Roller Derby

Jessie Mobus and Naomi Williams|December 19, 2017

 

With colder weather approaching, most people are looking forward to winter activities like ice skating or skiing. Or others are excited for upcoming football games on television. If you like sports, then this is one that you probably haven’t heard of: Roller Derby. If you want to learn more, then keep reading!

 

                                                      What is Roller Derby

Roller derby is a contact sport that has many rules and penalties. The way it works is that there are ten people on the track at once (similar in shape to a track field), five people from each team. Four of these people play defense, they are called blockers, they create a formation called a wall.  One of them is a pivot, who can become the jammer. The jammer scores points. They score points by skating past the hips of the opposing team.  It isn’t very easy, the blockers are hip checking and getting in the way of the jammer constantly. All of this happens in two minute plays called jams. They aren’t always two minutes though. The first jammer to get away from the pack, all of the blockers, is lead jammer. As lead jammer, they can call off the jam at any time.

 

 Glimpse into the life of Scald Eagle

Scald Eagles real Name is Hillary Buscovick. She is currently a jammer on the Denver Roller Derby, but she used to play on the Rose City Rollers. Scald Eagle first started out with ice skating at the age of 4; when she was 10, she moved on to ice hockey. Scald Eagle enjoyed the competitive aspect of hockey. She then moved to roller skating and took up roller derby because it was a competitive sport (Wikipedia).

 

Roller Derby In Morristown

An interview with one of the players who plays on the Morristown team.

Kelcey Gervasio plays roller derby. This is an interview with her, on the topic of roller derby:

 

NW: Why did you join roller derby?

 

KG: I wanted to get into sports again.

 

NW: What is your favorite thing about roller derby?

 

KG: I love jamming. I like to score points.

 

NW: What do you think people would like about your team, NJRD Small Stars/ Death Squad For Cuties?

 

KG: The team is really inclusive. It is more than a team, it is a community.

 

If you are interested in playing roller derby click here, to see the New Jersey Roller Derby website!

 

References:

 

“Scald Eagle.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Aug. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scald_Eagle.

“Home.” NEW JERSEY ROLLER DERBY, 2017, www.njderby.com/.