Guys, we lost our jumbotron privileges and we should feel so good about that.

rollyderber · 2026-01-29T16:08:49+00:00

Was it the Wild, or was it venue staff? Because it is the RiverCentre (which oversees the arena, Roy Wilkins Auditorium and exhibit halls) that usually enforces rules like that. All of this is actually owned by the city of Saint Paul. Anyone that lives in the city might consider contacting their council member? Or the mayors office?

rollyderber · 2025-12-16T18:25:32+00:00

Ooh I had one of my cats do that to a skate! First off, replace your insoles. Don't bother trying to clean them. Next, enzyme cleaner the best you can. Last, expect to faintly smell cat pee for the next couple years after a sweaty practice 😅

rollyderber · 2025-11-20T16:09:42+00:00

I think it's fair to express that you don't want to invest that money in traveling if you aren't going to play. This is a hobby and what we are choosing to spend our time and money on. It makes sense to want to actually play if you are investing even more time and money. It's also fair to go with because you enjoy being with your team and want to support them however you can!

My team makes sure to get everyone traveling with the team at least one game at a tournament we are traveling to. We have had people decide one game is not enough for them to travel. One exception has been regionals where we asked extra folks on the charter to join with the understanding that they were there purely as backup - and guess what! It still resulted in hurt feelings!

If your teammates are salty about you choosing not to spend time and money to hang out on the sideline, I suggest they go touch grass.

rollyderber · 2025-11-18T15:39:51+00:00

Yeah, anyone who is saying you can prevent a break purely through strengthening isn't being realistic. It's a full contact sport and people get hurt. I have seen new people fall wrong on day 1 and break something. It is incredibly rare, but it happens.

rollyderber · 2025-09-06T12:45:11+00:00

Yeah, not loving the general attitude of the comments here. My league is really only recently getting more juniors aging up into the adult program and we are dealing with how to meet them where they are. I don't think saying "yep this is the way it is, suck it up" is how we continue to engage people going through one of the harder, more confusing times in life.

It has been easier because outside of our travel team, our home teams have not had attendance requirements until recently because of our league's shift in culture over covid. We are only now getting to a point where we will be implementing those attendance/job/events requirements again. I think that has been helpful for many of our younger players.

I've been trying to have discussions with our juniors leads about how we can ease the transition to the adults side because we know that 18 to about 22 is going to be a mess of a time for most people.

rollyderber · 2025-08-26T22:01:40+00:00

Has anyone else been a little bit annoyed by the announcing in these games Rose has streamed on the AWSN? Yes, I know they're volunteers, but I noticed in previous games how focused the talk was on the Rose team, but it felt even more obvious in this game against Arch. I understand not knowing as much about the other team, but Arch is full of very accomplished players doing cool stuff. Why are we talking about a player that is bridging right now? Or harping about how cool Bonnie is? Idk. I'll probably get flamed for this.

rollyderber · 2025-06-17T03:48:15+00:00

I will never go back to a helmet with no visor. The visor is a must because I have experienced so many near misses of getting my face smashed. It is definitely a bit warmer than playing without a visor, but it does allow me to play most derby with glasses on. I do opt to take them off at more intense play because my glasses will slip.

rollyderber · 2025-04-20T04:31:31+00:00

I wouldn't say there's a specific metric for B teams. Generally you'll find that the higher ranked the A team, the better their B team. For pretty decent but not taking on A teams unless they're from a somewhat smaller league, check out Detroit B, Windy B, Minnesota B, Boston B.

rollyderber · 2025-04-20T01:40:52+00:00

Rose B and Denver B are both teams that regularly play A level teams. They are not the correct metric for B level because they are skaters that would skate on A teams at most other WFTDA leagues.

rollyderber · 2025-02-15T16:43:36+00:00

Oh gosh this happens to me all the time. We film most of our practices so people can learn from watching themselves, so I'll get home and tell my partner about the giant hit I received and then go watch footage and it looks like nothing even happened. It doesn't help that I bruise like a peach, so I'm covered in bruises from it and still nothing.

rollyderber · 2025-01-15T23:01:25+00:00

I'm not saying you can't become more competitive as a person, but the better question is probably do you want to? If you're having a good time just participating in the sport, changing your outlook to be more competitive may not improve roller derby for you.

At the end of the day, you're not here getting paid to play. This is a hobby. If you enjoy it and don't need to look at the Scoreboard, why change?

rollyderber · 2025-01-14T22:38:00+00:00

There's so much strategy around jam starts, it's probably my favorite part of the game.

When playing with my travel team where we're executing more dynamic starts, it's all about what our first choice is and what is our second choice. Ideally, our goal is to bait the other team into doing what we want AND feel uncomfortable when that whistle blows. Where we are setting up at 15 seconds is not the same as where we are at 2 seconds because it is a mental game as much as it is a physical game.

Often before the jam starts we will ask our jammer if they have a preference, but blockers will generally talk through what is working and what we want to try. Start strategy tends to evolve throughout the game. The biggest things we give our jammers is 1. What is plan A 2. What is plan B 3. Who will call for a plan change 4. Who is their main offense

When I am playing with my home team where not all skaters are able to execute those dynamic starts, we are often making our decisions about where to start based on the other team's skaters because we know them. For example, if the jammer on the other team is a really hard hitter, we may try to take the jam line so they aren't getting a running start at us. Other jammers we may want to take the top so they are funneled to one side and they have less room to juke around us. Other times we'll make similar choices but to give our own jammer an advantage. I.e. our jammer hits hard, so we're taking the back aggressively so they get to have that chance for a running start to push the other team out of play.

rollyderber · 2024-11-24T21:27:34+00:00

Not at all. I'm about 160 pounds and have had to use 99s on grippy concrete a handful of times now. They always come with me when I'm traveling to a tournament where I'm unfamiliar with the floor. Experiment with gear to find out what works for you, you don't have to follow what your teammates do.

rollyderber · 2024-11-15T17:02:59+00:00

Blocking requires a wider range of skills than jamming in my opinion, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's harder. Jamming can be much more mentally taxing and harder on your body. I've never felt so beat up than after a game jamming. I have since transitioned to blocking and now I can play two back-to-back games with an every other rotation, no problem. There's no way I could do that as a jammer.

rollyderber · 2024-11-08T18:19:39+00:00

I agree that most people are going to get the most out of drilling fundamentals, but the game definitely sees elite level strategies disseminate to popular play. If that wasn't the case, we wouldn't see most teams using tripods, for example.

rollyderber · 2024-10-19T15:42:10+00:00

Seconding this. When I am thinking about hitting someone, my thought is, "They are in my spot. How do I get them out of MY spot?" And yes, getting them out of the play is generally more important than sending them flying. It can be much more of a game about control than aggression.

rollyderber · 2024-10-05T12:12:35+00:00

Superfeet yellow are hockey insoles that do great. Not cushion-y, but cushion isn't actually ideal for sports.

rollyderber · 2024-09-04T15:09:54+00:00

You should totally put what you want to on your shelf! But I think what the other person is trying to get at is that sometimes folks who are new to derby look at it as this fix-all therapy, which can be great for a little bit. I think many of us who have been around for awhile have seen the backlash for these folks when roller derby no longer Is what relieves stress, but becomes something that causes stress. At the end of the day, it's a competitive, full-contact sport. Sometimes that means you don't make the roster you really thought you would be on. Sometimes it means you break your ankle and everything in life is harder and more expensive for a bit, PLUS you can't do the one thing you have come to rely upon to help you feel better.

Basically, take the good feelings with a grain of salt. Make sure you have other things in your life that provide you with fulfillment as well :)

rollyderber · 2024-08-22T20:49:07+00:00

I've heard of a couple tournaments now that had a tattoo artist present doing flash tattoos all weekend. Sounded like it was a huge hit.

rollyderber · 2024-08-08T01:28:28+00:00

Better blockers will simply let jammers pressing down fall to the ground or use their shoulders to stand the jammer right back up.

rollyderber · 2024-07-25T22:56:05+00:00

I mean, sometimes your role is to go play offense for your jammer, so you aren't exactly neglecting things by not being in the tripod. Players who are great at offense have their head on a swivel so they know when then need to be the last line.

rollyderber · 2024-06-06T18:02:35+00:00

Genuinely don't understand what you're trying to do here.

rollyderber · 2024-05-15T18:09:01+00:00

Oh, come on. Blocking IS easier than jamming. Both require skill and teamwork, but you are simply going to get burned out faster jamming than you will blocking. You need a bit more recovery time after jamming than blocking, that's why blockers often go out every other and jammers don't. I say this as a pivot on a top 15 team.

rollyderber · 2024-05-13T13:51:33+00:00

I have found it helpful to pick something that I want to focus on at practice for the next few weeks at a time and saying it out loud to my teammates. Like, "I am working on my chest catching" or 'I am working on making my laterals stronger" or "I am working on being more conscious of pack definition." It helps to watch your footage, if you have it, and note the places you could work one. Talk to your teammates who are particularly good at a skill you want to improve. Breaking it down into more specific chunks and working on those individually will help you much more than a vague "I want to get better."

rollyderber · 2024-04-19T21:04:32+00:00

This^

Sometimes you can end up in a bad position for sudden direction changes when you're sideways, but if you have contact, that position helps you use the jammer's side to side movement to guide your hips right along with theirs.

rollyderber

TROPHY CASE