taking time off from derby. No matter what the point is clearly illustrated. Adding players to win is like Sunday soccer; it isn’t a true representation of your team’s skills and capabilities; it’s more of a more of a façade of your shortcomings. Don’t get me wrong, if the bout is no longer for ranking and the show must go on, subs are perfectly acceptable, because without the show we cannot move the sport forward. If you work your team hard in practice to sit some of your own skaters out to bring in people from outside your league, not only are you telling your team that they are lacking, you are telling them that their work means nothing and those skaters that had to sit are not good enough, as well. On the other side of the coin, if I bring my ten skaters to play your ten with subs, the honor of winning or losing is not the same.
The honor and integrity of the game and everyone grows in the sport. In my opinion, you go with what you have and if your roster doesn’t have enough healthy skaters to play the games safely, then maybe you shouldn’t play that bout. When I was still in the states, derby seemed to be pretty uniform in most regards. The only differences was WFTDA, OSRDA or Flat, Banked, and Renegade. As derby grows and the rules change, I hope that we all can agree that we keep the honor and integrity as the cornerstone of our sport.
‘Til next time, see you on the track… If you have any questions, comments or feedback please email me at derbywhisperer@gmail.com.
DRILL drill: 10x10 Walls
purpose: To practice working on walls and maintaining 10 feet in the front and back of the pack. Also addresses speed control and communication.
Pete Serrata - FocalAdrenaline Studios
Make groups of four people and line the groups up from the pivot line, separated by 10 feet each. Give the jammer panty to the last four people in the line. The jammers jam through the groups of four one at a time as the groups play defense on the jammer. If that group of four runs into the back of the group in front of it, they must let the jammer pass. The jammers continue through each group until they get to the front of the line where they remove their jammer panties and create a group of four to play defense. Continue to send the last four blockers in the line through as jammers. The trainer can create groups of three and two to play defense, as well.
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