Hey, I like Broller Derby.

by Ninja Sassem May 9, 2012 - 7:37am

Did you keep reading? Good! In the three years that I’ve been involved in the Derbyverse I’ve run into many women who are so much into the empowerment of the mostly female dominated sport that they are quick to pooh-pooh on the MRDA and other men’s leagues. It’s possible that they have little experience with an actual men’s league but the mere thought of men taking away something from us is enough to bunch significant panties.

One of the things I find most hilarious is that we have been vigilant about the fact that roller derby is incredibly inclusive. You’re a mom? Come play with us. You’re gay? Well we like that, come play with us. You’re a gay, half-Samoan, half-Brazilian, deaf mom with a prosthetic forearm? Well there are no forearms in derby anyway, come play with us! You’re a guy who wants to play derby? Oh hellz no, you can be a zebra.

I never experienced the pure power of ONLY women’s derby. Maybe it’s because our local men’s league, The St. Louis Gatekeepers, was born at much the same time that I started playing derby. My league members have all watched, cheered and screamed at MRDA bouts with as much tenacity as WFTDA ones. Our Coach is a Gatekeeper and has brought great drills, strategy, blocking techniques etc. to our league that has helped us grow by huge strides.

Additionally, we regularly scrimmage against boys. WHAT!?! Yes, we play against boys and in mixed packs with boys all the time. It’s not scary it’s enlightening. I’m 5’4 and 130 lbs. I certainly can’t crash a wall of 200 lbs. 6 footers, though I sometimes forget that small fact, rather I bounce off them. Instead, I have to play a lot more positionally, use hockey stop blocks etc. It is empowering (a derby girl’s favorite word) to know that you can play against these huge guys because the chances are slim you’re going to find a woman that is larger, scarier and harder hitting then these men.

I encourage you to embrace your Broller Derby Brothers! Be their friends, their fans, their coaches, their refs! Invite them out to your practices, learn from each other and be each other’s biggest supporters. Cheer at their games, support their fundraisers and they will do the same for you. The growth of our sport, whether the incarnation is flat, banked, women’s, men’s or juniors is fantastic and we should support them all.

Section(s): 
Derby Life
Steal An Idea

Comments

Submitted by Fawkes on May 9, 2012 - 10:29am

Great article, thank you! I'm hoping this is becoming a bigger attitude in women's derby (I notice a similar attitude in our rookies who've come through ALWAYS knowing the CT Death Quads existed; boys are big and fun to hit!)

Coincidentally, an excellent film on men's roller derby started an indie go-go campaign today to help get the word out about the film. It's amazing and awesome and located right here http://www.indiegogo.com/thisishowirollmovie

<3
Girl Fawkes
CTDQ

Submitted by Grave Danger on May 9, 2012 - 10:54am

I never really understood those who support that roller derby is for everyone, then hung a big "NO BOYS ALLOWED" sign on the outside of it. Love my dudes. Love my ladydudes. Love derby. Feel incredibly lucky to be in a city that can support all of them!

Submitted by Papi Cock on May 9, 2012 - 11:50am

Thank you for writing this. My team is pretty isolated as far as other men's teams go, so we rely heavily on scrimmaging with our female league's travel team, the Skatesaphrenics. Women coach us. They help train us. They crash our practices and invite us to theirs. We have a great relationship with most of the women in our area, which is why it surprises me when I DO encounter sexism in roller derby.

I gotta send much love to the Emerald City Roller Girls, the Skatesaphrenics, and the women of Eugene Oregon's roller derby community!

Submitted by MOAB43 on May 9, 2012 - 11:52am

Of course the "Your Mom" jokes had to be the opener....but seriously, practicing with the men on Your Mom helps make the girls at their practices better skaters. They are fast, tough and smart, and it's sink or swim when you join them. They offer an insight into strategy and game play that can be very beneficial, and as a bigger blocker on a women's team, it is great practice for me...I HAVE to learn to move my feet and get in front of them, because when you try and lay a hit on a big guy, it just isn't always going to have the same effect as it does when you drop one on a 100 pound girl. It is awesome...and I am lucky to be invited into their world.

Submitted by Slay West on May 9, 2012 - 12:33pm

I love men's derby! The MRDA Championships was some of the best derby I've ever watched (and I was so excited we were able to go)! My league also works closely with men and it's been such a good experience for us both.

Submitted by Ovary-Z on May 9, 2012 - 2:00pm

But that being said, this is like an affirmative action issue. Women have been so underrepresented in contact sports for so long. I know that women's derby has developed a lot of legitimate sports fans, but at the same time, I'd say at least half our fans have sexist/naive attitudes toward women in this sport (many watch simply for the sexy bad girl persona or big hits). When guys play, I often hear people commenting that the guys "hit way harder [and are therefore better]" or "the guys are gay."

Hopefully all the accomplishments that are made in derby (for instance going to the olympics) are happening for both women and men and neither group is being devalued.

Submitted by WindyMan on May 10, 2012 - 1:20pm

Uh, err...

Submitted by Tim Mature on May 10, 2012 - 11:50pm

This is the statement I heard most often from anyone outside of the roller derby community when we started our league less then a year ago. When people think of derby they think women and no matter how many men's team pop up I don't believe that will ever change.

We've been lucky enough to have loads of support from our local women's leagues and our coaches and most of our refs and nso's are from those leagues. I can confidently say that as a team we would not be where we are at right now and we would possibly not still exist with out that support. As they have done so much for us we can do nothing more then be their biggest supporters. Need volunteers for your bout just ask, need a hand tearing down you track we are there, looking for new ref's we got a few guys. It has really become a reciprocal relationship. We are brothers and sisters now. If anything through the past year I have gained more respect for the women who play in our area (especially each time one of our coaches show us what a really hit is) . They are amazing and we all strive to play derby as well as they do.

Submitted by Derbyismylife on May 11, 2012 - 3:03pm

In our city, we've experienced some really terrible sexism from the woman's league, who wouldn't even let interested guys practice with them. It forced the men to start their own league, who opened their doors to woman and juniors as well! Fortunately, the woman are finally starting to see the light, and have been slowly setting up scrimmages with the men, but it's too bad that they had to have that kind of attitude, as a united league would have strengthened the sport in our city, not divided it.

Submitted by Camo Rodeo on May 11, 2012 - 6:12pm

I appreciate this article. I have been embraced by some of fellow derby players and scowled at by others. I have enjoyed learning from all those that have embraced the love I bring to derby and work to prove that I'm a competent player and fan. I'm going to have a wonderful weekend watching Spring Roll and hope to get my team there next year with training help from the local supporting female leagues. We are working to strengthen our associations with those female leagues so that it is a mutually beneficial relationship for both leagues. We don't mind being separate, as we are growing differently, but we would like to work together to promote the sport.

Submitted by Sophia on May 13, 2012 - 6:17am

Just see it this way those who fear playing with or against the guys are missing out. I love scrimmaging again our local mens team. Acually my first ever scrimmage was at their training with 80% male pack members. Its awsome, its challenging and incredible fun.
All you guys out there keep going you are incredible. Shun the nonbrolievers ;) !

Submitted by Dahmernatrix on May 14, 2012 - 12:12am

It's always strange to me how hypocritical women can be, raging against double standards at home, in the workplace, the media, and then perpetuating their own in the derby world. It seems to be a control issue, like these people want one aspect of the world in which they don't feel inferior to men. They need to relax, dislodge the toe stop lodged in their ass, and stop seeing it in terms of struggle. Play with the boys or not depending on your preferences, but this is happening whether you like it nor not, no point in being a bitch about it.

Anyway, great article!