DERBY 101, Play at Your Own Risk
Danger is the Fox Cityz Foxz middle name. They’re tough, they’re gorgeous and they’re out for blood. They’ll beat you down without looking back. But, this game does have rules the girlz must follow, much to their dismay!
The bout is comprised of four 30-minute periods. There are ten girls on the floor at a time – each team has one pivot, three blockers and one jammer. The pivot skates at the front of the pack, controls the speed of the pack and is the last line of defense for her team. A blocker’s job is to help her jammer get through the pack while also trying to stop the opposing jammer from getting through. The jammer’s job is to get through the pack as quickly as possible while staying in-bounds and committing no penalties. Her first pass is to determine lead jammer status. The lead jammer is the only skater that can call off a jam. Subsequent passes are for scoring points.
Two-minute jams comprise the period; although they can run less than two-minutes if the lead jammer calls it off. She may want to call it off if she falls behind the pack or takes a spill, etc. If she cannot get through, she can call it to stop the opposing jammer from scoring points if she is unable to.
Skaters get penalties for things like tripping, blocking illegally or fighting. If a skater is called-out for a major penalty or her fourth minor, her team will skate short a player until the penalty is served and she can return to play. The bouts are supervised by 5 referees who watch for and call penalties and track points for each team.