D3's Cosmo Disco retires

Lacy "Cosmo Disco" Brunnette of the Des Moines Derby Dames announced her retirement, and the team announced her decision on july 18. 


It's always a sad time when skaters decide to hang up their skates, but they always have their reasons. Disco was a hell of a skater, and hopefully she keeps derby close to her heart as she moves on.


You can find her fashion blog, here.

By the Position – Pivot/No. 1

Welcome to the first in hopefully a series of five blogs in which we'll break down the five different positions a team may field during a jam. Since each team has different language and names for the position we will try to make our breakdowns as basic as possible.

 
Today's blog will focus on the No. 1 position, or the general pivot position. 
 
The No. 1 generally holds the front-inside position.
 
"We just call it Pivot," says Erica "Hoosier Mama" Jones of Windy City Rollers. "Pretty much the last line of defense — Keeping that front on lock down to prevent the exit of the opposing jammer." 
 
The players wearing the pivot cover (striped helmet cover) have first right to the pivot line, a clearly marked line that extends from the inside track boundary to the outside boundary. Pivots are the only players who may line up on the pivot line, although neither is required to do so. If any pivot lines up on the pivot line, all other non-pivot skaters (this includes friendly and opposing players) must line up behind her hips.
 
Again, the pivot is not required to line up at the front of the pack, nor do the rules specify that the pivot must stay at the top of the pack. Some pivots will fall back into the pack, or hang out on the outside of the pack. 

Pivots sometimes are likened to the pace cars in a jam.
 
"Pivot also acts as the person who controls the pack and its speed," says Jones, who's skated with WCR since 2006. "The pivot can work with the back blocker as a great communicator since she can keep her head turned and see all that is happening or is going to happen and relay it to her team. She has room up there for more movement which gives her a few more seconds to take a look around at what's occurring."
 
Knowing when to speed the pack up versus slowing it down can be intimidating for a newer skater. The position is generally reserved for more experienced skaters who understand her team's focus and all the avenues of gameplay occurring on the fly.
 
"It gets difficult in the front when most of the action is occurring in the back," Jones says.
 
"The pivot really has to make smart plays so she doesn't take herself too far out of position and leave the front wide open for the opposing to team to take over, Sometimes as a pivot you can feel a bit useless while you're 'waiting' for that opposing jammer to get near you. You definitely have to make smart moves in order to keep your pack under control. It can be more of a thinker position."
 
But the position isn't without its benefits.
 
"I like having more room for movement in the front of the pack," Jones says. "Mid-pack and back pack tend to get a little tight." 
 
"While in the front I have the opportunity to cover more track and get to where I need/want to be quicker," she says. "I like the feeling of making that one move that helps your jammer bust out of the front of that pack and get lead or hit the track for another scoring pass. Usually by the time that opposing jammer gets to you her speed has been impeded by your players and all the chaos in the pack so you don't have to scramble as much to stop her, slow her down, etc."
 
A team's pivot is also the only player who may receive a "star pass" from her jammer. The star pass is when the jammer physically hands the star cover to the pivot, who then puts the star cover over the top of her pivot cover. Often considered the "Hail, Mary" of roller derby, a jammer may decide to pass the star because she's tired, she is in penalty trouble, or the pivot may be in a better position to score points. 
 
Only the jammer may hand the cover to the pivot. The star may not be thrown. If the star is dropped, only the pivot or the jammer may pick it up. The opposing team may block a star pass as long as it uses legal blocking techniques.
 
Jones has some advice for any skater looking to work on her Pivot abilities.

Work on your lateral moves! The more you move forward the less room you are giving yourself to work with at the front.  Pushing/chasing too far out will defeat any plays your team has made towards that opposing jammer and/or pack. Try to avoid going after useless blocks on opposing blockers. Make your moves/blocks count because if you miss or slip up there usually isn't anyone in front of you to pick up your slack. You tend to be your jammers best friend so work on your timing. You're like the gate keeper in a sense haha. Realize that you may not be the one making those awesome huge knock down take out hits all the time."


Other Pivots to watch:
Sk8r-Kinney-Cincinnati Roller Girls

Dolly Rocket - Charm City Roller Girls

Sassy - Oly Rollers

Mobi-wan Kenobi - Rose City Rollers

Shenita Stretcher - Philly Roller Girls


Read the rest of the series:

By the position – An intro

By the position – Pivot/No. 1

By the position – No. 2

By the position – No. 3

By the position – No. 4

By the position – Jammer/No. 5
 
Links

Skate Log Forum — Pivot Tips

Gotham Girls Roller Derby — What does a pivot do?

Bright Hub — What does the Pivot do?

WFTDA No Minors Beta Testing

The Women's Flat Track Derby Association in April announced the league would be testing a new beta rule set in which minors were eliminated from the game.

As both a coach and referee, I wanted to reserve judgment until I had an opportunity to watch a test bout. Thank god for DVDs.

I just got my package of East Coast Extravaganza 2011 DVDs from Blaze Streaming Media Blazing Media Promotions.

I finished watching the WCR-MTL bout last night, which was under the standard rule set.

Upon starting the WCR-Charm bout, I realized it was under the Beta Test rules with no minors and it's definitely interesting.

The obvious impact is minor elbows, back blocks, etc., that have low impact to gameplay aren't called.

This gives jammers a lot more freedom to skate without worrying about picking up her fourth minor. The jammer rotations remain set, unless a short rotation needs a rest.

The second major impact is what constitutes a cutting penalty.

Under the standard rule set if a skater passes two or more skaters, or the fore-most blocker, (regardless of color) the offending player will be assessed a major penalty and directed to the box.

Only cutting one player, regardless of team, will earn a skater a minor penalty.

Under the No Minors Beta Test, a player may pass one friendly player while skating out of bounds without being assessed a penalty. However passing two players of any color, or one player of the opposing team, will result in a major penalty.

In the WCR-Charm bout, jammers are constantly forced to recycle to the back of the pack, to keep from taking a major penalty.

As a coach, it would be nice to not have to worry about minor penalties. I'm usually the point person for checking minors and deciding whether to draw an intentional fourth minor or bench a player because of minors.

From a ref's perspective, not having the extra whiteboard and personnel in the center would free up lots of space in the middle. Also WFTDA rules are generally designed to promote the safety of the sport. Misconduct, Blocking to the Head and Direction of Gameplay are all rules designed to keep skaters safe.

If WFTDA was to remove minors from the rules then it would allow the higher-level teams would be allowed to play without worrying about picking up penalties that minimally affect gameplay.

I do think the minors help keep lower-level players safe, holding skaters to a high accountability for things that could escalate into grosser penalties.

The Beta Test isn't necessarily a guarantee WFTDA will remove minors from the rule set. Instead, these games give the organization a greater awareness of the play level and impact certain rules and sub-rules have on the game.

They could as easily Beta Test a clockwise-skating rules set.

Answering a question or two about no pack situations

Question: Can you engage the jammer in a no pack situation?
Answer: In No Pack situations blockers may not actively or passively engage a Jammer ... Or other blockers. This includes, but not limited to, hitting, booty blocking or merely standing in her way -- These are all penalties in no pack situations. Likewise, jammers may not engage blockers in a No Pack situation, as they are considered out of play -- jammers are still subject to penalties for an action to an Out of Play player. A Jammer can however engage the other jammer as long as both players remain In Play (on the track, upright).


Question: Who's responsible for reforming the pack in a No Pack situation?
Answer: The onus is on both teams to try and reform the pack, however only one person is required to attempt to reform the pack. If neither team tries to reform the pack in a No Pack situation, a penalty will be assessed to each team. If one team attempts to reform the pack, and the other team attempts to evade or keep the pack destroyed, then the offending team will be assessed the penalty. 


Question: What happens if the pack is destroyed by game play?
Answer: Destruction of the pack is generally considered a willful act. If the pack is destroyed via a block sending someone out of bounds or or down, referees shouldn't call a destroying the pack penalty. Destruction of the pack generally comes from one team willfully speeding faster than the natural pace of the pack or breaking excessively to slow down as the other half continues forward.


Question: Who gets the penalty for destroying the pack?
Answer: The referees usually assess a destroying the pack penalty to (in this order): The offending player who acts to destroy the pack, the player who orders the destruction of the pack, the pivot, the captain/alternate or the closest player to the referee.

B Train and Wicked

I finished up my hybrid interview with B Train of Wicked Skatewear yesterday. The interview is kind of a hodging and podging of e-mail Q&A and phone conversation. 


Lucky for me I got some great audio, so I'm hoping I can upload a clip here (if not somewhere else).


It'll accompany a piece I'm working on about derby entrepreneurs (spelling, holy jeeze the French have hard words) that may or may not hit print in the near future. I haven't officially pitched it yet, and had just planned on posting it as a blog.

Plus, the conversation with B sparked a reminder about an idea I had several months ago. I need to write down an outline and put it together.

My piece on transgender skaters made it into Five on Five, so if you're a subscriber or someone interested in trans policies throughout North America, it might be worth it for you to pick. I was lucky enough to speak to a couple of women about their lives and roller derby. And hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to them again down the road.


The Five on Five piece is my first magazine clip, which is pretty exciting. I mostly get to write the occasional newspaper preview story about bands coming into the Quad-Cities and my annual Oscar preview. When Five on Five accepted and published my article, I was thrilled.


So here's to more articles ... and blogs.


I'll try and get an audio clip or a quote blurb here on fivepointgrandslam.com soon. In the meantime, I'm waiting on responses from four different skaters in regards to my By the Position series I'm planning. So far, no luck. But I'm holding out hope.


I had wanted to write it after I got some responses back from the skaters, rather than just my pontificating on the subject alone. I guess time will tell.

Overcoming the Dark Side of Roller Derby

This can be found at Live Derby Girls:
http://livederbygirls.com/2011/02/13/overcoming-the-dark-side-of-roller-derby/


It's one of the most thoughtful, positively motivating blogs even in the face of derby's grimmer moments (posted back in February, but I recommend reading the writer's other contributions).


It can be really hard when someone who you thought was your friend would rather stab you in the back.


Or when you lost all motivation to go to practice.


Or you've forgotten why you've gotten into the sport in the first place.


Thanks, TrACDC for sharing your story.

Response - By the position

Cruel Whip made a great statement about the ability for skaters not to get locked into just one position on the track.

So important that teams understand the can’t rigidly hang on to the position they’ve been assigned when their teammates fall out for penalties, injuries or what have you. Pack structure may be rigidly defined, but the skaters filling those positions should be dynamic.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks to Cruel Whip (as always for the Tumblr shout-out, and for Chasey DC for reposting it on her Fast & Frightening Tumblr. 


I'm currently working on posts for the individual positions, so if you know someone who is an awesome player in her position let me know. I'm hoping to post about the No. 1 position within the week.