Roller derby is a contact sport on roller skates that’s especially practiced by women. A game lasts two times thirty minutes. Two teams of five players each have to attach one another while roller skating around a track. Game time is divided in ‘jams’ of two minutes each at the most, during which the ‘jammer’ of each team tries to score points by lapping members of the other team. Of course, ‘blockers’ of the other team will try to prevent that from happening, preferably by checking the jammer from the track.

“It’s an extremely fast and strategic game”, says Kager-Nguyen. She’s been a member of Rockcity Rollers for two years now, where she goes by the name of Dee Dee Dominator. Nicknames are part of roller derby, and so is a little showboating and heavy music.
Roller derby can be rough, which is why the movements of the players are monitored meticulously by no less than seven referees - excluding the officials without roller skates outside the tracks.

In The Netherlands, roller derby has only been around for about five years. At the moment, there are fifteen clubs and aspiring clubs. By organizing the Dutch championships in Eindhoven, the Rockcity Rollers hope to put the sport on the map.

Tickets for ‘Blood, Skates, and Tears’ are available through this website.