Roller Derby 101
If you’ve been curious but potentially also a bit clueless, here’s a step one
Regina is home to its very own roller derby club, by the name of Pile O’ Bones Derby Club. For those of you who may not know what roller derby is or if this is your first-time hearing about it, I’ll explain.
Pile O’ Bones’ club is a great place to learn what roller derby is all about. Their website has some great information on what the sport is, information on free skate and learning how to skate, information on games, information on the league, and so much more, making it a great place to start.
To be able to talk about the roller derby club, it’s probably best to start with the basics. How does the game work? Personally, I have never played or watched derby, leaving me to learn directly from the experts at Pile O’ Bones. Roller derby is a full-contact sport where players skate around on rollerblades to gain the greatest number of points. The main components of most sports games, quite honestly.
In roller derby, the points are gained by an important player called the jammer. The jammer is the only player on that team who can gain points. The jammer’s job is to start behind the pack made up of the rest of the players skating known as blockers. The blockers work together to slow down or to stop the other team’s jammer from getting through the pack.
If the jammer gets through the pack, that is when the jam starts, and the team can start accumulating points. This is done by the jammer running around the track as fast as possible and passing as many opponents as possible with their hips. This can run as long as two minutes which is called a jam, but the first jammer that makes it through the pack can also choose when to end the jam which means the process can start all over again.
This process continues for two 30-minute halves, making up a full game of an hour. More specifics on how the game works and is run can be found on the Pile O’ Bones Derby Club website. If this description was not enough, try to catch a game and go watch in real life at the club. If this is something you are interested in, it is $10 for adults to watch and $5 for kids between 11-17 years old to watch. This might be a great way to see if the kids would be interested in playing the game. Plus, this may even help you feel the game’s adrenaline and get to know it better!
Once you have a hold of the game and how it works, you may want to try and give it a shot. Well, the Pile O’ Bones club has the perfect opportunity. They call it “Free Skate” where you get the chance to practice your skills on your own. It appears like a great night for beginners to learn how to start rollerblading. Plus, if you go to a free skate night, it does not always mean that it is for beginners. It looks like this is a night for all roller blading lovers to come together and to work on their skills, and maybe you can get someone to help you out!
Looking at the club’s Instagram @reginarollerderby, you can see plenty of pictures of the community. Team photos and videos of games and fun fill the page. They have activity nights posted which may be worth the checkout. One that I saw was the Roller Skate Disco Night. It makes me wonder honestly if this night is almost like you see in the movies. You know the ones, with the blasting music, the cool 80’s-90’s outfits, the cool lights. I wonder if an event like this is in Regina! There is not one scheduled right now, but this may be something to watch out for. I know I am already intrigued. They also have derby information nights and so much more.
The community, knowing where to start, and the game itself all really seems like a great time! If you are looking for a new sport to join or a new way to move your body or to bring out the old blades from the garage, this may be for you. Ensure you check out the Regina Roller Derby Pile O’ Bones club for a rollin’ time.
