My partner is one of those people that rewatches derby games over and over. While we were watching Champs this weekend, one thing we noticed is the crazy VRDL lineups. Kudos to these blockers because god damn there were some crazy high blocker rotations! The level of fitness these blockers must have is crazy!

It’s such an interesting strategy to take a full contingent of blockers but really only play a very small portion of them. Obviously it worked! And I’m super proud of VRDL for taking the gold!
Here’s the breakdown of jams in the VRDL Vs Arch game and how many jams each blocker was out, for thanks to my partner, for anyone that’s interested!

I’m a B level jammer in a midsize league with some potential for upward mobility. I have pretty footwork that often gets me lead during internal league scrimmages, but unfortunately that goes out the window when I’m playing against folks I’m unfamiliar with, whether it’s a competitive game or a mixer with no stakes whatsoever. I default to pushing and get stuck, maybe because I don’t want to take a risk by a taking the line with blockers who I’m not familiar with and could beat me there? I’m not that big of a person and I don’t think pushing will ever be an economical use of my energy. I have a few seasons under my belt so I don’t necessarily think it’s only inexperience. Any and all advice for getting me out of this rut welcome.

Howdy! I'm going to costumes-encouraged tournament this upcoming weekend, but I don't know how on earth to dress up in a way that doesn't impede my ability to play or present a safety hazard.

Please tell me how you've dressed up in your derby gear, I want to make it fun but right now it's just stressing me out!! Thanks. :)

Forgive me if this has already been addressed somewhere else, but our league has been dealing with some issues, and I was recently formally added to the BOD and tasked with sorting out our jersey situation. The person who had been handling everything stepped away a few months ago, and I’ve spent the weekend digging through old emails and trying to piece everything together.

Long story short, our league needed new jerseys after Left Turn, who we were previously working with, went under. We decided to go with EF Prowear since they were spinning off from Left Turn and we were promised a seamless transition. I’ve found some emails with designs that were shared, and it looks like money was sent out. I tried to go to their website and it's missing and so are their social media channels.

At this point, I’m assuming they may have gone under as well, and that getting a refund might be unlikely, but I’m hoping someone here might know what happened with the company.

I’m genuinely not trying to stir up drama or point fingers. I’m just trying to get a better understanding of the situation so I can give our team an honest update on where things stand. Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Hello Everyone!

Team Portugal Roller Derby is looking for committed, organized, and communicative individuals to join our Bench Team as we prepare for the European Roller Derby Cup 2027, taking place in Riccione, Italy, from 24–26 September 2027.

Who Can Apply?

Anyone can apply, regardless of nationality. We welcome applications from people who share our commitment to teamwork, development, and the growth of Portuguese roller derby.

📅 Applications open until November 13, 2026
📩 https://forms.gle/yGZKdXexQNn5dBLG8

I'm sure this has been asked a gazillion times but.....I would like to ask again to get the newest and freshest information

thank you for the help in advance!

the good old question of what is a good pair of skates to start off with? some of yall are crazy talking about buy a 300 dollar pair then go about how low quality they are.....mm I don't wanna mess with that. 😭😭

what is the bottom of the barrel but good enough for someone starting at zero? That's basically it.

most of the skates I've dealt with in my life are so heavy and bulky but ones for the sport def seem lighter. so I'm just looking for something proper idk. forgive me. I've been watching the sport from miles away for years and now I'm trying to get closer so I know none of the technical stuff.

oh and I am pretty light at around 100 pounds if something different needs to be done for that? idk. 🧘‍♀️ thank you. If I left out any info pleaseee let me knoewww

My team put a lot of emphasis on endurance the last couple seasons and after seeing VRDL body Rose City, some of the skaters were talking about finding ways to add more strength training, too. What kinds of things did your skaters that watched notice the top teams in the world doing that they could incorporate more into their own practice and preparation?

I just got these cushions (82A) after being recommended to switch the Bont defaults, these are 3rd party. I haven’t skated on them a whole bunch yet, but definitely feel the difference! There is a lot of movement in them for what I’m used to, so I assume I just have to adjust to them, but definitely finding a lot of skills to be a bit difficult at the moment and don’t want to over tighten the trucks and destroy the cushions either.

The JRDA World Cup is coming to Glasgow, Scotland From the 22nd to 25th of July 2027, at Braehead Arena. Two tracks for our two divisions (Open and Girls+). We’re accepting applications right now for officials and photographers, with more callouts to come. Head over to our website jrdaworldcup.org to find the links. Thank you for supporting international junior roller derby!

I know absolutely nothing about them, but I’ve recently taken up jam timing and it seems the one I got at the local big box discount sporting goods store is … let’s say it’s hit its 7th penalty and is standing next to the box waiting for the jam to end. I’d like some recommendations for its replacement. Thanks in advance derby friends!

I'm a jammer, who's recently started pivoting more and am finding I quite enjoy it.

I'm looking for role models and skaters who primarily skate/roster as pivots who I can follow for inspiration in my own gameplay. (I will also accept reccs for skaters who are amazing pivots in addition to other positions they skate in).

brand new bonts, just got them mounted from a roller skate shop and i see the boot is already like pulling from the sole. never worn before. is this normal or should i contact the shop i bought these from or bont? thanks!

LFG!!!!!! I'm manifesting a European victory this year, but I'm also a shameless Toulouse fangirl and willl root for them at every opportunity. Let's chat picks/predictions/vibes if you're lucky enough to be there!

ETA: It seems that Toulouse has a less-than-steller rep, which I am inordinately bummed to hear about. Le sigh. That being said, I'm still hoping for a Euro victory; if not Toulouse, I hope Paris takes it. French derby is my favourite flavour of derby, so I'm still all in for the Frenchies.

Go sports!

Another ETA, Sunday morning. Brackets busted, mind blown, crying, gagging, screaming, etc. Backing VRDL in the final showdown. Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!

I had a silly middle-of-the-night-idea a few weeks back, and decided to make derby inspired mittens, to celebrate Globals in Malmö. I call them my “pack is queer” mittens.

Is anyone here going to be there? Are you bringing your knitting?

My quadstars finally came in so I slapped on my new derby skates (from my suregrip boardwalks) and immediately tried to stand and landed my my cheeks! 😂 I kind of expected that anyways, but man I feel like I’m learning to skate all over again! I also loosened my trucks 20 times and still feel like they are not loose enough.

And of course suregrip makes super comfy skates with no break in time and my quadstars are STIFF. My feet are definitely upset about it.. but I was still able to do most of my skill drills albeit very wobbly…and skating backwards felt so much easier??? Anyways I spent a lot of time hugging the ground yesterday, hoping today is even just a tiny bit better 😮‍💨

Join us, learn about the name change and get your questions answered!

I am hosting 2 town hall meetings with a few members of the Name Change Committee about the process to change the name of the WFTDA to explicitly include trans men and nonbinary athletes during champs weekend. Please pass these links to your league and attend if you are interested.

This will include a brief presentation on the work done so far and then a Q&A session. If you have questions but can't attend you can still fill out the registration form and ask them there and the videos will be distributed to WFTDA leagues later.

Thursday, October 15, 2026 - https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Sc5YamzRTj21jk5WKf6Tiw
5:00 PM Central European Time / 12:00 PM GMT-3 (Rio) / 11:00 AM US Eastern / 8:00 AM US Pacific

Sunday, October 18, 2026
- https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BMOAM6UbS-y7HZvj5LZTPA
9:00 AM Central European Time / 6:00 PM AEDT (Sydney)

I need some better fitting gear and I’m looking for recommendations other than sucker punch.
I need xs gear so it’s been a bit harder to find 😄

This is not me, I am not a photographer. I don’t even know this guy but…yikes.

Had an amazing time at my first tournament. Played in 4 games. 3 in the bracket, and 1 in the shenanijams bout. Got MVP for one of my games, scoring 100+ points in the game with 4 20+pt jams.

My kids' team has 3 jammer caps, 1 frogmouth and 2 derby beast. The derby beast ones do not stay on anyone's helmet. 5 jammers trying to share one helmet cover.... It's mayhem. Are any of the jersey companies selling a helmet cover that will actually stay on?

There’s a major B level tournament happening right now, and all everyone can talk about is how the majority of teams here are fielding all A or mostly A rosters. The team that won last year is the worst offender and will probably win again this year. Why do teams do this (just to win?) and how can we regulate? I’m not talking about A level skaters who are skating down for the entire season because they want a break/to have fun. I’m talking about teams with skaters who have dedicated A/B rosters all year long and then replace their B skaters at a B tournament with their A skaters just to get the W. My team is only fielding B skaters and are actually down players and really struggling and I feel like getting penalized just for following the rules. Is it insane to ask organizers to regulate a little more?

Spooky season isn’t over on the track! 🎃🛼
Come play or spectate at our Halloween Mixer on Sunday, November 8th!

⏰ A/B Game: Vampires vs. Werewolves 🧛‍♂️🐺
(Arrive @ 9:00 AM | Game @ 9:50 AM)
⏰ B/C Game: Zombies vs. Sea Monsters 🧟‍♂️🐙
(Arrive by 10:50 AM | Game @ 11:40 AM)

📍 Skateworld of Vandalia
💵 $10 to play | $5 to watch

Skaters: follow this link to fill out the interest form!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpwWOWz5fjkngEyLuYOxIOyEXkAnhX8DilOXt0Kl726JVJ3Q/viewform?pli=1

Payable to Venmo or PayPal with a note for what the payment is for! 💸💜

I'm part of a leadership team for a small league. We have a couple members who barely show up. When they do, they try to pressure our members into joining their other activities for other groups. Social media groups and other hobbies. They do this passive-aggressive comments in chats and posts. They say we need to show up for them.

Has anyone else dealt with something like this? How did you handle it? I've tried ignoring it. But they're not backing off.