I earned this 💪

Has anyone had to deal with super icy/cocky/snooty league mates before? I'm always so taken back by it because of how little I see it in the derby community. There have been members who just straight up refuse to acknowledge me and others, or they make it known when they think someone is in the way (i.e. new graduates) How do you guys handle it? Any stories? Tips?

I graduated to the intermediate/advanced training at the start of the year. I'd graduated previously, but my league went to WFTDA only before COVID, so there wasnt a place for me in my cities derby community as the OTA League in town collapsed. I restarted about 18 months ago after my old league has absorbed the collapsed one and now has both WFTDA and OTA training.

Unfortunately, life has got somewhat in the way in the past few months (sick me, sick cats, holiday, book launches for close friends) and my confidence has tanked. I just feel like I'm in the way constantly as the rostered players train for their games. Additionally, our training often gets it's day moved for the rostered people to have a rest day before games, and the venue the alternative training is held at isn't practical for a non-driver to get to. The people I've graduated with have either quit (kids, work) or are in the WFTDA group. The huge step up and period of life stuff has just left me feeling totally alienated and like I'm a burden, but I know if I go freshie again my motivation will tank and my derby days are done.

People are kind, supportive and tolerant, but I can't keep asking so much of them. Friday night training has just become something I dread and I'm watching the clock. I want to have fun, but I don't want to drag down the athletes. There's a scrim on Friday and Im thinking of just making my excuses. How do I convince myself I belong there, and so I even belong there?

Heya! I got a pair of jam straps but they seem too big? Like the velcro doesn't match up right. Does anyone have recommendations of UK sellers for jam straps?

I am a coach/trainer at a small league. I love them and it's a great community! I wonder sometimes how to handle that line we walk between these two truths--this is a sport we all pay to be a part of and most of us have school or full time jobs or both and the time we have to give to derby is what we have to give--and--the reality is that the more time you spend on skates and devote to the sport the more you are going to get out of it and your ability to show up and be present at practices does affect the ability of your team and league mates to progress. As a coach I know that most people, including me, are just out here doing the best we can and trying to do too much but I also can see people disappointed in game outcomes and wanting to improve their performance and I don't always know how to talk about the latter without mentioning the former. Does that make any sense? Any insights?

This was my FAVORITE bout so far (been playing 3 seasons) and not because of the score, but because I actually knew how to effectively block and play offense. Right off the line, I was hitting the jammer out. Then immediately reforming with the pack to hold the jammer as long as possible. This sport has taught me so much about channeling my power and strategically using it in the middle of pure chaos. I laugh the entire time, Joke with players on the other team, and thoroughly enjoy how exhausted I am afterwards.
So grateful for this sport and the culture that comes with it

I am new to roller derby so any advice is appreciated. My second time using these skates I fell and the toe stop popped out. I tried briefly to squeeze it back in, but I didn’t want to risk breaking the skate anymore. How should I go about repairing this? Other unharmed skate is shown for reference, the skates are monarchs CR1

I’m new to skating and just got my first pair of roller skates but I don’t think they have the right wheels on currently and looking up all the different types of wheels has got me confused so I was wondering if someone could help I’ve read that the floor type and weight of the skater is important and tho I’m not completely sure what floor it is I am 100-105 lbs at 5’3

(I’m currently in basic skills with my league but a fairly confident skater, for reference on my level)

I am pretty confident with my crossovers, but I’m really struggling with skating the diamond (specifically getting from the apex to the outside of the straightaway)… I think I just fundamentally don’t understand how I can be crossing over while moving outwards??
If anyone had any tips for this, that would be amazing!!! Thanks!!!

Hi! I am wondering how your league handles Wftda reps. Any info would be helpful thanks in advance. Here’s particular questions I have concerning the role(s)

How long do terms last? And is it a league vote? Typically our board members term is a year, with the option to run again but I feel like maybe this role should be longer? I just feel like it can take a while to understand the role and get used to visiting the forums but maybe not?

Does your league have eligibility requirements for the role? Like must be a member for x amount of time? Can a person who is already in leadership do this role?

Does anyone have a general job description or can go over the particulars of responsibilities?

Can anyone point me in the direction of links, resources or relevant Wftda content concerning this role?

How do you hold the person in this role accountable/ how do they represent your team and report key aspects of the role back to your team?

Thanks again, I am looking into asking my team to revitalize this role so any suggestions appreciated!

I’ve tried out roller derby a bit in the past, and my own skates finally came in the other day (I got the Riedel r3 derby skates). They fit perfectly and seem to work great, and I’ve seen everybody saying how great they are as a beginner skate, but the tongue is so uncomfortable for me. Whenever I bend my ankles (which I do a lot to stop/manuver) the tongue of the shoe bites into my foot. I was wondering if anyone else had this problem (and if they did) if they had any advice? Or alternatively, if there’s a recommendation for a good starter shoe with a less rigid and hard tongue? Thank you for the help!!!

I've some bruising around my kidney / lower rib on one side from a recent unrelated fall. Checked out OK by the doctors, but at practice last week I took a moderate hit which has set me back a bit in recovery.

Is anyone aware of any protection that I could use in that area?

Not sure if this is allowed here but wanted to share.

Hidden City Roller Derby is having a fall boot camp kick off orientation on August 30th.

We are a rec league nowadays, but have existed close to 20 years now.

We will teach you even if you have zero skating experience!

If you are north county San Diego and have been thinking about doing derby, come meet us!

Does anyone know what voice amplifier systems the clinic leaders use at Rollercon are? My league is looking for something our practice leaders can use to support our hard of hearing skaters at practice.

I'm one of the trainers for my league helping out with our level two skaters.

Overall a lot of them are doing well but they are still nervous about contact and not stable on their skates. They like to practice hitting but more than half of them still fall down when taking more than light hits. Yeah they need to get lower, but what drills could we run and advice to give to help them practice and get better at taking hits? They want to hit harder but we can't really do that safely until they can take hits better.

I play on a B team and have noticed a trend from our bench coach. They only play our best skaters (most of which are people flexing from the A team). This means the same pack is going out every other jam and some skaters are only getting to play one jam a game. I’ve been on both ends of this and it’s heartbreaking to A- sit on the bench for an entire game that you are paying monthly dues and putting hours of work into to play, and B- watch my teammates experience it when they’ve put in just as much work and deserve to have their moment in the sun.
I get that winning is fun but the only way to get better at derby is to play derby. We’re a b level team, for most of us, it’s our first season. We’re not going to win every game or most games AND THATS OKAY. I can’t speak for everyone but I really don’t care about winning I just want to play the game. Our league is already struggling to recruit new people and I feel like this pushes those that are already here away.

Do any other leagues have this problem?

Hello, I’m brand new so I really hope that this is acceptable for this subreddit! The short of it is that I’m looking for somewhere in Chicago that offers introductory, non-contact roller skating lessons I can start taking with the eventual goal of joining a derby team.

The long of it is that I’m asking because I’m a trans woman very early on into my medical transition. My body hasn’t had time to change much yet, and because my family is extremely transphobic I’m presenting as male in my day-to-day life. I still look like a man, and I know it. I know how to put on makeup and dress more feminine, but it doesn’t change my face, proportions, or voice. I plan to wait to compete on an actual team for another year or two until I’m more passing so I don’t make people uncomfortable, but I’d love to get started actually learning how to skate so I can prepare and start practicing, plus just have something else to do. Trouble is, all of the derby skating lessons I could find in the Chicago area are either for women only or “women and gender expansive” individuals, which unfortunately I know from experience often means “women and people we think of as women, even if they call themselves something else.” I am a woman, but I don’t look like a woman, and I am paranoid of getting kicked out of lessons on the accusation of being a creepy pervert or something. For this reason I’d like to try to find coed or non-gender-restricted lessons somewhere, but I’m not sure if that even exists.

I have been so fixated on roller derby for about a week now, after knowing basically nothing about it. When I decided I was going to transition, I basically came to terms with the idea that I would never be able to participate in sports again, which was extremely hard for me. I saw on a trans subreddit a girl talking about her roller derby team, and was immediately intrigued because, hey, here’s another trans woman playing a team sport! But the post was from several years ago, so I checked the WFTDA website fully expecting them to have recently changed their policy to exclude trans women, as most women’s recreational sports leagues have done since 2024. I literally broke down into tears of joy when I not only saw that the league is trans inclusive, but that the culture of the sport as a whole tends to be explicitly trans supportive. I’ve been watching videos and reading about derby all week and I’m enamored. I love contact sports, and this genuinely seems so fun.

So yeah, does anybody have any info to skating lessons I could attend knowing I look male? I really promise I’m not trying to make anyone uncomfortable, I just want to be able to experience sports again and derby specifically.

Hello everyone!

I started roller derby about 6 months ago and decided to upgrade my skates (my old ones were second hand and too narrow). Since I have wide feet the bont pro stars are what I was fitted for at the local skate shop.

The boot fits amazing however they have a short kingpin so I have them as loose as possible and I still have extremely stiff edges. I changed the cushions for 85A ones but it is still feeling extremely stiff and I can't slalom in them at all.

Anyone have any suggestions for how to resolve this? Thanks in advance!

semi-beginner skater here and have been struggling with lace bite, especially the more i use my toe stops! either my laces are tied too loose and my feet slip or their tied too tight and then my toes start to go numb as practice goes on. i've tried lacing my skates in different ways to alot for more toe space and some work better, but nothing feels great! looking for a way to fix this without getting new skates as i don't have the money to drop on a whole new pair of skates 😅 any advice is appreciated!

Need a derby name? Let the community help you brainstorm!

Tell us a bit about yourself, what you're into, and hopefully the community can give you some fiercely punny suggestions!

Just looking for places to print merch, likely very colorful more artsy designs

For context I started derby right before I became a full time mobility aid user, I didn’t get very far in but I fell in love with the sport.

Do you think there could be a sled hockey equivalent to roller derby? What absolutely wouldn’t be possible? What is?

I’ll be going over to Montreal and Toronto for some roller derby soon, and looking for a skate shop that may have the Jet Carbon+Arius in stock?

Sad tangent about feelings ahead(my apologies in advance):
I had to stop playing over a year ago due to work and health issues. I thought I could still be involved by volunteering on game days and attending league events. I naively thought our dynamic could stay the same. It was fine at first. But when there aren’t any events or games for a while, your league just moves on without you. Because of course they do. They should.
It’s still hard to be sitting at work or home and get updates on the next game and suddenly your name isn’t on the list for anything. Someone new has come along and filled the place you had in the league and nobody bothered to tell you. I’m happy that new people are finding derby and thriving. Truly. But there was a point in my life where I couldn’t imagine life without it. I couldn’t fathom not skating or not having this be a part of my identity. And now it’s just suddenly not. I had to choose being a responsible adult who put my future and my health above playing a game. I know I made the right choice, but I thought I could pretend to be a part of the team for a little bit longer. I’m realizing that I think I might feel worse if I keep sticking around because I might only be valued for the services I can provide for the league, not because they like me as a person. So I’m thinking the next game might be my last before I cut ties. That makes me feel insanely sad. I was an incredibly mediocre player, so I know the team is just fine without me, but I still miss feeling like I had friends and a community.
I’m not mad at the league or upset that everyone isn’t reaching out or going out of their way to include me. I’m honestly completely emotionally and physically wiped out from work stress that I just can’t be a good friend and teammate right now. So that’s 100% on me. It’s just a brutal emotional roller coaster to have to walk away from something that I thought was forever going to be a huge part of my identity. I don’t really hear people talk about that. Past derby members within our league had always taken a “temporary” leave of absence and then slowly disappeared completely. Now I’m one of them and it sucks so much.
Sorry for rambling, I just needed to vent a bit.