10 Things You Didn’t Know About Bristol Roller Derby

10 things you didn’t know about Bristol Roller Derby

If you’ve seen the 2009 film Whip It starring Ellen Page, you might think you know all there is to know about roller derby, but there’s a lot more to it and you might even fancy putting a pair of skates on yourself.

1. What is roller derby?

It’s a full-contact sport played on quad roller skates. Participants must wear full protective gear, including a mouth guard. It’s predominantly played by women, but the number of men’s teams is growing rapidly too.

2. What are the rules?

So there are five people from each team on the track at any one time. There’s one jammer from each team, that’s the one with the star on their helmet, and they can score points. There are also four blockers, they try to stop the other team scoring points. The jammer has to get through ‘the pack’, made up of both team’s blockers, before they can score points. Then, they get a point for every member of the opposite team that they pass. Easy, right?

3. It’s a growing sport

It’s the fastest growing female sport, and England came second in the World Cup last year, losing to America in the final.

4. So what’s Bristol Roller Derby?

The local team in Bristol. They train on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays. They have women’s A and B teams and a men’s team. They turn six years old in May and retain three of their founding members.

5. They’re pretty good

The women’s A team rank 26^th in the whole of Europe.

6. You can play too

There’s a drop in session every Thursday, 6-8 at Ashton Park Sports Centre. You can borrow all the kit and they’ll teach you everything you need to know to pass your minimum skills, a list of approved skills needed before you can play.

7. And you can play if you’re a man too

Bristol Roller Derby Men train on Sundays, 2-4, or you can go to the drop in session and once you’ve passed minimum skills they train at the same time as the rest of the team

8. People play under an alias

Players choose a new name to play under. It’s usually a play on words. Often skaters find they have a different personality on track, which can help their confidence in their day-to-day lives too.

9. They have a charity partner

This year they’re supporting the Southmead Project, a charity providing free therapeutic and practical support to adults who were abused as children and have turned to drugs, alcohol and other ways of self-harming as a consequence of that trauma. The team raise money at their home games and by doing fund-raising activities.

10. You can go and watch their next home games

It’s on the 10 April. You can buy a ticket here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2520839

That’s roller derby in a nutshell. You can find more details about BRD by searching on Facebook or going to their website: http://www.bristolrollerderby.com/