Roller Derby: Coaching and Playing

Are you a blocker or jammer?

Roller derby is not a run-of-the-mill sport, and its members are not typical athletes or sports people.

It is, however, a fantastic addictive world of camaraderie, intense physical effort, fast paced action, mind-blowing tactics and a touch of silliness.

Emma Solomon is an ex GB Handball Player and switched to this sport 2 years ago. She trained with me for 2 years and did a Level 2 Strength and Conditioning Course with Excelsior.

Here is her insiders guide to this unusual sport.

Roller Derby Rules 

Like any sport, the object of roller derby is to beat the other team. Games are called bouts and consist of two 30-minute periods made up of ‘jams’ that can last up to two-minutes.

Each team consists of four blockers and one jammer – the point scorer. During a jam, points are scored when a jammer on a scoring pass (every pass a jammer makes through the pack after the initial pass) laps members of the opposing team.

Each team’s blockers use body contact, changing positions, and other tactics to assist their jammer to score, while hindering the opposing team’s jammer. Well-played roller derby requires agility, strength, speed, control, peripheral vision, communication and, most importantly, teamwork.

Fish out of water

Coming into roller derby from a sports person’s perspective, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect.

I had played handball at national level, many others sports during school and I am currently studying for a PhD in sports science but this was something completely new.

What I wasn’t expecting was to be considered an outsider – one of those annoying people that actually used to get picked for sports teams at schools and enjoyed PE.

Roller derby is accepting of all shapes and sizes and walks of life but suddenly it was me who had to try hard to fit in and get to know everyone.

For once my sportiness wasn’t seen as a strength but as a threat, as if I was coming in and trying to take the sport away from the ‘regulars’.

Adapting my Coaching

After three months of learning to skate, and because of my experience in coaching sports, I became one of the head coaches of my league S.W.A.T Roller Derby.

 To adapt as a coach I had to: 

• change my coaching style to make people receptive to my sessions – coming in strong with a militant approach was not going to win me any favours!
• accept that everyone is different and embrace the diffeences
• learn about (and learn to love!) a different culture
• add in elements of fun to every session (e.g., skate basketball – fantastic for footwork, agility and coordination – but also heaps of fun!)
• become in-tune with their motivations for wanting to play the sport, to make sure I provided sessions that would help individuals meet their personal goals as well as the league goals
• celebrate the small wins, and constantly reinforce the positives, whilst making sure they are aware of the negatives but not dwelling on them.

 Fitness for Roller Derby

Slowly we introduced endurance training, strength building and stricter training conditions, aiming to gradually increase fitness and the hardwork ethic without scaring anyone away. 

Now I have seen big changes in the players in my league: 

• they see training hard as a rewarding experience not a chore
•  take interest in nutrition, off-skates strength and cardio training, and cutting back on drinking/smoking
•  thank us for endurance warm-ups and planking (only afterwards – not during!)
• really invest interest in the finer points of strategies and complex tactics, and regularly come to us with questions and new ideas.
• most of them are now more competitive than I am (I doubt that!JM)and often check up how S.W.A.T are doing on the national rankings, and want to put in whatever work is necessary for us to beat our rivals.

Coaching roller derby can be challenging, and at times it is a job I wish I didn’t have to do, which would leave me free to focus on my own performance.

However, it is extremely rewarding, not only do us coaches get showered with praise and gratitude from our lovely team, but we also get to watch as girls go from being quiet, timid and uncoordinated, to bloom into loud, bold, powerful woman athletes.

And it is a pretty sweet thought to know that I had a small role to play in the transformation!

 Do you want to have a go?

We are now going from strength to strength with increasing numbers, a fantastic team atmosphere and successful performances on the track, including recently beating Severn Roller Torrent 151-109.

We are now looking to continue our success by claiming the title of best in the South West in the upcoming South West UK Roller Derby League 2012/2013. 

If you are interested in joining our league we will be running a recruitment session this Saturday 13th October. It will run 3-6pm at Culm Valley Leisure Centre, Cullompton. This is for over 18s only, and we are looking for male referees as well as female players. Please see our website for details.