Old School Roller Derby

One of the most common comments I get when people ask me about roller derby is "you mean like fighting on roller skates?" and then they pretend to elbow me or someone else in the vicinity.  No, I say... you can't elbow anyone under our ruleset.  Or punch, trip, kick... or any kind of fighting.

"That doesn't sound like any fun," they say. "I used to watch roller derby on TV when I was a kid. It was on after wrestling!"

Sigh.  Of course then I get into it about what IS fun and awesome about it. Leaving both sides mostly satisfied.

I've never seen that version of roller derby that was "on after wrestling", but I've wondered about it. And now I have my chance to witness it, first hand. This weekend is the 2010 Old School Derby Association (OSDA) Championships. The event will be held in Poughkeepsie by the 2009 Defending Champions, Man's Ruin, who will take on the Penn Jersey She Devils.

What is Old School Derby?

From the OSDA website (http://oldschoolderbyassociation.com/):

"The OSDA was crated for those who want to skate something more akin to what the original Roller Derby was like. It is the foal of OSDA & its members to restore ties with "Old School" skaters, trainers, and coaches from past decades and leadn from their experiences and input.... Old School rules were created by melding many of the current developments in Flat Track Derby with the rules used by Old School Banked Track Roller Derby skaters."

Also, here is a FAQ about OSD: http://oldschoolderbyassociation.com/faq/old-school-myths-and-realities/

I'm very intrigued and hope to get down to Poughkeepsie on Saturday to check it out! I'm not interested in playing OSD, but I think this would be a neat opportunity to get a better understanding of what it is. I'm sure it will make my head explode, haha.