Method amid the mayhem

With as many as seven refs, roller derby is anything but anarchy on wheels

At first glance — not to mention, glancing blow — roller derby doesn’t appear like a sport with rules, regulations and a reputation for sportsmanship to uphold.

More than anything, it looks like chaos coming face-to-face with calamity and anarchy on eight wheels.

But a sport? Perhaps, the Chevrolet Corvair of sports, as in “unsafe at any speed.”

However, if you look closely when the action slows down, if it ever really does, you will find method amid the madness and mayhem.

Points will only be awarded if the jammer passes opposing skaters who are on their feet and on the track.

A maximum of 10 players, four blockers and a jammer from each team, can be on the oval track at one time, but that number can fluctuate. Penalties for illegal hits, such as forearms, below the knee and in the middle of the back, will sideline a player for 30 seconds.

Considering that each shift, or jam, lasts two minutes at most, that’s an eternity to leave a team shorthanded.

Penalties can also be assessed for making contact with a referee, and roller derby has a lot of eagle-eyed officials dedicated to enforcing the rules and ensuring player safety. Up to four referees skate on the inside of the track and, in flat-track, as many as three on the outside.

“They’re the ones who are going to call the points. They’re constantly staring at you, and it’s kind of intimidating,” said Christine Manders, one of four coaches accompanying a 35-skater Canadian contingent to the Junior Roller Derby World Cup taking place July 28-30 in Valence, France.

Canada is sending two teams — all-female, open — to the first world

‘‘ Even the fact that I made the team is awesome. DELIYA BECK ROLLER DERBY ATHLETE

junior championships that will be held outside North America. All four coaches will work with both teams and five players are expected to do double-duty skating for both teams.

Two members of Niagara Roller Derby’s Midway Mayhem under-18 team punched their ticket to France by impressing the national coaches at a tryout in Kitchener. Deliya Beck, 15, is a Grade 10 student at Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School in Grimsby, and River Evans, 14, is in Grade 9 at Bernie Custis Secondary School in Hamilton.

Beck, a member of the all-female team, and Evans, on the open team, are looking forward to representing Canada in their favourite sport.

“Even the fact that I made the team is awesome. Then being able to go to France and be with all these people is really cool,” said Beck, whose on-track persona is What the Beck.

“It’s crazy, because I haven’t been in derby that long.”

Because of COVID-19, there was a long break between practices and games after she started roller derby in Grade 9.

An aunt was involved in roller derby and turned Beck onto the sport.

“I’m a figure skater so she said I would be good on skates,” she said. “I decided to try it out and I really liked it.

“I love the community.” Evans was inspired to lace on a pair of quad skates six years ago by his mother.

Heather Evans used to play a “long time ago.”

“I used to go watch her games and whatnot, so I guess I just kind of fell into it,” he said.

Speed Demon 666, a.k.a. River Evans, doesn’t expect to fall out of love with roller derby any time soon.

“I like playing a sport where I can exert a lot of energy,” he said. “It’s kind of like a stress release almost.

“I find it really fun and enjoyable.”

The Canadian junior national team began taking shape last fall when tryouts in Calgary and Kitchener attracted 50 and 30 hopefuls, respectively. Auditions were open to any player skating in a league sanctioned by the Junior Roller Derby Association of Canada.

“The coaches all had different things we were watching and making them do at the tryouts,” Manders said. “There were scoresheets and ranking from one to five on those.”

Skaters could pick one of two positions at which to be assessed: jammer or blocker.

Only jammers, designated by a star on their helmet, or pivots, ones with a stripe, can pass an opposing player to earn a point.

Everyone else on the track is a blocker, and they are on defence and offence at the same time. Besides running interference by getting the jammer through the pack, their job is also to prevent the opposing jammer from lapping the pack for a point.

Defence doesn’t necessarily trump offence when you’re a blocker.

“It depends on what your jammer prefers. It’s all about communication in this sport,” said Manders, whose persona at the track is Coach Freddie.’

“We have different hand motions, different verbiage, stuff like that.”

In a 60-minute game, the final score “can be all over the place.”

“I’ve seen it where it’s 400 to 20, 400 to 70. With juniors, the scores always fluctuate so much, especially the national division,” she said. “It could maybe like 100 points or it could be 300 points.”

Before leaving for France the Canadians need to decide what wheels to bring.

“Wheels are not light. They are very thick rubber and you have bearings as well in there,” Manders said. “Packing for France is going to be a hard thing for a lot of these kids.”

Including a tournament in Toronto in April and a practice in Calgary, the cost will be about $5,000 to $6,000 per skater for the season.

“That’s including uniforms and all that stuff.”

A GoFundMe page has been established by the association. Individual skaters have also launched fundraisers.

Teams from upwards of nine countries, not including a Team World, are expected to compete in France this summer. However, domination in the sport has always come down to Canada and the United States for the gold medal.

Manders is confident that the battle for roller derby bragging rights will continue between the two neighbours.

“I expect to walk on that plane with two medals dinging them together,” she said with a chuckle.