Editorials

By Hard Dash

News reporters miss the roller derby story every time. Every. Time. Distracted by the glitter, wheels, hitting and names that are bleach-penned onto our shirts, journalists slip and don’t cover roller derby like they would any other trend news story.

Hi, my name is ***** and I am an NSO.

I've been involved with roller derby for more than a year now strictly as an NSO. I got into derby as an official because I genuinely enjoy the game, but chose not to skate.

Being a big sports fan, I knew what being an official meant. All of the ire, none of the glory, and I'm fine with that. That I would be nigh invisible if I did my job right, and completely exposed if I did my job wrong, and I'm fine with that.

By Nicole Cox, Hertfordshire Roller Derby

I’ve finally come to the decision to drop my derby name.

It’s a decision that will no doubt lead to negative comments from some and praise from others. It’s a decision that has already sparked curiosity from several people. I guess you’re not a real rollergirl until you’ve written some sort of clichéd blog right?

Ok, so here is mine.

Roller derby isn't broken. Passive offence isn't ruining the game. Gotham haven't got cheat codes, and they're not unbeatable.

Let's take a moment to think about what we can agree on. Starts are definitely broken, but I dont want to get into that today. What else? I think it's clear that a single jammer penalty can have too big an impact on the game. Passive offence isn't the problem. It takes skill to execute properly against a good opponent, and requires lots of hard work from the jammer. The problem is how long it goes on for.

By Bitches Bruze

by Kinetic Rage, #71

Roller derby is the only place I know where we are all different and yet still manage to accept and support each other. We are: gay, straight, bi, or asexual; virgins, sluts, poly, monogamous, kinky; married, single, heartbroken, madly in love, or simply alone. We may have never had a significant other, or we may be in committed relationships that have lasted several decades.

We are tattooed, or not. We are pierced, or not. We come in every shade of skin imaginable. Regardless of our “upholstery”, we all bleed red.

Back in the Dark Ages of women's roller derby, there were less than 50 leagues in the world, who were struggling to connect to each other across North America, as best they could, on the internet. Ivanna S. Pankin, founder of a whole lot of what now exists in derby as stuff you take for granted (because she refuses to take credit for things...) was frustrated that the only online meeting of derby people was 'Roller Derby Fighting Babes.' As its title suggests, it's not exactly "our" people.

Editor's Note: From time to time we like to cross-post content between DNN/ DerbyLife and FiveOn Five. Here is an original article posted to Derby News Network this weekend, in response to the lack of live streaming video coverage of any kind from Wild West Showdown 2012.

In the last week USARS released a draft flat-track roller derby rule set, and announced the names of leagues participating in the testing phase. The rule set is a quick read at 24 pages including appendices, and if you're already familiar with the WFTDA rule set, the read goes even quicker.

What say you, Derby Nation?