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So it’s your first time at a game and you want to follow what’s going on. Have no fear TCDS is here!

The Basics
Women’s flat-track roller derby is played on a flat surface inside of an oval track and follows the rules set by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). Each game is broken up into two 30-minute halves; each of those halves has a series of up-to-two-minute sections called jams. Up to five skaters can be on the track for each team: four blockers (one of which is a pivot, denoted by a striped helmet), and one point-scoring player, the jammer (star helmet). Before the start of each jam, the blockers and pivots from both teams line up in front of the jammer line, while the jammers line up behind it. When the whistle blows, the jam begins.

When the jam starts, the blockers, and pivots from both teams create a formation called the pack. They may not leave the pack, nor may they destroy the pack by one group of players running away from the other group. The jammers, on the other hand, must attempt to leave the pack if they wish to score. The first jammer to legally get past every member of the pack is declared Lead Jammer, which means she may stop or “call off” the jam at any point by placing her hands on her hips multiple times. (More on that later.)

Once a jammer gets through the pack once (whether they are lead or not), they’re eligible to score. Jammers score points by legally passing the hips of opposing players. On every lap, the jammer is eligible to score up to five points (one for each blocker, and if the scoring jammer has lapped the opposing jammer, a fifth point). Jams last until the lead jammer calls the jam off, or when two minutes have elapsed. And after a thirty second reset, all the action starts again.