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Roller Derby is a full contact sport on quad roller-skates that has been around since the 1930's. It has evolved from its early days as a theatrical performance in the likes of WWE Wrestling into what is now a highly competitive (but still entertaining) feat of athleticism*.
Each team fields five players on track at a time to battle it out in ~2 minute rounds (jams!) of speed, strength, agility and strategy!
Each team must field a player called a Jammer - who wears a star on their helmet cover, and is the one who scores points for their team (they're a bit like the ball in rugby!). They also feild 4 players called "Blockers", one with special abilities that wears a striped helmet cover, called a Pivot.
On the Jam start whistle, the Jammer's from each team will race each other to get through "pack" - made up of the other players (Blockers). It is the Blocker's job to make sure that this is not easy for the opposing teams Jammer! The first Jammer to gets through pack will be awarded "Lead Jammer" status.
The first time getting through pack is referred to as the Jammers "initial pass" and no points are scored!
In subsequent passes, points are allocated to the Jammer when their hips successfully pass those of an opposing blocker.
Roller Derby has some fairly complicated rules and strategy is really important, it can be a bit like playing chess, while also playing rugby, all on 8-wheels! It can seem a little chaotic to the untrained eye, but roller derby is so much fun to play and to watch!
The rules of the game are regulated by the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) and they are updated from time to time. Safety comes first, and each game has seven on skates referees calling penalties to prevent dangerous contact.
There are over a thousand roller derby leagues across the globe.
You can check out all the leagues that are recognised by WFTDA here: https://stats.wftda.com/leagues
You can also view a roller derby game by going to https://wftda.tv/featured-categories/