Moving Day!!!

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Passing the Star

The star pass...we love watching it when it goes right, but we love watching it even more when it goes wrong. It sounds simple enough (the jammer passes her star cover to her pivot, and the pivot becomes the new jammer), but the complexities of this maneuver make it very difficult to complete legally.

Key points:

- Once the jammer takes off her star, she can no longer score points (unless she puts the star cover back on). If she had lead jammer status, she loses this status immediately; it does to transfer to the pivot, and she does not get it back even if she puts the star back on her helmet.

- The star must be handed directly from jammer to pivot.

- Only the jammer or pivot can pick up a dropped star.

- The star cannot be passed to a pivot in queue for the penalty box.

- The star cannot be passed from a jammer to a pivot if the jammer is in queue for the penalty box. If the jammer is sent to the box before the star pass is complete (before the star is put on the pivot's helmet), the jammer will go to the box as the jammer (with or without her helmet cover).

Rules about passing the star fall under Section 3.5 Passing the Star.

Cutting the Track

Cutting the track is one of my least favorite penalties, mainly because it is almost entirely avoidable. Any skater that goes out of bounds must re-enter the track without bettering their position in relation to other in-play skaters. As long as a skater is familiar with the rules and has the skating skills to stop and change direction quickly, she should be able to successful avoid cutting the track penalties.

When a skater is forced out of bounds by an opposing skater, she must re-enter behind the initiating skater EXCEPT when:

1) The initiating skater commits a penalty before the out of bounds skater re-enters.
2) The initiating skater goes out of bounds after initiating the block.
3) The initiating skater falls or takes a knee.
4) The initiating skater exits the engagement zone after initiating the block.

A skater may not re-enter bettering her position in relation to one or more opposing skaters. A skater may not re-enter bettering her position in relation to two or more teammates; a player may re-enter bettering her position in relation to a single teammate without penalty.

Rules about cutting the track fall under Section 6.11 CUTTING THE TRACK.

Direction of Gameplay Penalties

In a nutshell: If you want to initiate contact against an opposing player or assist a teammate, you must be moving your feet in a counter-clockwise or lateral direction. If your feet are moving in a clockwise direction you could be charged with a clockwise block (or assist) penalty. If your feet aren't moving at all, you could be charged with a stopped block (or assist) penalty.

Rules discussed: 6.9 DIRECTION OF GAMEPLAY PENALTIES.

Scrum Starts

Love 'em or love to hate 'em, scrum starts are an integral part of modern derby strategy. Although scrum starts come in many different flavors, here is the setup for the classic jammer line scrum start:

1) One team's blockers line up in a solid wall directly in front of the jammer line.
2) The other team's blockers line up in a solid wall directly in front of the first team's wall.
3) One of those lines have all players starting on a knee.
4) First whistle blows, starting the jam.
5) "No pack" is called.
6) Double whistle is blown, releasing the jammers.
7) Jammers muscle their way through these walls.
8) Rinse.
9) Repeat.

In order to release the jammers during a jammer line scrum start, one team must have all their blockers on a knee (taking themselves out of play) BEFORE the first whistle blows. This legally starts the jam in a 'no pack' situation (technically the jam has started without a formed pack, so no one is illegally destroying the pack), which releases the jammer. The blockers on their knees must IMMEDIATELY stand up and reform the pack, or else they will be penalized for failure to reform. If entire team takes a knee after the jam has already begun, the last blocker to take a knee will be penalized for destroying the pack.

Rules about destroying the pack fall under Section 6.10 OUT OF PLAY PENALTIES.

Ghost Points

Ever wonder how a jammer can score her full 4 (or 5, depending on the opposing jammer) points if there are opposing players in the box? That's where ghost points come into play.

On every scoring pass, as soon a jammer scores her first point, she also picks up 'ghost points' or 'not on the track points' for any opposing player that 1)is in the penalty box, 2)is on the way to the penalty box, 3)is returning from the penalty box (but is behind the jammer), 4)has removed herself from play, 5) was not fielded on the track before the start of the jam.

Rules about ghost points fall under Section 8 SCORING.

The Pack

I missed a few things in the first video, so here's another video for some clarification:



Defining the pack is arguably one of the hardest concepts in roller derby to understand. The videos above cover the most basic definition of the pack, because I could probably make an hour-long video if I included all the scenarios in which pack definition comes into play (the zone of engagement, "no pack" vs. "out of play", intentionally destroying the pack, starting a jam with a no pack situation, etc.).

Rules about the pack definition fall under Section 4.1 PACK DEFINITION.

The actual definition of the pack is "the largest group of in bounds blockers, skating in proximity, containing members of both teams". Additionally, there can only be one pack, and both teams are responsible for maintaining a legal pack. This definition is simple enough, and would be fairly easy to recognize if all the skaters agreed to skate really slowly, and never changed positions. Unfortunately, roller derby is generally a fast paced game, and figuring out where the pack is can be challenging for anyone watching (and sometimes even for those playing). My advice on learning more about the pack? Go watch (and play!) A LOT of roller derby, and you'll figure it out.

Now go watch "Highlander". You'll thank me later.