Roller Derby is one of the fastest growing and most exciting contact sports in the UK. Its fierce, feisty, fast-paced and fun! Girls of all ages from all walks of life take part, the sport is wholly inclusive and wildly addictive.

Two teams of 5 skaters battle it out for position over a series of “jams” which last up to 2 minutes. Four “blockers” on each team and one “jammer”. The jammer’s job is to score points. After her initial pass through the “pack” of blockers, a jammer will score one point each time she  passes a member of the opposing team. The blockers attempt to assist their own jammer while hindering the opposing jammer — in effect playing both offense and defense simultaneously.

The game is played over two 30 minute periods, and is regulated by no less than 7 referees who call penalties on skaters who break the rules. Examples of common offences are skating out of the track boundary or initiating an illegal block by using elbows or forearms.

If a skater commits a major offence, they will be sent to the “Sin Bin” usually for one minute. If a jammer gets sent off, then her team are at a serious disadvantage, as the opposing jammer can potentially score heavily while she watches helplessly from the box.

The game ends after the period clock runs out, and the team with the most points wins.

The rules are simple and summed up nicely in the below video from the hammer city roller girls:

The Rainy City Roller Girls were setup in 2008 in Manchester and are growing fast!  We are always looking for new girls, click here to Join Us. No matter who you are, how old you are, how big or small you might be, you can get involved. We have girls of all ages from all walks of life on our team.We can accommodate anyone wanting some skate action in the North West of England and our friends at other leagues can accommodate anyone further afield. Click here for information on other leagues in the UK.