NOtown Roller Derby

Right around the time that movie came out, my friends and I were going to roller derby bouts here in Fresno. (Did you know we had a roller derby league?!) At the time the bouts were downtown, and were held outside. It was a great atmosphere. There was good stuff to eat and drink, and the people were entertaining to talk to. My friend and I went to a couple of bouts, but then for some reason or another, we stopped going. That is, until last month.

I was looking for something fun for my daughter and myself to do on a Friday night. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, but I wanted to go out. Then, on my Facebook feed up popped that there was a NOtown Roller Derby bout that very evening. We scurried, planned to have a friend come with us, and headed out for a fun night on the town.

NOtown now holds its bouts at the Fairgrounds, in the Junior Exhibit Hall, and you’re able to drive right up to it.  It was so strange, driving straight onto the fairgrounds, especially at night. It was eerily quiet, but so very awesome, because who ever gets to drive onto the Fairgrounds?!

Now if you’ve never been to a Roller Derby bout, it really is a lot of fun. The people are more than willing to explain the rules to you, so don’t let that stop you from going. People are friendly, and no one is a stranger. The atmosphere is charged with energy. There is loud music playing, people are pumped up for the event, and women are warming up on skates. It’s pretty awesome. The room is set up to where the main action takes place in the center. You can sit anywhere, even pretty close to the track. (Just remember that you could get a skater on you at some point in the night. I’ve not seen it happen, but I’m betting it’s happened to someone!) Once the bout starts, it’s 60 minutes of fast past action! (Split up into two 30 minute bouts.) There is a lot of pushing, shoving, yelling, whistle blowing, falling, and maybe a swear word here and there. What would you expect? I mean, with names like Slamneshia, Annikiller, Haack Attack, and Stabitha, you can tell that the players have attitude and spunk. 😉

This might be a good time to give you a cliff note version of how the bouts work. (Check out the rules section of the website to get the more detailed version.) The idea of each bout is to accumulate as many points as you possibly can. The Jammer (the skater with a star on her helmet) is the skater who makes all the points for the team. Now, before the Jammer can start earning points, she must make one full rotation around the track. Once she does, she starts earning points for each member of the opposing team she passes. Now, this is roller derby, and these women are tough. This means that they can, and will, sometimes take out a Jammer, preventing her from earning points. But, that’s what makes the game fun to watch! (Uh, if you like that sort of thing.) 😉

 

My daughter and her friend had a lot of fun that night, and I’m glad we went. My daughter ended up knowing a player on the team, and it was exciting to see her in action. It was the perfect environment for my daughter and her friend to chit chat, but still be occupied enough by what was happening. They were also pretty good about being able to follow what was happening, and how each Jammer was scoring points.

If any of this sounds like fun to you, and you don’t want to just sit and watch, you could always join the team! If being on a team isn’t something that fits you, there are other ways to get involved. Check out their info page on joining the group. Now if you think your son or daughter would love to skate, NOtown also has a Junior League. They take new skaters all year long, ages 6-17. This is a great sport in developing team work, endurance, and trusting your teammates. What great skills to have!