Fun at the Derby!!

Last year, somehow, I heard about the Toronto Roller Derby League (ToRD). I tried to watch the season final, but unfortunately, it was sold out. I was dissapointed, but still wanted to see the girls in action.
Well, March 27/28, I finally had my chance. ToRD was hosting the Quad City Derby event, where a all star Toronto team hosted teams from Montreal, Hamilton, and Vancouver.
The home track is the "Hanger", one of the many hangers at Downsview Park.
They have seats around 2/3's of the track, and many were in attendance.

Lots of refs are needed to follow the constact action.







And one of the teams had a snazzy looking coach, complete with an old fashion brief case.


(This picture was just after an argument with the ref, as one of his players was penalized for not having her full number on her shoulders)


And the team members go all out, on both their nicknames, and their numbers! Here's a few watching the intermission, which was presented by the Pillow Fight League.





First the teams practice on the track, stretching, doing some drills, and getting ready for the event.













Then the teams are introduced, and they have a great way of doing that. As they skate around, their names are announced, and they "pop" out of the crowd.



Now, I'm old enough to remember Roller Derby on the T.V. (who can forget Skinny Mini Miller!), but this was not, as they say, your fathers roller derby.
There was no fake wrestling like hits and falls, this was simply hard action.













Now, I don't know all the rules, but one I know concerns the "Jammer". These are the people that score all the points during each "jam". There are two on either side, and they start a bit behind the main group (look for the stars on their helmet). Once they make there way through the group, the first through is labled the "lead jammer". They then control the jam, trying to repass all the main group again. Each pass leads to a point, until the lead jammer "calls" the jam.
As you can seen from these two pics, their name really does describe their job!





Once the game is over, the teams skate by each other, and then the crowd, which I think is a great way to involve the fans in the game.





All in all, I think its a great event to go to. Everyone was having fun watching the action, and the teams really put a lot of effort into every jam. I look forward to seeing a few more events in the future, now that the schedule is out.