Rules of Engagement

You can read the official Women's Flat Track Roller Derby rule set here, but the outline below will equip you with the basics so you can start enjoying the beauty and brutality of flat track roller derby!

A roller derby bout is played between two teams of five skaters each: a pivot (striped helmet), three blockers, and one point-scoring player, the jammer (star helmet). Blockers from both teams skate together in a pack and are continuously lapped by the jammers. Jammers are sprint skaters, and score points each time they pass an opponent. Bouts are divided into two 30-minute periods composed of an unlimited number of jams, which can last up to two minutes.

Lead Jammer: Calling it Off

The first jammer to successfully pass each player in the pack, legally and while remaining in bounds, is lead jammer. This is not always the first jammer to emerge from the pack, so look for the jam referee's signal. On subsequent laps through the pack, both jammers score points for each opposing blocker or pivot they pass legally. The lead jammer can make the strategic decision to end the jam at any time before the two minutes are up. She signals to the referees that she is calling off the jam by placing her hands on her hips and will often do this to prevent her opponent

Is That Legal?

TOTALLY!

NO WAY!

• Hitting from the side with shoulders, torso, or hips

• Whipping or pushing a teammate

• Leaping and jumping is completely legal (and awesome!) as long as skaters don't initiate blocks while both skates are off the ground

• The Sheriff—hitting the front (sternum) of an opposing skater using their legal blocking zone

• The Slay Ride—a booty block that lifts the opposing blocker off the ground and carries them a few feet across the track

• Whiffing—landing out of bounds after attempting, and missing, that really big hit

• Blocking with elbows, forearms, hands, or head

• Engaging any skater more than 20 feet in front of or behind the pack (listen for the refs to call "20 feet—Let her go!")

• Skating out of bounds—players can't purposely skate out of bounds, nor can they engage opponents or assist their teammates while out of bounds

• Cutting the track—passing skaters out of bounds and re-entering the track in front of them. Cutting multiple skaters, or cutting the last opposing blocker will send you directly to the penalty box for one minute. Watch out jammers!

• Blocking from behind

• Holding, tripping, grabbing, clotheslining, shoving, punching, or chair throwing—this ain't your mother's roller derby!

Referees will assess skaters minor or major penalties at the moment penalties occur. Watch for the referees’ hand signals that inform the skater of the penalty they have committed. Also, listen for an accompanying single whistle blast, signifying that the penalty was a major. After four minor penalties, a skater sits in the penalty box for one minute and her team skates one player short. A major penalty results in an immediate one-minute trip to the box.