Derby Life

This week talented derby photographer Dave Wood (you may remember his recent photos of Psycho Babble and the Hydra...) won the bronze 'medal' in photography magazine B&W And Color's Single Image Contest. The winning photo was a gorgeous capture of Oly Rollers. Congratulations, Dave!

There will come a time when something or someone in the derby world will rock your world so hard you will feel like you just got back blocked, hit in the face, and baseball tackled by the entire Gotham team at the same time (only using them as an example because I just watched them dominate at Regionals recently). People love to hold this lofty view of derby, full of wonderful supportive people who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Maybe you’re lucky enough to come from a drama-free league.

Oh roller derby! It’s been a crazy and awesome journey thus far. I’ve grown so much and learned more about myself then I ever thought possible. It’s fantastic to see a whole new wave of skaters coming in and joining the ranks to possibly have the same awesome experiences I have.

I'm Not Dead Yet is DerbyLife's section of commisery and advice from the ranks of the current derby injured. Got a story to share? [email protected] Reprinted with permission from the autor's blog, Kate On Skates

This post brought to you by one of Kate's skating buddies, because, well, you'll see.

Editor's note: As our global derby community grows, we are looking for more than just North American perspectives on our sport. Three writers volunteered to review this film from around the globe - this time, enjoy a UK skater's perspective!

(This article is not intended to judge. This is an attempt to communicate my own personal journey toward deciding what skates were appropriate for me, and also to create an open, honest discussion among readers and skaters to offer opinions, ask questions, or even drive a strong organizational opinion if they choose to one way or the other.)

Editor's Note: When we got a request from the filmmaker to review this film, we had 3 of our writers take a look at it, from 3 segments of the global derby community. First up, a North American derby opinion on the project!

Coaching is a lot of work. Playing roller derby is a lot of work, but they are different types of work. A coach spends just as much time at the rink as a player does, though obviously they are physically working less. They are watching their skaters, seeing how prepared they are - physically and mentally, and making adjustments to practice on the fly and line ups in games based on what they can see. After practice a coach is e-mailing, texting, and on the phone talking to players and other staff about issues, concerns, and answering their questions.

A few weekends ago, my home team played in our league championship game. We were not victorious.

I come from a background of music - I enjoy collaboration and creative people coming together to play something together - many pieces making up a whole experience. Music is rarely a competition. I don't come from a sports background where there is a winner and a loser at the end of the night.

Two unrelated events in 2007 ultimately led to the photos you see here. In June of 2007, I attended and photographed my first roller derby bout (Rocky Mountain vs. Sacred City). In October of that year, I attended my first artistic nude photograph workshop. I certainly saw no connection at the time.

In fact despite absolutely loving what I saw on the track, I somehow never made it back out to watch roller derby again until my wife became interested in the sport in 2009.