Don't make Roller Derby a real sport
Apr. 15th, 2011 10:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
m_fkillLast year I contributed an article to the Rollerama Zine Published by the London Rollergirls. The article was superbly edited to remove some of the waffle. To kick off this blog I thought I would post the full article including the waffling, enjoy.
Modern Roller Derby originated in Texas USA, A Resurrection of the original Roller Derby, A spectator event with the skaters having fake fights, A penalty wheel dishing out joke penalties to the skaters and outfits that focused on being sexy and theatrical rather than being practical to skate in.
By the time that Roller Derby had crossed the Atlantic to the U.K the penalty wheel and fake fights had gone, A standardized rule set had been put in place and the ethos of run by the skaters for the skaters had been adopted.
Some of the original theatrics have stayed in place, teams have skate outs to music and are introduced by their Derby name. The majority of outfits have been toned down but there is still room for individual customisation and as much or as little make up as a skater feels comfortable wearing.
Roller Derby could get large enough for it to become a professional sport with full time professional players but is this what we want.
Over the last few months there have been high profile cheating incidents in mainstream professional sport. A Harlequins Rugby Union player faked a blood Injury so that he could be substituted, A formula one driver deliberately crashed his car to benefit his team mate who went on to win the race. Hardly a week goes by without an episode of a professional footballer diving to claim a foul and professional cycling and athletics have had more than their fair share of drugs scandals.
If Roller Derby became a professional sport and the players livelihoods depended on winning possibly at any cost, how long would it be before under hand tactics and cheating became common place. Roller Derby is a full contact and potentially dangerous sport I really hope that nobody would be tempted to try anything that would deliberately hurt another skater to win. At the end of a Bout I want to high five the other team and spectators, I want to hug the other team and have a drink with them afterwards. I don't want anyone who is playing to be in a situation where they are forced to choose between deliberately hurting another player to win or losing their place on the team and possibly their job.
Nearly 3 thousand years ago The Olympic games were held in Greece and was just for Naked Greek men who Wrestled Naked covered in Olive oil and won just an olive branch for their trouble.
Today’s Olympics are a major worldwide sporting event, that is sponsored by massive fast food and fizzy drink corporations. The competitors are mainly professional and competitors who take part in the sports that are popular on Television can go on to earn millions through sponsorship and endorsements.
Premiership footballers can earn in excess of £100,000 a week yet clubs lower down the league struggle to stay in business.
There are very few women who are paid to play football in England. The ones that do get centrally awarded F.A contracts, will struggle on £15,000 a year.
Currently a lot of the fans who attend Roller Derby bouts skate for other teams or are friends or family of the skaters competing. As the sport grows and the bouting calendar becomes more congested it will be essential to attract fans who currently don't have any involvement or connection with the sport but are coming to watch roller derby because they are interested in watching an exciting and interesting sport.
If Roller Derby is to continue growing in the U.K with leagues springing up in towns and cities then it is going to have to face up to tough decisions on how we run it and how it wants to grow.
Staging a Bout and everything involved in the the day to day running of the league is hard work, can be complicated and expensive. It would be tempting to look at big mainstream sports and want to be just like some of them.
If Roller Derby continues growing there will be temptation for it to move towards the mainstream. Mainstream sponsors will want the clean cut girl next door image and if they do want anything alternative, it will be alternative on their terms. Would there still be space for the tattooed, pierced women that are as welcome and celebrated in the Roller Derby community as those without. If a large company suddenly ploughed a lot of money into a Roller Derby and it expanded massively would there be the infrastructure in place to make the best of the investment. If Roller Derby expanded quickly and the money dried up where would that leave us? Are we not better to put down strong roots and grow organically?
Lets not try to copy existing sports with their drugs and cheating and inequalities but lets keep Roller Derby Different and offer something that other sports can't. Lets show people that there is more to sport than they are used to seeing.
Let us show fans and potential fans an amazing team sport that is both simple and intricate, played by a diverse group of women. Let us show fans a sport that does not bend and flex to the wills of faceless marketing men. Lets show people the hard work and dedication we put in to Roller Derby and play 110% on the track but play a fair and sporting game. Roller Derby should not aspire to conform to the norms of conventional mainstream sports. Mainstream sports can learn a lot from Roller Derby and it is those sports that need to examine their deficiencies and failings.
As I touched on at the beginning Roller Derby is run by the skaters for the skaters, it is this ethos that makes Roller Derby strong and it is this that will enable Roller Derby to grow, to flourish on our terms and to build bonds and friendship all over the world. Taking this away, giving control to a media mogul or committee that has no connection with Roller Derby would not only harm Roller Derby but would deprive Mainstream sports their chance to learn from Roller Derby.
Modern Roller Derby originated in Texas USA, A Resurrection of the original Roller Derby, A spectator event with the skaters having fake fights, A penalty wheel dishing out joke penalties to the skaters and outfits that focused on being sexy and theatrical rather than being practical to skate in.
By the time that Roller Derby had crossed the Atlantic to the U.K the penalty wheel and fake fights had gone, A standardized rule set had been put in place and the ethos of run by the skaters for the skaters had been adopted.
Some of the original theatrics have stayed in place, teams have skate outs to music and are introduced by their Derby name. The majority of outfits have been toned down but there is still room for individual customisation and as much or as little make up as a skater feels comfortable wearing.
Roller Derby could get large enough for it to become a professional sport with full time professional players but is this what we want.
Over the last few months there have been high profile cheating incidents in mainstream professional sport. A Harlequins Rugby Union player faked a blood Injury so that he could be substituted, A formula one driver deliberately crashed his car to benefit his team mate who went on to win the race. Hardly a week goes by without an episode of a professional footballer diving to claim a foul and professional cycling and athletics have had more than their fair share of drugs scandals.
If Roller Derby became a professional sport and the players livelihoods depended on winning possibly at any cost, how long would it be before under hand tactics and cheating became common place. Roller Derby is a full contact and potentially dangerous sport I really hope that nobody would be tempted to try anything that would deliberately hurt another skater to win. At the end of a Bout I want to high five the other team and spectators, I want to hug the other team and have a drink with them afterwards. I don't want anyone who is playing to be in a situation where they are forced to choose between deliberately hurting another player to win or losing their place on the team and possibly their job.
Nearly 3 thousand years ago The Olympic games were held in Greece and was just for Naked Greek men who Wrestled Naked covered in Olive oil and won just an olive branch for their trouble.
Today’s Olympics are a major worldwide sporting event, that is sponsored by massive fast food and fizzy drink corporations. The competitors are mainly professional and competitors who take part in the sports that are popular on Television can go on to earn millions through sponsorship and endorsements.
Premiership footballers can earn in excess of £100,000 a week yet clubs lower down the league struggle to stay in business.
There are very few women who are paid to play football in England. The ones that do get centrally awarded F.A contracts, will struggle on £15,000 a year.
Currently a lot of the fans who attend Roller Derby bouts skate for other teams or are friends or family of the skaters competing. As the sport grows and the bouting calendar becomes more congested it will be essential to attract fans who currently don't have any involvement or connection with the sport but are coming to watch roller derby because they are interested in watching an exciting and interesting sport.
If Roller Derby is to continue growing in the U.K with leagues springing up in towns and cities then it is going to have to face up to tough decisions on how we run it and how it wants to grow.
Staging a Bout and everything involved in the the day to day running of the league is hard work, can be complicated and expensive. It would be tempting to look at big mainstream sports and want to be just like some of them.
If Roller Derby continues growing there will be temptation for it to move towards the mainstream. Mainstream sponsors will want the clean cut girl next door image and if they do want anything alternative, it will be alternative on their terms. Would there still be space for the tattooed, pierced women that are as welcome and celebrated in the Roller Derby community as those without. If a large company suddenly ploughed a lot of money into a Roller Derby and it expanded massively would there be the infrastructure in place to make the best of the investment. If Roller Derby expanded quickly and the money dried up where would that leave us? Are we not better to put down strong roots and grow organically?
Lets not try to copy existing sports with their drugs and cheating and inequalities but lets keep Roller Derby Different and offer something that other sports can't. Lets show people that there is more to sport than they are used to seeing.
Let us show fans and potential fans an amazing team sport that is both simple and intricate, played by a diverse group of women. Let us show fans a sport that does not bend and flex to the wills of faceless marketing men. Lets show people the hard work and dedication we put in to Roller Derby and play 110% on the track but play a fair and sporting game. Roller Derby should not aspire to conform to the norms of conventional mainstream sports. Mainstream sports can learn a lot from Roller Derby and it is those sports that need to examine their deficiencies and failings.
As I touched on at the beginning Roller Derby is run by the skaters for the skaters, it is this ethos that makes Roller Derby strong and it is this that will enable Roller Derby to grow, to flourish on our terms and to build bonds and friendship all over the world. Taking this away, giving control to a media mogul or committee that has no connection with Roller Derby would not only harm Roller Derby but would deprive Mainstream sports their chance to learn from Roller Derby.
