Why Roller Derby is the Toughest Sport on Eight Wheels

Beijing Olympian is an ongoing column in which we explore the newest, the funnest, and the downright whackiest in Beijing’s fitness scene.

Imagine a sport with the full-on contact of rugby, but all the players are on roller skates. That would be roller derby, a sport that has come a long way since its development in Chicago nearly 100 years ago. 

If you think it sounds entertaining to watch a swarm of players tussle with one another with wheels on their feet, you wouldn’t be the only one. Roller derby landed on American television screens in the 1980s, when viewers reveled in exaggerated theatrics. At that time, many of the televised games were semi-scripted, much like pro wrestling. Now though, the skaters are finally getting to see their game taken more seriously, and on a global scale – it came very close to earning a place in the 2020 Summer Olympics, with rules produced by a conference in Nanjing.

But of course, it’s Beijing that we are interested in. Roller skating in general is more popular here than it is in other parts of the world, such as the US, where it fell out of style after the '80s. We spoke with a board member of the Beijing team, Alia, or “Judge Shredd” as she is known to her teammates, all of whom, in roller derby tradition, have their own outlandish pseudonyms. 

Alia began derbying in London before coming to Beijing, where in addition to tearing up the track, she leads skaters on recreational skate sessions around the city. But far from my Americanized preconception of skating waitresses emulating the milkshake bars of the 1950s, her skating style is fit for athletics. “I’m not the most graceful skater,” she says. “I don’t know if I could hold a tray, I’ve only been taught to attack.”

Dominated by women, welcome to all

Search almost any sport on YouTube – from basketball to snowboarding – and the top results, almost invariably, will display the men’s teams. Not so when searching for roller derby! 

“It’s one of the only sports in the world where women are the more recognized and the more experienced players,” says Alia. “The top athletes are the women. Of course there’s also men, and non-binary people. It’s a hugely accommodating sport.” 

That accommodation, she says, extends to any identity and any body type. “You just have to turn up, work hard, and not mind getting bludgeoned... People just use their advantages however they can. It lets people appreciate their own bodies without thinking, oh, I’m too round or too thin or whatever it is.”

That welcoming spirit reaches beyond the track. When she first arrived in Beijing and joined the team, a fellow player invited her over for dinner almost immediately, and that is the kind of reception Alia likes to give to new players as well.

High bar, high payoff

In some ways, the sport must be accommodating due to its somewhat high bar for entry. Aspiring derbiers must first pass a series of skill tests before joining in an actual game, including skating backwards, learning how to fall, and skating around the track at a hurtling 27 times in five minutes. Only once a player has trained enough to pass all of these can they earn their nickname and become part of the team.

Then there's the small fact that actual play is quite physically demanding. Whether you're a jammer, who scores points by lapping the opposing team’s blockers, or a blocker, who is constantly balancing defense with offense to help their own jammer while getting in the way of the other team’s jammer, derbiers can expect to get a workout like no other.

The result is that they're all fit as hell. “Roller derby butt and thighs is a thing,” Alia claims, referring to how the training can carve a body. She recalls one of the wild afterparties at Soi Baochao, where a few lonesome drinkers were startled by the sudden invasion of muscular women in athletic wear.

All of the hard work pays off toward building up oneself, but also toward building friendships. “I never had anything like it in my life before, and it changed everything,” says Alia. “I’ve gladly given up so many hours of my time. It’s addictive, and it really becomes like your family. It’s like your chosen family. There’s something about doing a contact sport that really bonds people together.

You too can join the roller derby family at Wangjing (indoors) or in Shunyi (outdoors). For more information, contact beijingrd@yahoo.com.

Now read about Beijing's bike polo team

Images courtesy of the Beijing Roller Derby Team