In Defense of Men's Derby

I spent my day Saturday being instructed by none other than Mo "Quadzilla" Sanders. That was followed by an invitational-style series of scrimmages, including a coed scrimmage. I've been skating coed derby as long as I've been playing, I skated in a coed invitational the week after I skated my first bout, so this is nothing unusual to me. I've been playing derby for 4 and a half years and skating with boys no longer even phases me.

But I had some teammates express distinctly different sentiments. One of my teammates said that she just wasn't comfortable skating with boys. I just think of them as taller girls with higher centers of gravity and an obvious weakness. Some male skaters are better than I am, some are not. I'll skate with them, maybe I'll learn something and maybe they will.

Another teammate of mine expressed sincerely that she likes roller derby being a women's sport. And I see the logic to that. Roller derby is the only sport (other than maybe volleyball) that when you think of someone who plays, you think first of a woman. But the men who play derby...they're often committed to the women's side as well. They're refs, NSOs, husbands, fans...they are out for the success of roller derby on the whole, not just women's or men's. I told this teammate, "So go out and hit them and make them realise that this is our sport." That almost convinced her to participate in yesterday's coed scrimmage.

Men's teams are fewer and further between, so the men who play drive further to play. Many of them help out women's teams by coaching or reffing, so they are as dedicated (if not more so) than women who play. And I have a lot of respect for that.

This sport is growing, and there's room for men and women to play it. I take great pride in roller derby being a women's sport. But male skaters aren't trying to take that away from us. Many of the best leagues partner with a men's team. They even cross coach. And that makes everyone more successful. The male players I've met are all about promoting the sport as a whole, whether it's men or women playing.

Roller derby is here to stay. Women's, men's, junior's...it's all legitimate and I, for one, am excited for the future.