Posted 28 July 2013 by WindyMan in The Another Derby Series. Leave a Comment

Good news, RollerCon attendees. You are going to RollerCon!

That’s enough of a reason to be excited. But here’s another: WRDN is also going to RollerCon! And we’re doing a seminar as a part of the Another Derby Series!

The summarily titled Another Derby: The Seminar will attempt to cram 78 years of roller derby history, game rules, strategy, and videos from both the classic and modern eras of the game into a single hour. In examining the derby rules of the past and comparing them to the rules of the present in another way, we can discover the fundamental concepts of roller derby that persist through all versions of the game.

Whether they be sport or sports entertainment; done for the show or done for the competition; or legitimate or illegitimate, we’ll boil it all down to what the essence of roller derby is all about. That done, we will then then take this knowledge and apply it to the modern game in a way that will hopefully improve it for everyone.

Some of the topics to be covered include:

• The main strategy behind Leo Seltzer‘s original roller derby rules and how USARS is trying to preserve it with theirs

• The changes Jerry Seltzer made to the game in the 1960s and how the resulting pivot strategies apply to MADE (and USARS) roller derby

• How the Japanese solved the power jam problem 20 years ago at the first World Cup, and how the RDCL solved its power jam issues in a similar way

• Why the Rollergames TV show and its figure-8 track, jump ramp, Wall of Death, and alligator pit is truer to the sport of roller derby than the WFTDA—in one way, at least

If you are curious about the full history of roller derby, want to see what roller derby looked like in The Old Times, want to see how and why other modern derby rule sets play the way they do, or just want to discover something new and interesting about the game we all love, this seminar is for you!

Take in the first half of the Arch Rival vs. Rocky Mountain WFTDA game in the challenge bout hall Friday night, then join us outside in Room #115 at 7:30 p.m. You can find the seminar on the RC Google Calendar schedule, here.

In case you can’t be there, or you hate fun and won’t be at RollerCon this year, good news! There are tentative plans to film the seminar for uploading to YouTube at a later date, so everyone can see what it is all about. Or, you can take it all in the old fashioned way by reading the Another Derby Series entries here, starting from the beginning and working up through Chapter 11. Note that Part 4 of the series, consisting of Chapters 12-14, will be coming within the next few months. So look out for that soon.

But if you want to see it all—or at least, most of it—then we will see you in Room #115 on Friday night for Another Derby: The Seminar. Be there, or be somewhere less fulfilling!