Experience the thrill of Roller Derby in Hamilton
- Kirsten Roesink
- 19 Jun 2019
Hammer City Roller Derby is Canada’s first not-for-profit, skater-operated flat track roller derby league. Founded in 2006 as the Hammer City Roller Girls, they’re the second international member of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). Over the years, Hammer City has established itself as a competitive, hard-hitting league. In 2017, the league changed its name to Hammer City Roller Derby to more accurately reflect the diversity of its members.
Carla Tilt, also known by her derby name ‘Full Tilt’, joined the Hammer City Roller Derby six years ago and plays on the all-star WFTDA charter Hammer City Eh! Team. In May, Tilt played her first home game (called a ‘bout’ in derby) in two years after recovering from a broken ankle and giving birth to her lovely daughter Dorothy. Her partner introduced her to the sport when he brought her along to a bout. This was on a Saturday. The following Friday, Tilt bought a pair of skates. “I was ready to go. I absolutely loved it. Being new to Hamilton, I wanted to meet new people. Also, I was looking for something new. Now, I bleed black and gold,” says Tilt referring to Hammer City Roller Derby’s colours.
Hammer City Roller Derby was the perfect choice. Tilt met many new derby friends and became part of the tight community. Roller derby is characterized by its sense of community. “Not just within our league, but among all players. It’s a rough, full-contact sport, but everyone is so cool with each other. Before the bout starts, we’ll just be chatting with each other, dancing to the music.”
Being a full-contact sport, roller derby is definitely rough, but this doesn’t make it a mean sport. Players are very respectful towards each other. Tilt explains: “I’m a big hitter. I will hit you. But I’ll also always help you up and check if you’re okay. Usually my opponent will be like: ‘That was awesome! What a hit!’”
Injuries do happen in roller derby. In her fourth year playing roller derby, Tilt broke her ankle. “My foot was just kind of dangling,” she says. She balances it with a dose of reality saying “life in general isn’t safe — playing derby just increases the chance of something happening. But you can break your ankle stepping off a curb, too.” Tilt doesn’t consider roller derby an exceptionally dangerous sport. The rules protect the players and new rules are introduced if there are safety concerns.
Roller derby has become Tilt’s outlet and says she is a much happier person playing derby. She would not describe herself as an aggressive person, but derby gives her the opportunity to let her aggression out in a healthy way and in a controlled environment. “It’s an intense sport. Before breaking my ankle and before my pregnancy, I was fitter than I’d ever been before. I didn’t really change my eating habits; it was all derby. It really kicked me into shape.” Playing on the Hammer City Eh! Team, Tilt usually trains twice a week for two hours practicing condition, strategy, and playing scrimmages.
Getting the hang of roller derby can take some time. Hammer City Roller Derby offers new members Derby 101 where they teach members how to skate and the needed skills to play roller derby over 18-20 week sessions. The final session is a skills assessment. After passing the skills assessment, members move on to the Smash Squad to learn gameplay and derby skills.
It can take a while to get the hang of roller derby, but don’t let that discourage you. “You may not be the fastest skater and you may not stay up all the time, but you just have to keep going. Just get up and go again. That’s all you can do. Keep pushing. I’m still pushing. Pushing to get back to the level I was at. And pushing to get better than that,” Tilt explains.
Hammer City Roller Derby is proud to be an inclusive league, open to all kinds of members. Derby is not just for one type of athlete; it’s a sport for everyone. “Big, small, tall, short, athletic, we have all kinds of players,” Tilt says.
Tilt was never much of an athlete herself before she joined Hammer City Roller Derby. “I never really played a team sport,” further elaborating that she never expected to be as good as she is. Once Tilt became an eligible player, she was rostered to the Hammer City Eh! Team very quickly. “My first bout was a home bout. I didn’t get much game time, but it was great to be on the team. Being relatively new to the sport, I was surprised that I was rostered so quickly. They told me that I was stable and did what I was told.”
Home bouts have become a bit of an issue for Hammer City Roller Derby. The skaters used to lease the former Target store at the Centre on Barton, but have unfortunately been displaced. “Technically we’re homeless now and forced to look for a new arena,” Tilt explains.
Hammer City Roller Derby now plays their home bouts at the Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena, which Tilt says is a great location, but requires a lot of set up and tear down. “It’s an elaborate production. Much more work than when we had our own space.” The league doesn’t ask for much, but having a permanent location would make a great difference.
The basics of Roller Derby
Two teams skate counter-clockwise on an oval track for two thirty-minute periods that consist of multiple ‘jams’. Jams last a maximum of two minutes. Each team has 15 skaters, 5 of which are on the track at the same time. One player is designated the jammer — the only player that can score points for her team. Other players are called blockers. It’s their job to stop the other team’s jammer from scoring points, while creating a path for their own jammer to pass. Blockers can use their hips, shoulders, and torsos to prevent the jammer from passing.
The jammer’s objective is to lap as many opposing blockers as she can before the jam ends. After her initial pass she can start scoring points. The first jammer to pass all the blockers becomes the lead jammer. Each jammer will score one point for every blocker she legally passes, and one point if she laps the opposing jammer. The jam ends after 2 minutes, or when the lead jammer calls off the jam.
Comments 0
There are no comments
Add comment