Derby and Privilege

Derby is a study in contrasts. Gear and skates are potentially very expensive, and the game  needs room, which usually costs money. Yet it's not an elitist sport. Some leagues sponsor players for costs and basically every league has spare gear. I myself still have gear in my closet that rightly belongs to my friend Knuckle Slamwitch (of the Rollergettes). And girls will skate in sheds. They'll skate in parking lots. Give us a flat surface and we'll roll.

Derby as a sport seems to be considered something fairly without airs. We make beer-can pyramids for chicks to crash into, we value a girl's strength, speed and teamwork over wherever she comes from. That, I think, is the real reason we take derby names, because theoretically, we leave our history and privilege behind when we get on the track.

But it isn't that simple. When they're off-skate, players have widely varying opportunities to access the time and money the sport requires. I think it's the leagues we need to look to to make derby more accessible, because players are at their strongest when they work together. Time, cost and finding space are the three prime difficulties of derby, I think. And we surmount these problems by working together.

The time commitment, of course, is one of the differences between full-contact derby and low-contact derby. It's one of the reasons low-contact derby exists. Women who love the sport but can't commit to the practice schedule - for whatever reason, be it financial, personal or aught else - that full-contact requires still deserve to play.

And players who experience financial barriers deserve to play, too. Every serious sport has costs, some might say. Equipment adds up. That's true. But if derby is going to to get stronger, it needs to be more accessible. This, I think, is something both full and low-contact leagues can address. Sponsoring charities and doing community work is one of the great things about being in a derby league, but I think we should sponsor our players as well.

Having equipment is part of it. Having good equipment available in the bin is better, however. To be accessible, leagues need more spare gear and better spare gear. We should, at the very least, encourage players to donate their old gear and naturally, this option becomes more viable as a league matures. But leagues should be proactive about this as well. Buying gear specifically for the borrowing bin should be a priority. Not just yard-sale skates, of which there are some real terrors, but solid, entry-level skates and protective gear without the wear that puts players who have to borrow potentially at risk. They might be wearing something that needs to be fixed or thrown out because it's all the league can provide for them. Everyone deserves to skate safely, regardless of financial status.

I'm aware that leagues, especially young leagues have to watch their funds very carefully. But one extra fund-raising event a year (Pin the Skates on the Derby Girl!) could outfit players who will make the league stronger, who will bring in more funds and attendees at bouts once they have a chance. We could do skateathons, we could do a charity bar night (Don't Play Derby Naked!-themed, even), we could charge one dollar extra at bouts and tell the crowd exactly where that money is going.  Players are the lifeblood of the sport, after all. I believe that derby players can take care of each other. The more we do so, the stronger we are.

Space, of course, is a difficulty faced primarily by the league rather than by individual players. Short of having space donated, it costs money. Even when a league has the players and practice fees available to make up the cost, even finding space can be a problem. Because of it's relatively nascent status as a sport, we lack the numbers and reputation that would mean we can assume, the way a hockey player could, that space can be found. This is a derby barrier that really only gets fixed with time and effort on the part of the league and the volunteers that make it run.

This brings me back to my admittedly slightly starry-eyed vision of derby players doing it for themselves. Our leagues run on volunteers, our leagues run on women  and men donating their time and money to make the sport grow. League execs and volunteers do a lot - what we need to do is encourage and create opportunities to do more, share more of our talents and time in order to support the sport, to outfit players, to keep derby strong.