Anchor City Rollers

So you've decided that you want to up your derby game. Maybe you have just joined a learn to skate program and are eager to master the skills. Or maybe you are ready to get that competitive edge and join a team. That is great! I have a couple of steps to help improve your skills. Watch more high level derby I know this is mentioned in about every blog about derby, but seriously, you should watch more. It is so easy to watch something from the WFTDA.tv archives. Our league tri

(This is the second post in a series. Please see Intro to Aggressive Skating) Park Etiquette The main thing here is don't be a jerk, and skate safe. Before you barrel into a skate park you will want to watch the other people using the park (if there are any). A busy skatepark can be very intimidating. It is always a good idea to bring a friend or someone experienced for your first time if possible. I like to take a crowd of skaters with me and take over parts of the par

I’ve always been a person that enjoyed playing sports, especially team sports. Growing up I was in dance, swimming, figure skating, ringette, and rugby. I always enjoyed being active but I didn’t really understand training. I would go to my practices and learn the skills and rules of the games so I could play competently but I didn’t have the drive to train on my own time. I was never the best in any of these sports while others that I played with sought out spots on competit

So I’m a photographer. I just graduated from NSCC’s Photography program and loved it! During my first year I had an assignment to photograph someone in silhouette. With a silhouette, there are no facial features visible so you need to have some other recognizable feature that makes the photograph interesting. “What if I could photograph a derby player in all their gear,” I thought to myself. “That would make such a wicked photo!” The only thing was… I only knew one derby play

“You know how I feel about that Roller Derby.” This is my Nana, very time we talk. I don’t even have to bring up the topic; she scolds me every time. I live and play roller derby in Nova Scotia, while all of my family lives in Ontario. Nana has never seen a game, so her experience says that we go around throwing elbows and clotheslining each other. She worries about me every time I put my skates on. I am one of the smallest girls in our league so just about everyone I skate

Photo Credit by Richard Lafortune I am a dedicated referee. That means that my primary commitment when participating in Roller Derby is to be an official. It’s my job to work with my team – often referred to as Zebras* (or “Zeebs”) – to make sure the game is safe and fair for the players and coaches, and to keep the game moving for the fans. Refereeing is a great place for people who want to be part of Roller Derby, but who don’t want to be involved in contact. It is also a g

So you've decided to up your game and start skating in the bowls. That's awesome and you are a badass! I want to try to answer some questions and provide helpful hints for starting out in aggressive skating. Facing your Fears It is honestly pretty scary the first time you go to a skatepark with your quads. There is a real possibility that you can hurt yourself. It is important to be very comfortable with skating and have experience skating outdoors. You will want to have

Standing on skates... harder than it looks. Total lack of control... that is where the fear came from the first time I put on my roller skates in October 2014. I was surprised by how the fear consumed me as soon as we were told to “stand up” in our skates. I considered myself a mediocre ice skater, skating on the local pond at an early age with my hand-me-down figure skates. At 31, I finally bought myself a pair of new ice skates and enjoyed going to the rink for free skate

Editor’s note: We finish off our series on WFTDA skill testing with some solid advice from TaxaMiss Prime. Keep an eye out for some the rookies who just passed: they’ll be playing in our season opener on May 12! So we recently had our minimum skills tests here at HRDA. It is basically a test of all the fundamental derby skills. New skaters need to take it to prove they are ready to join a team. Veteran skaters need to retake it every year to prove they are maintaining their s

Editor’s note: We asked three fresh meat skaters who joined us in the Fall of 2011 to write about their experience with the basic skills test that all skaters must pass before they can be drafted to a team. This is part two. 66 hours prior to testing… WOW. It is POURING rain out there! Environment Canada said it was gonna, and then turn to freezing rain. Better get to bed, last derby practice prior to testing is tomorrow. 56 hours prior to testing… WOW. Environment Canada was