Jostling for Position at the Start of a Jam

Category

Library Item

Item no

39528

Title

Jostling for position at the start of a jam, Auld Reekie Roller Girls training session at The Crags Sports Centre

Artist / maker

MacLean, Kevin

Date

2015

Type

Digital image

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

This photograph was taken on a 20th November 2015, at a Friday evening training session of the Auld Reekie Roller Girls.

Roller derby is a full contact sport played on quad roller skates. It is predominantly a female sport, however men's teams are appearing all over the world and it is one of the fastest growing sports.

A game is made up of 2 x 30 minute halves which are further subdivided into jams. Each jam is a maximum of 2 minutes in length. Teams of 5 players skate on an oval track, where the designated Jammer, identified by wearing a star cover on her helmet, scores points by passing the blockers of the opposing team.

One blocker from each team is the Pivot, who is identified by wearing a stripe across her helmet, and the pivot is the 'leader' of the team, giving directions to her teammates during the jam. Blockers and Pivots need to play offence and defence simultaneously - making the game highly tactical, yet played at high speed.

When the starting whistle blows, the Jammers from each team fight their way through the pack. The first one through becomes lead jammer. This is the initial pass, and no points are scored. Once through, they make their way back round the track and fight through the pack again, this time on a scoring pass. Every time they pass a blocker of the opposing team, they gain one point. This carries on until the lead jammer calls it off (to prevent the other jammer from scoring points), or the jam reaches 2 minutes and ends.

The blockers from both teams must stay within 20 feet of each other - meaning all the action happens in one place as the skaters make their way round the track together. Blocking is done with the body, mostly using the hips and shoulders. Full body hits are legal, but tripping, pushing opposing team members (though it's permissible to push teammates into the opposing team), and hitting with or to the head will all result in a skater being sent off.

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