Women’s Roller Derby World Cup

2018’s Roller Derby World Cup was the biggest tournament to date. It was the first time that the event had been held outside North America. 38 teams were represented over the three-day tournament. Roller Derby has its origins in the 1930s. It grew out of traditional large endurance races, eventually developing into a form of entertainment similar to wrestling with scripted bouts. The sport saw a revival in the early 2000s as an amateur female competition. In the USA it quickly grew into something of a global phenomenon. The contact sport is contested by two teams of five players each skating around an oval-shaped track clockwise. A game, or “bout”, is split into plays called “jams”. The Two teams have five skaters on the track in each jam: Roller Derby (point scorer) and four blockers. The blockers from both teams create the ‘pack’. The Jammers can be identified by the star on their helmet and score points by passing blockers from the opposing team. The blockers work as a team and try to stop their opposing jammer from getting past them, using legal blocking and tactical techniques, whilst assisting their own jammer to get through the pack. It might not look as though there are many rules, but penalties are given to skaters who block illegally, fight or otherwise break the rules. In the game, the women wearing the Lycra star covers on their helmets are the runners that score points by breaking through. The final day saw the strongest teams competing for the title, with tournament favourites the USA pitting themselves against tough competition from Australia, Canada, England, Sweden, and Finland to name a few. The US and Australia meet in the final, having knocked out Canada and England respectively in the semi-finals. In the end, it was Team USA who came out on top.