On paper most sports seem slightly ridiculous. Soccer you move a ball around with your feet and try and get it into a net. Snooker you push a ball around a felted table with a stick. But on paper, roller derby looks straightforward - chicks on skates, racing each other around a track, blocking and pushing until one on their team laps the rest to score points. But take that premise and combine it with fantasy aliases, mild violence and some serious camp kitsch fun and you've got something like your local netball team but with a punk rock edge. Never mind watching the cricket or the tennis on a Saturday arvo, the cultural history and spirit of this increasingly popular activity stands out as a completely different kind of spectator sport: a combination of athleticism, biff and entertainment which is hard to beat.
Roller derby has had a sudden surge in popularity, stemming from a revival of the sport in Texas in the early 2000s and it is quickly spreading. The second wave of this sport ties deeply into a sub-culture of punk rock, rockabilly, 50's bowling shirts, Betty Boop and the like. There are international leagues in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. There is even an United Arab Emirates league called Abu Dhabi Roller Derby It reached Australian shores and became a cult phenomenon, with clubs in Sydney, Melbourne Adelaide, Brisbane and even Canberra. This new wave has been encouraged again by depictions of the sport in films and docos. In Australia there has been the ABC's "Roller Derby Girls"and the new American film "Whip it", whose character Babe Ruthless joins a local roller derby team.
Roller Derby's second wave is very much about a do it yourself mentality. Like many clubs, Canberra's League (whose symbol is a knuckle duster) started with people interested in the sport meeting over the internet and getting together in parking lots and halls to learn how to skate. The first Canberra public bout held on Saturday (a Halloween theme) was something to behold. Despite being held in Tuggeranong or "Thuggeraong", the outer suburbs of Canberra, the line went around the block. It was a sold out venue with a 1,000 tickets snapped up fast. The crowd was also a varied bunch with many kids and families in attendance. As the audience settled, one by one the skaters came out to pumped up music with their aliases printed on their helmets- not unlike the pilots' helmets in Top Gun. Pink quad skates, green striped stockings, faces with war paint and some granny chic on show - it was a pretty curious mix.
The entertainment value from a spectator's point of view is great. Sport meets a fantasy world of pun filled names, 60s kitsch and great costumes. You can't help but be reminded of the WWF but without the fakery. The Harlem Globe trotters also come to mind as sport is mixed in with performance art (perhaps why so many arty types join up). The names are just about the best part of the entire affair. No one skater can have the name of another and there is an international register to ensure no cross over. This also means that skaters are forced to get creative. Canberrean skaters on show include; Bambi von Smash her, Roulette Rouge, Bullseye Bettie, Sue R. Rat, Ova Bearing, Amykazeee and the DutchAss. Even the referees, also known as team Zebra are a part of the show - the head ref for this bout being "Fair as Bueller." By half time many in the crowd were wondering over to the recruitment desk already with their new alternative skate aliases in mind.
Is it all that violent? Well yes and no. You compare it to most other contact sports, probably not, but does it make your standard emo skater look like a wuss? Well, yes. During the bout there was some serious falls as the skaters tried to duck and weave their way through the blocking group or block the opposing team's jammer (Bambi von Smash her and Ova bearing were the star jammers of the day). With the pushing and shoving, skaters even sometimes tumble into the crowd. Injury of course is a reality. Most of the skaters said that learning to fall was key but with six hours training a week, emphasizing flexibility, endurance and general fitness it made the possibility less likely. It is no mean feat after all to skate around and around in two minute "jams" while trying to block and push other skaters. Despite its amateur feel, the sport needs some pretty serious commitment and athleticism.
The emphasis in the earlier incarnation of this sport was most certainly placed on gratuitous violence. But with a grassroots effort it has turned into something very different. It's about the fun and tongue in cheek of it all without denying the way it can empower women to do something for themselves.
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