found out that he never has liked them. A few practices into the season though, he started sporting them proudly on his helmet.)

• A star board. This has everyone’s name on it and they receive a star for the day for attendance. The one with the most stars gets a special gift at the end of the season.

• Hug line. We line up, trainers on one end, kids on the other and go through the line and give every single kid a hug. The kids actually beg for the hug line and love to give and receive the hugs.

• Boys. Allow them to play. They are our future also. Without men, we couldn’t survive as a sport. They are our biggest group of refs, NSOs, and our strongest supporters. What better ref would there be than one who has played and learned the sport at a young age? Plus these boys will

become the future rock stars of men’s derby, which is steadily gaining momentum. Yes, boys are the future of derby also.

• Include your teenagers in training. It gives them leadership skills and the younger ones have good role models to look up to.

• Train at their level. Play games like tag to work on their agility, etc.

I know today’s derby is mainly a women’s sport, but we need the men also. Derby for girls is empowerment. They learn confidence in who they are, not what society thinks they should be. They learn that they can take a hit and stay standing, which teaches them they can take any hit life gives them and they have the ability to get back up and keep moving. Boys need this empowerment also. But they also need the empowerment of how to respect women and treat them as equals with a strong dose of chivalry.

So don’t be afraid to take on this age group. I promise you won’t regret it and will find yourself in the most rewarding, heartwarming experience in derby. All these kids want is to be accepted and encouraged and to skate like their idols.

Dave Wood Photography

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rookie

letter to my newbie self FEIST E. ONE, BOULDER COUNTY BOMBERS

Dear newbie me,

As future you, I am telling you to get that thought of

You joined roller derby! When you were telling everyone you knew you were joining a league, you felt like a bad ass.

Some people looked at you with awe, some tried to talk you out of it, but the people who know you the best knew it was something you were meant to do.

After the new recruit meeting, you immediately bought all the equipment

quitting out of your head. That voice that is getting louder and saying how you just aren’t cut out for roller derby.

That one. It is wrong.

Trust yourself – you did make the right decision by joining a derby team.

If you quit today, not only will you have spent a small fortune on brand new equipment and barely used it, but you won’t find out who you will become.

Roller derby is a physical and mental game, and if you stick with it, you will be amazed at what you will do. You will be knocked down, jam after jam, and will get back up.

Physically exhausted and mentally beaten, you will do it. You will get back up. Something you may never have experienced before, but something that will help you realize you have limits that reach further than you ever thought.

If you quit today, you will not have that awesome feeling of accomplishment when you make your 25 laps in 5 minutes. And then that same feeling, sometime later, when you do those 25 laps in less than 4 minutes. I know – you think it’s not possible. But it is.

It may seem as though things are not going your way.

You have bruises everywhere from falling, everyone is faster than you, and you haven’t found a derby wife yet. Frustration is not a reason to quit. Struggling is not a reason to quit.

Challenging yourself, on the track and in life, is what makes

As future you, I am telling you to get that thought of quitting out of your head. That voice that is getting louder and saying how you just aren't cut out for roller derby. That one.

It is wrong.

and probably spent more money than your budget allowed. But you wanted those good skates and some cute booty shorts.

You started thinking about your derby name. Would it be something that makes other skaters immediately know how tough you are? Or would it represent something about your life, career or personality?

You imagined yourself skating circles around the other newbies at the second practice. Not only do you have experience skating, but you are athletic.

But now that you have had a few practices, you may be second-guessing yourself. The last time you put on quads you were 13 years old and that was at the roller rink – nothing like roller derby – and you have since forgotten how to skate. You also never knew how to properly stop or fall, and instead of doing those things safely at practice last night, you just fell on your ass. Which hurt – your ass and your ego. But it’s nothing a bag of frozen vegetables, an Epsom salt bath, and a talk with your mentor can’t fix.

Roller derby is a physical and mental game, and if you stick with it, you will be amazed at what you will do.

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Preflash Gordon

you a better person. Isn’t that one of the reasons you joined?

To become a better you?

You are not the only one who is frustrated and bruised.

Any veteran skater on your team can talk to you about a time she had an obstacle to overcome or when she wanted to quit. Talk to another newbie – because I can guarantee she is having some of the same thoughts. You can commiserate – and continue to skate – together.

And you can realize that quitting should not be an emotional reaction to a setback.

So take this opportunity to have a beer with some teammates, buy yourself a new pair of socks, and think

about how much you will learn at the next practice. Learn from those around you – the coaches, the trainers, the vets, and the other newbies. No one started this sport knowing what they were doing. Roller derby was literally built from the ground up. There were no experts or veterans.

Everyone learned together.

You are starting on the same playing field as every other derby skater that ever was. And look at all those skaters now.

Derby love, Your future superstar derby self

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Deaf skaters PA I N E Y R E , B O R D E R C I T Y B R AW L E R S

“Water.”

I know this one. The sign for “W.” tap chin. We’re moving through the flash cards quickly and my handwriting is sloping down the worksheet. I’ll be lucky to be able to read it tomorrow.

“Hop?” Is that what I wrote? Like jump? Two fingers springing from a flat palm. But this says – “Help.” Right. Stormy raises a flash card and the room gestures wildly. What reminder did I write for “fast?” “Fast” is – I know slow (right hand moves up back of left hand), and attendance (the sign for “d,” tap between spread fingers of the other hand) but not fast. No one’s got it yet. Stormy points to the bristol board at the front of the room.

Photos show Paulapalooza and Kim Bash acting out each sign.

FAST: Bash makes the “d” sign with both hands, bending fingers toward her in the next shot. That’s it.

What’s the sign for “hot?” One of the fresh meat fans herself with her workbook. Twenty or so of us are crammed into a little community center, ten in white scrimmage shirts on one side of the room and ten in black on the other side. Stormy stands at the front of the room with a stack of flash cards. Which team can remember the most signs? The skaters may be at home, but our teams are just as competitive today. She pulls the card for “jammer” and every person in the room rushes to tap the side of her head.

Since 9 am this morning, the Border City Brawlers roller derby league has been learning about Deaf culture and American Sign Language (ASL) from one of our skaters, Stormy.

She’s brought several friends, local Deaf educators, and members of the Deaf community, as well as interpreters, to speak to us about Deaf culture, common misconceptions, and some basic ASL to get everyone communicating. After a quiz, (no, Deaf people do not get parking privileges, and yes, most Deaf people are born to hearing parents), a potluck lunch, and a talk about the art of interpreting, we moved on to learning a few signs for the derby track.

When Stormy joined the league over a year ago, I knew absolutely no ASL. I learned the alphabet when I was ten or eleven in what became a failed attempt to teach myself sign language. While a few letters still clung on in my brain, I was hopeless. One of our skaters had grown up with a Deaf friend and knew some ASL, so she was able to help interpret to some

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degree. As for me, my communication with Stormy was limited to gestures and awkward smiles, my lack of signing skills getting in the way. “You were all scared of me, I think,” Stormy told me later. A new skater with the league. A Deaf skater. How were we going to communicate? Sure, me and Stormy could skate with one another, build walls, block, do drills, but I wanted more than that. I felt a closeness with the rest of my league, and I wasn’t going to let my inability to sign get in the way of me forming bonds with Stormy. We chatted online and I asked her about learning some ASL. Was there any book she recommended? I was a mess at finger spelling, but I was a mess on skates when I joined derby and that never stopped me.

After practice one night, I logged onto a site that Stormy had sent me and started with lesson one: the alphabet. At least if I learned the alphabet, I could finger spell the words I didn’t know and learn the signs as I went along. I googled Deaf roller derby and discovered that there were Deaf skaters around the world. There were specific signs the Deaf derby community had created for words like jammer and pivot (both of which mimic the insignia on the helmet panties). I went over my ABCs more than a three-year-old and read about Deaf derby until my eyes went buggy from the computer screen.

At the next practice, I showed up nervous about my new letters. When Stormy walked into our warehouse with her gear bag I waved. H-O-W, I finger spelled tentatively, and then pointed at Stormy. She smiled. Finger spelled H-O-W back to me and then made the sign for the word. I repeated. G-O-O-D she spelled, and then signed it. How are you? Good. Over the next few practices my hand got a little more comfortable forming the letters but I still confused P with Q, and mixed up M, N and T. At home, I was learning the first 100 signs, but finding it hard to fit in “cat” and “bird” at practice. Stormy, however, was super patient, figuring out what my confused finger spelling was supposed to mean and showing me each sign slowly and repeatedly until I nailed it. One practice I turned up and fumbled through, “I’m learning to sign, slowly,” but most frequently I just signed “thank you” for all the new words she taught me.

A few other skaters in the league started picking up signs: black (“d” dragged across the forehead), and white (like pulling

Jules Doyle

an invisible shirt away from your chest) helped for scrimmages.

Some took to their computers and libraries to learn the alphabet. But the process wasn’t easy. With limited people learning limited signs, the communication barriers still existed.

A skater who could finger spell and knew a few words would frantically try to interpret the coach’s spoken directions or the vote for tank tops versus t-shirts for the next bout. With limited vocabulary on the part of the hearing skaters, and no interpreter

available for practices, it was difficult and often frustrating for Stormy, whose skating skills were stellar, but sometimes found herself missing important details of drills and strategy. “Deaf people hear with our eyes,” Stormy said, showing our league the truth in this statement with every practice on the derby track.

Stormy learned derby by watching: watching drills, watching coaches, watching videos online. She taught our hearing skaters how to be better watchers, as well. No jammer can sneak up on

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Robert Bornais

a pack with Stormy blocking. Good derby skaters always look behind them. Where are the jammers? What are the other blockers doing? Stormy constantly watches all around her, communicating with her teammates through touch as well as sound. Still, with hearing skaters chattering all around, nuances of conversations, jokes, casual comments and suggestions slipped by without interpretation. Zebras and officials blew whistles to start jams and drills, sometimes forgetting the need for an accompanying hand signal. Skaters screamed â&#x20AC;&#x153;jammer insideâ&#x20AC;? instead of giving a touch to the thigh or a point in the right direction. Stormy described feeling stuck, being forgotten, and not knowing what to do.

Today, Stormy skates on a home team, and can be seen at practice helping fresh meat and vets alike with their stance, technique, blocking, and confidence. While Stormy admits new

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skaters sometimes start off intimidated by her, a strong blocker, a Deaf skater, and someone they are unsure they can communicate with, her patience quickly shows them what a great teacher she is, on and off the track. In the ASL learning process, Stormy is the best resource our league could possibly ask for. While interpretation at bouts and meetings is certainly a step in the right direction, all of our hearing members will need to commit to learning to communicate if we want our league to be truly accessible, on and off the track, as skaters, officials, coaches, and of course, as friends. Like our fresh meat skaters, stumbling through their strides and stops, we are ASL fresh meat, and learning will take all the time and passion that derby does; just like the feeling of nailing that first hip check or hitting your 25 in 5, every communication milestone will be more than worth it.

Q&A with Stormy Pink of the Border City Brawlers 1. How did you get started in roller derby?

My dad saw roller derby in Windsor on the news and said, “look!” I watched the clip and told him I wanted to join the derby league, and he said I should, but we both missed the information about where to go and how to join.

A month later, I went to a bar downtown and saw women having a bake sale. I didn’t understand until I asked a friend who was with their group what the bake sale was for. She explained that they were fundraising for roller derby. I got all excited and wanted to join so badly.

My friend pulled me in and signed me up to be part of the league.

Every time I get home from practice, I sit down and relax. I think about how to move my body and how to skate smoothly as a blocker. It is extremely important for me to always be watching when I am skating. Because I am Deaf, my eyes are my hearing and seeing at the same time.

4. What advice would you give to new roller derby skaters in your league? What would you say to other Deaf people interested in joining roller derby?

My advice for the new skaters would be to not be afraid of a Deaf person like me. Be patient. You don’t have to force yourself to learn sign language. You can take your time to learn and use body gestures to communicate with me. If you need some help, please feel free to tap my shoulder.

If other Deaf people are interested in joining roller derby, I would tell them “you can do it” because I already did!

2. What was it like coming into the league as the only Deaf member?

I felt a little bit nervous because I thought the team would feel awkward communicating with me. My friend showed me around and introduced everyone. She let the league know that I am Deaf before I showed up, but they were still frozen and shocked. My friend showed them the basic American Sign Language (ASL) alphabet to help them communicate. I helped them learn and gave them the opportunity to warm up to me and learn how to communicate using body gestures.

5. What is the best thing about roller derby?

The worst thing?

I love to hit hard with my teammates because I am a blocker. Blocking and practicing hitting makes me hungry to continue playing roller derby. Roller derby is my derby wife!

Being a jammer is the worst part because I am not fast or light enough yet. My team begged me to be a jammer because I have good moves and am able to get through the blockers.

3. Has your experience with the league changed since you started playing roller derby? How? Yes, it has changed. When I was a new member of the team, I thought it was not going to be that difficult because I knew I could learn how to skate. When the time came for me to join, I was LOST. It was difficult to interact with the team due to a lack of communication with no interpreter.

I studied hard by watching what the other skaters were doing and following their actions repeatedly. It was a challenge for me especially to understand the rules and gain skills. I was glad that we had the patience to work together. Some people in the league started learning sign language independently.

6. What is your biggest goal for roller derby?

My biggest goal is to have a Deaf team and a hearing team join together. It would show everyone that Deaf people can play too! Also, success is my goal; I want to make everyone recognize me because I am the first Deaf roller derby skater in Ontario, as far as I know. Also, my goal is to make the travel team for my league. Derby is my dream forever!

If any Deaf/hearing group needs assistance, I am here to help and share feedback based on what I have learned.

I don't mind traveling around to educate people and to share the experiences of my league in terms of how to communicate and what they have learned from workshops, as well as about Deaf culture.

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vagine regime E L E K T R A H I G H V O LTA G E , T U C S O N R O L L E R D E R B Y

community and provide support to people who identify as queer,” said Injure Rogers. “To embrace your identity; to feel well-rounded in your derby involvement.”

Given that roller derby is already a generally very accepting community, as Fifi stated, being involved in VR gives a sense of normalcy to the members, flipping their sexuality around from

Vida, hosted by the Los Angeles Derby Dolls, in March, 2010, Fifi had been unstoppable. After over a on the banked track, she transferred to the Angel City Derby Girls in November 2012, and just months after competing on the flat track, she was declared the 2012 WFTDA West Region Tournament jammer MVP. Fifi is an openly declared transsexual roller derby skater, currently with the Texas Rollergirls after a successful season with ACDG. She is one of the 23 percent indicated as “gay lesbian or other” by the WFTDA’s 2011 demographic survey results. She is also a participating member of a LGBT group within the roller derby community known as Vagine Regime.

Vagine Regime (VR) provides a support system and a deeper sense of community (than the one roller derby provides anyway, said Fifi) to skaters who identify themselves as gay. Although the group started as a drunken bar conversation in December 2007, not intended to be quite so serious, said founder Injure Rogers,

“something that we have to defend all the time,” said Injure Rogers, to something that is perfectly normal. In a broader sense of community outside of roller derby, identifying as a queer person is sometimes viewed as a concept to be tolerated, according to Injure Rogers.

“To come into this [roller derby] community, not only are we tolerated, we’re celebrating it,” said Injure Rogers.

Vagine Regime is serious when they need to be; otherwise, they’re throwing parties at major roller derby events like RollerCon, the much celebrated annual roller derby convention in Las Vegas. They also host mixed-team games, sometimes against themselves. There is also a tradition, which recurred for a fourth year at RollerCon 2012, where a selected roster of VR skaters play against a “straight people team” called the “Caulksuckers.”

But the parties aren’t just for the giggles or the drunken

it eventually became “something very activist in nature.”

It has also grown exponentially in size and variety. The total number of skaters affiliated with Vagine Regime in the U.S. is not definite, as there is no official membership.

There are chapters in Canada, Australia, France, and the United Kingdom.

Injure Rogers, a retired Bay Area Derby Girls skater, had seen VR from the beginning until now, even through her retirement from skating.

“The vision of the VR was always to build a cohort within the derby

adventures. The gatherings of likeminded people allow for a place to feel accepted. That had always been one of V.R.’s goals.

“The parties create a space for celebration and normalization of who we are as a community and a part of a larger community,” said Injure Rogers.

“Perfectly inclusive for everybody,” said CeCee Slam’er, a Vagine Regime organizer in the United Kingdom who skates for the Leeds Roller Dolls.

The philosophy of uniting lesbian skaters within the roller derby community had

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Chrissie Wu

Fifi Nomenon was standing in the crowd, catching up with old friends and meeting new ones, while announcers, board members, and volunteers occupied the center of the oval track.

“Jammer MVP is Angel City’s Fifi Nomenon,” said the WDFTDA’s treasurer, Loco Chanel, and the crowd roared.

Since attending her first roller derby class, namely Derby Por

certainly spread beyond North America. Unlike the original Vagine Regime, which doesn’t have an actual membership registration and thus has a varying roster at each event they participate in, the U.K. chapter started as a league.

Vagine Regime’s biggest showing is possibly at RollerCon, but there isn’t an event like RollerCon in the U.K. The U.K. chapter now has about 45 to 50 registered members and they gather to practice together occasionally and scrimmage against other teams, said CeCee. They had a closed bout against the London Rockin’ Rollers.

“It’s good for people to just be out and play roller derby,” said CeCee. “Certainly, roller derby makes it easier.”

Vagine Regime also makes sure the community is wellprotected in terms of hygiene and sexual contact. Injure Rogers and a group of V.R. members started a project by the name “Skatesafe.” At RollerCon, VR members would operate a booth alongside vendors promoting safe sex and buddy systems.

They would also hand out bags of condoms, hand sanitizers, electrolyte pallets, and other things that might come in handy.

Vagine Regime is also creating a documentary film about queer members of the roller derby community. GoGo Gidget, formerly a skater with the Angel City Derby Girls, is directing the film.

“I want to make a film about the culture and the women,” said GoGo Gidget. “Vagine Regime is a queer collective made up of roller derby’s LGBT individuals and its existence was instrumental with my own coming out of the closet. I am constantly inspired by what roller derby is doing to celebrate diversity and promote women’s health in general.”

The purpose of the film is to illustrate the LGBT community within roller derby, said Injure Rogers. The official description of the film reads, “’The Vagine Regime’ is a feature-length documentary about lesbian, bisexual, and transgender roller derby skaters.” The film is drawing a lot of support from the community. A Kickstarter project to secure funding for the production of the film raised $37,808 in a month. Five hundred and seventeen people donated.

But support does not amount to 100 percent of the attention that VR receives.

“Just because we have had a generally positive experience in derby and with Vagine Regime in terms of acceptance and stuff, nothing is 100 percent true,” said Injure Rogers.

Some of the concerns were rather technical, according to Injure Rogers. Random skaters had messaged VR about excluding straight people or men.

“When we started the VR, Midnight Matinee / Joe Mac derby was all women,” said Injure Rogers. “So when we were talking about queer roller derby, we didn’t even think about men. There were no men before.”

Female participants are not the only ones with an organization to look to for support within the community.

As men’s roller derby started growing, a governing body for men’s leagues has emerged. With increasing numbers of male roller derby skaters, gay support groups for men also started emerging.

One of those groups is the Disco Sticks. The Disco Sticks was founded by male skaters Nick X Fury and Spacecase. Fury is straight, but he grew up with two moms and wanted to be supportive in his own way. He spoke with Spacecase about starting a men’s movement and the Disco Sticks is their brainchild. “We want everyone to feel welcome,” said Fury.

“To feel like they can come and feel accepted.”

The message of these organizations is essentially one and the same: acceptance. More importantly, the message is spread not in protests but through engaging in online discussions throughout the community, scrimmages, parties, and other social events.

As the roller derby community continues to grow, the demographics of the community are also rapidly expanding, being inclusive of more sexual preferences, body types and personalities among other things. The conception and flourishing of micro-communities like the Vagine Regime and the Disco Sticks as support systems within the larger community could be seen as evidence that the roller derby community is growing at a faster rate than our founders thought possible.

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traveling light for derby I VA N N A S . PA N K I N , S O C A L D E R B Y

does anyone go anywhere without their skates anymore?

Years ago, when I wrote the first version of this article, traveling for derby was a relatively new thing for the sport. There were just enough teams scattered across America that my team was thrilled to put together an all-interleague schedule so we could travel to play once a month or so. We learned a lot that year; not just about packing, but about hosting, being good visitors, and a whole lot about burnout. Of course, now derby travel is a given, so a lot of this advice is probably pretty obvious.

Nearly every team plays or scrimmages interleague, and players routinely travel across the dateline to play, coach, and visit teams on other continents. So it was extra fun to look back at what I had to say years ago on the subject, but when the fiveonfive editors asked if the info was still valid, I read through it and thought, dear god, I actually gave serious advice: “don’t forget the booty shorts.” Time for a rewrite!

Our booty shorts days may not be totally over, but the sport has changed a lot. Yet, surprisingly little has changed in terms of what I’d recommend bringing for travel. The only major change is that I am a lot more careful about my gear, which means packing tools and parts.

skates in the carry on Even when I do bring a checked bag, I have a list of things I always carry with me on the plane. It is a short list, but it boils down to the things I can’t pick up on the other side if the airline loses my bag. I pack my carry-on bag with skates, pads, mouth guard, and my entire uniform down to undies and socks. When I’m captaining, I bring the helmet panties, a marker, and lineups on me, too. Sure, some of those things are replaceable, but if my bag is lost and I can’t easily get to the store, at least I can get through the bout with familiar (and clean) stuff!

skate tools I really hate checking a bag if I don’t have to. If you DO have to, it’s easy to put your tools and parts in a makeup bag and throw it in your checked bag. However, if you have relatively standard gear (in other words, you don’t have plates that require special tools, like Roll Line or Snyder), you CAN get your tools and parts carry-on ready. I got into this in a lot more detail in “Carry What You Need,” but for a trip that requires a flight, the key is to check your skates thoroughly just before your last practice at

the internet is your friend Check the weather forecast before you go. I am always cold on the plane, so I wear a few layers (which save me packing).

I always represent my team when I travel, so I wear a team shirt and hoodie; if weather.com says I can expect cold weather, I bring my coat hanging off my carry on. For really long trips, I wear shorts and sweats, just in case. And wearing all that means I don’t have to pack jammies, because I have them on me.

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home, then double check them again before packing for the game. If you really go over your skates and adjustments carefully, you can get the Oh Shit List down to the bare minimum parts: spare nuts, an extra stopper, and spare laces.

For U.S. domestic flights, most airlines will usually let you carry on a wrench that is less than four inches long, but they nearly always confiscate T-handle allen wrenches (you’ll put someone’s eye out!) and you’re taking your chances with common larger multitools, so I just don’t bring one. You can usually borrow a skate wrench anywhere you go. The key is to figure out who has one before you actually need it mid-jam.

the internet is your friend part II Ask your captain or interleague person for info about the track before you go. You can ask them what wheels they wear – but that’s likely to help you about as much as knowing what flavor of ice cream they prefer. People get used to their own floors and usually teams lean towards whatever wheels their heroes wear. So ask what the floor is like – is it sport court, cement, wood? Is it like any particular floor both your teams might have skated on before at another event? You already checked the weather, so keep in mind that temperature and humidity can change a floor’s grippiness, as well. Hot weather often gives a wood floor more traction because it expands and softens the urethane coating; cold makes most floors more slippery; humidity bad enough to leave a sheen means extra slippery, but if they have A/C indoors, it isn’t usually that bad.

That said, in my opinion, your best bet is to wean yourself off special wheels for each surface by Wrong Wheel Training (switch your wheels every couple of weeks, always wearing the wrong wheels to reduce your dependence on your wheels and improve your skating stance and stride so you can rely on that, instead). Still, if I have room, I usually bring a spare set of hybrids, and someone on my team usually borrows them from me. My spare wheels are already pre-loaded with clean bearings so that in that panic moment when one of your jammers freaks out about sliding, you can just solve her problem on the spot. plan on a trade It is worth buying an extra team shirt or two from your own league so you can trade with someone on the team you’re visiting. The purchase supports your team finances and if you do trade, you end up with a wearable memory. I always bring at least one black and one white shirt with my numbers on the

back, in case there is an opportunity to scrimmage. Nearly every city has a co-ed league or nearby rec league, so I want to be prepared, and plus, if you’re wearing your name, your host or the opposing team you’re interacting with doesn’t have to try to remember it. Aside from that and maybe a pair of jeans (if I’m expecting cold weather), I hardly bring any street clothes aside from undies and socks. Speaking of unders... those things don’t take up much room, so I always pack double what I think I will need. toiletries You already know what you need there, hopefully, but I recommend actually dumping out your toiletries and repacking for each trip. I always have twice the amount of stuff I actually need in my toiletries bag; I think it breeds in there. And I hate to be indelicate, but you might be sharing bathroom space, so pack a book of matches. while you’re at it I usually dump out and repack my purse and my skate bag before each flight. Read “fanny pack” or “backpack” if you’re not a purse-carrier. Weird detritus (Bacon said she had to look that up, so I’ll save you the trouble: it’s a fancy word for crap) collects in the bottom and pockets and you don’t need all of it for this trip, so you can at least clean out the receipts, dead gum packs, old game programs and whatever weird stuff you end up with. Starting with an empty bag also means TSA won’t find contraband you forgot about; remind me to tell you the time they found a switchblade in a forgotten pocket and how I talked my way out of going to jail for it. I came really close to missing my flight, so ever since then, my co-captain makes me dump everything out and start new. And that’s probably the best packing advice of all.

Happy travels!

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pow town T H E D O L LY L H A M A , P OW TOW N R O L L E R D E R B Y

The hockey arena is packed with local Canadians in the small town of Powell River, BC. Lots of excited murmuring projects from the anticipating crowd as they wait to witness a pioneering and climactic sporting event that has been in the making for over a year.

Curious faces look around the rink for some clue of what thrilling spectacle is about to manifest. “Man, I’m pretty excited. Not sure what to expect, but pretty sure I’m gonna be a fan! GO POW! TOWN!” one male spectator excitedly says to me. However, this is July, and hockey season this is not. No friend, this is roller derby.

Roller Derby has taken the world by storm, and even more so in Canada. Roller derby is the fastest growing sport in Canada and shows no signs of slowing. I have done my bit by bringing it to a hidden gem of a town called Powell River, or Pow! Town, as we know it. It takes two ferries and a five-hour drive to get here from Vancouver, and as an outsider, or “limey”, I can safely say the townsfolk can be somewhat nervous of the new things. However, they are extremely kind and friendly with hearts of gold to boot.

Also, as it is in Canada, hockey is worshipped above all things.

Powell River has two semi-pro hockey teams, with smaller local leagues and teams. Local hockey players are looked up to, respected, and seen as heroes, some unworthy of such a title, but I digress. The women in town haven’t had a sport they could call their own. That is until I posted the question on-line, “CALLING ALL LADIES IN PR. Any interest in starting a roller derby league?”

BOOM! I was inundated with excited messages and comments about starting one. Over a year later, roller derby in Powell River has gone from a Facebook post to a huge sensation.

Pow! Town has become an amazing outlet for the women of this small gated town. It has given them something uniquely theirs and something to be proud of.

“It’s a great outlet and way to meet people from all walks of life.

After a full day at home with the kids, I get to go out and be an adult and have fun. It’s a great way to sweat and laugh and have some anger management too!” Jamaika Me Crazy tells me. “I have gained a stronger confidence in myself because being a stay-athome mom often means I lose myself and what is important to me in the whole process. Derby makes me fight harder for my time and my person to have a place outside of the family.” Jamaika is a ref for the Pow! Town league and the Coastal Call Monitors.

Since the league’s genesis, there has been a lot of interest and support from the local community. Merchandise, workshops, junior derby, parade floats, charity events, and fundraisers have created an amazing attitude in this town toward the girls and this misunderstood sport. This and a whole lot more has shoulder 50 | Spring 2013 | fiveonfivemag.com

checked roller derby and “Pow! Town” into the face of the local populace. The girls have found new confidence in themselves and the diverse derby family they have nourished and worked so hard to create.

Also, through some amazingly organized fundraising and a very generous community, the league has created a very healthy pot to keep them going and progressing, which has even helped to bring training camps where some training camps would dare not venture.

The league has also helped produce more professional teams like the Salish Sea Rollers and an officiating squad, The Coastal Call Monitors, for the Sunshine Coast and BC. Amazingly, within the first few months of the league’s creation, a successful calendar was also produced. “The calendar was a lot of fun,” Jen Dodd tells me, who headed the calendar campaign.

Jen is one of the many proven cases that roller derby empowers people. When Jen first started, she was very timid on her skates with her shaky legs. Within months she has risen to become a coach and has shown an amazing amount of new confidence in herself and her abilities. She has prepared the team for their first bout with huge praise from the team.

“She has done amazingly. She has taken us to a whole new level and everyone is progressing amazingly,” Mia Tooshslappa explains.

A lot of guidance has come from our nearest team, the Brick House Betties of Cumberland BC, who ironically is the first team Pow! Town face on their inaugural bout. Although the girls have not played as Pow! Town before the bout, most have been bench marked for the Betties and have had the opportunity to play and know the game. We have, in conjunction with the Betties, non-contact scrimmages for players who are less experienced, not progressing as quickly or fresh meat, so all the girls can feel like they are capable of playing.

So what about the outcome of the girls’ first official bout? I think what is really important, as Miss Mew-tilate excitedly says, “I had a lot of fun, it was AWESOME!” It did not really matter that the girls had their asses handed to them by the Betties by 211 points. Or that their defense was abysmal, or that they were not controlling the jammer like I had shown them, or that they did not call the jam off quickly enough.

Yet, as I looked around the stadium after their climactic first game, the girls’ expressions were enough to bring a tear to my eye. I was surrounded by faces of complete joy, accomplishment, excitement and pride. Cheers rose from the bustling stands, a populace proud of their new sports team. So they had their asses handed to them, but it does not matter, they are the new heroes in town.

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art and media

I want to be a derby photographer G I L L E O R A , W I N DY C I T Y R O L L E R S

This article is geared toward the new people who are interested in roller derby photography and for skaters who are interested in how we take such great shots. There are a lot of great photos in the derbyverse. They can inspire others to want to try it.

Good photos are integral to the sport. The people who contribute those photos may be league photographers or others who just shoot for the joy of it. Both contribute to the league for which they are shooting. So what is the photographer’s role and who decides? Generally, it is up to the leagues to decide if they want an official league photographer, a bevy of camera-holding artists, or a mix of both. Most leagues are simply happy to have good photos and don’t necessarily put much thought into exploring other avenues.

Once you have committed to this ridiculous venture of derby photography, what is the next step?

I say ridiculous because you may be sliding down the slippery slope of money flowing out of your bank account. Try not to worry too much about (unless you’re broke and you don’t have a camera).

The primary question asked by new photographers to the sport is about the camera. It’s such a loaded question with so many variables; however, the biggest one is money. Money is the obstacle. If it’s no object then you can get whatever you want. For the rest of us, it’s a bit more daunting.

When I first started shooting, I used a borrowed Tamron middle range zoom on a Fuji S2 (old) and a film camera. I was afraid to go above ISO 400 on the Fuji because of the grain.

This is a valid concern because cameras are terrible in that range. A starting photographer should invest in good glass (lenses) that will last for years. The camera bodies will change and become more or less obsolete.

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Try to be at ease with what you have in your hands. Try not to wish for more or curse your gear. If you want to make pretty pictures, then do it. Nothing can hold you back. It’s true that some gear helps sport shots look better. Expensive gear is not the only way to get good photos. Use what you have. If you are able to borrow or rent gear to get a feel, do so. I highly recommend that. It’s great way to truly touch and feel before you invest.

The Roy Wilkenson Center in Minnesota is a dark, dark cave. The first time I shot there, I didn’t do well.

I didn’t get very many good shots. That wasn’t that long ago (maybe 3-4 years ago). This past year at that hella game between Windy City Rollers (WCR) and Minnesota Roller Girls (MRG), I did better. I used on-camera flash and tried to balance the light they had with the lighting they had set up. I shot at a higher ISO, which was around 5000.

I know some cameras don’t go that high so you will have to make what you have work. I was trying to balance the existing stage light with my on-camera settings. In this situation, go as high as you can in the ISO and take your flash up in power to match.

Finding a middle ground of over, under and perfect flash exposure, and correct Gil Leora, gilleora.com for the over and under in software later.

Another thing that I highly recommend – one should not constantly look at the back of the camera. Get to your venue and judge exposure and lighting. Get it all dialed in and then just take photos. I admit to being guilty of doing this a time or two. It is hard to resist when you feel in your heart you just nailed the Pulitzer Prize of the year and can’t wait until the jam ends to see the image. You never know what is going to happen. So many potential great shots happen when you are looking at the back of your camera. Recently, I shot a great apex jump. While enjoying my newly captured kitten of a shot,

Gil Leora, gilleora.com

the skater did it again in the same jam. Wouldn’t you know, it was just as awesome as the first one. One after the other. Who the hell does that and why didn’t I keep my eye on her? If we photographers had a dime for every shot we watched instead of shot, we would be loaded.

Okay, so you’re ready to take some photos at the bout. Track the pack, and watch the jammers make their way through it. If your camera is already focused in that general area, then you are ready when something happens.

Another thing I am trying to correct is always watching the jammer.

After all this time, I still find my focus on them.

There is hitting happening all over, so try and remember to cover it all. Yelling and screaming

on benches is always happening at bouts. So be aware of the whole game.

Overall it all comes down to the basics of photography, so don’t worry too much about creating a masterpiece. Have fun and it will come together. Also, don’t be afraid to ask anyone else around you, including the cyber world of derby shooters.

In my experience, we are blessed with a pretty spectacular group of people who know a lot about it. The more you ask the better off you are. I used to ask what I thought were basic and maybe silly questions, but often found that people were more than willing to help.

That is the zen of roller derby photography.

Please enjoy your shooting.

Gil Leora, gilleora.com

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art and media

The Roller Derby Athlete

A Skater’s Guide to Fitness, Training, Strategy and Nutrition E L L E N PA R N AV E L A S , L O N D O N R O L L E R G I R L S

The Roller Derby Athlete is my second book about roller derby, and it was published in October 2012. I spent a lot of time last year putting this project together and now that it’s finished I’m so pleased with the way the book has turned out!

Writing has always been my passion. I’ve been writing since I was a teenager and studied English literature at university, both for my undergraduate degree and my Masters.

I started working in publishing as an editor of illustrated non-fiction books a few years ago and when I started playing roller derby, I knew I had to find a way to combine my two favorite interests. This is how the idea for my first book, Flat Track Fashion, came into existence.

While I was writing Flat Track Fashion, I realized that even though the history of the recent revival of the sport and its origins; the fashion, the names and the cultural side of roller derby is very interesting, there were no publications out there covering the practical side of roller derby from a sports perspective.

I knew that I wanted to be the first person to do it. I put together another proposal and submitted it to the publisher, and to my surprise, the project was commissioned.

The Roller Derby Athlete is the first book to cover roller derby from a practical sports angle and to offer advice on tactics, fitness, training, injury prevention, and nutrition.

Suzy Hotrod, one of roller derby’s most renowned players, has written the introduction and there is advice from many of the sport’s leading players throughout the book.

Chapters include: • Introduction to the game, its history and rules • How to play the game: strategy and tactics • Fitness requirements: strength, endurance, and balance • Training: practical training both on and off skates • Body: understanding your body and avoiding injury • Nutrition: eating for training, meal suggestions and supplements

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Š2011 The Leather Scent

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60 | Spring 2013 | fiveonfivemag.com 1. Helmet on skater in back is now blue. 2. #322 is missing number on arm. 3. Uniform patch is missing from skater on right.

4. Logo is missing from jammer’s elbow pad. 5. Stripe on shorts is missing from skater on right.

6. Green is missing from jammer’s left sock. 7. Toe stop on left side skater is now red.

Nicolas Charest

THERE ARE SEVEN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PHOTOS – FIND ‘EM!

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derby word search M A R Q U I S E D E Z A R D , C E N T R A L C OA S T R O L L E R G I R L S , A U S T R A L I A

The words can read forward, backward, up, down and diagonally, but never skipping letters and always in a straight line.

Make a ring around each word you find in the grid, and mark it off the list. A letter in the grid may be used more than once, as some words may overlap each other. Some letters wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be used at all. Words separated by a / are not together in the grid.

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Axle Bump HitJammer One / Eighty Pushers Sore / Ribs Train / Smart

Bearings Camaraderie Jerky Ouch Coccyx Roller Girls Sweat Truck

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Bruise Fresh / Meat NSO Pivot Smelly / Gear Track Win