ROLLER DERBY Sick Town Derby Dames

Roller Derby has made a comeback.  After being extremely popular in the past, then fizzling out in the mid 1970's, it's come back full force.  There were many attempts from the mid 1970's - 1990's to revive the sport without much success.  Our local team, Sick Town Derby Dames is part of this comeback.  Based out of Albany, the league also has several members from Corvallis and even some from Salem.

There are a few "derby girls" here at LBCC. Miranda Prince "Dixie Skullpopper", is one of them. She works in the Learning Center, is a teacher's assistant and student.

"I had seen flyers for Sick Town around LBCC campus for a couple of years before I joined", said Prince. This was in fall of 2009. "I thought I was too old and too out of shape", added Prince.

She saw Cherry City Derby Girls in Salem for her first bout, it was the "Black and Blue Debut," in October 2009. It was then when she realized there were girls of all ages, shapes and sizes. "That's what made me think, maybe I could do it too", said Prince.

UPCOMING EVENT: "FURY IN FALL", November 5th @ The Linn Country fairgrounds.  Come support your local derby dames.

The sport of roller derby has three positions: Jammer, Pivot and Blocker.  The Jammer scores points by lapping the opposing team's players, they start 20 feet behind the pack, she wears a helmet cover with stars on either side.

The Pivots start at the front of the pack and set the pace, they also play as Blockers, she has a striped helmet cover. 

The Blockers start right behind the Pivots and assists the Jammer through the pack and try to keep the opposing teams Jammer from passing, their helmets are not marked.

A bout is separated into two 30 minute periods, which are divided into jams.  The bout begins when the referee blows a single whistle, the pack takes off and the first Jam begins. 

Then, there's a double whistle blown after the back of the pack reaches the start line, that alerts the Jammers to start.

The lead Jammer is the first Jammer to pass through the pack, no points are scored.  She is allowed to call off the Jam at any time by placing her hands on her hips, the points are tallied and another Jam will start.  If a Jammer laps the opposing team's Jammer she will score an extra point, this is called a "Grand Slam".

If a team member gets one major penalty or four minor penalties, she is out for one minute.  Major penalties would be any block above the shoulder or below the hips, skating in the wrong direction, or " unsportsladylike" conduct, like tripping. 

Minor penalties would be blocking with elbows and forarms, pushing or blocking to the back, cutting the track, blocking out-of-bounds and intentional falling.

Sick Town Derby Dames is always looking for "fresh meat" to recruit.  So if you are interested in being part of the roller derby comeback, come to the next new skater day.  More information about upcoming events available on their website.


Links:

www.sicktownderbydames.com

http://wftda.com

http://quadskating.com/roller-derby/websites.htm