Being a part of Roller Derby Inside Track has been an interesting experience to say the least. The idea for RDIT was conceived last summer as a website that reported roller derby news. I know what you’re thinking, another roller derby website, are you going to start selling t-shirts and skates too? The thing that we set out to do, to separate ourselves from the rest of the roller derby websites and magazines, was to report about the sport and the culture, both negatively and positively; to question things.

We get some interesting feedback here at RDIT because of this: Emails informing us that we hate WFTDA, that we are breaking the WFTDA non-disclosure agreement, and ruining the sport in general. It’s ironic that in a subculture where everyone is suppose to be an individual, how quickly people accept what is the unquestioned norm. We hate WFTDA? That is like saying I hate the USA because I dislike how much of my tax dollars are spent on national defense instead of education. It is the lowest common denominator point to make in an argument, accusing someone of hating an entire organization because of not falling lock step, unquestionably in line with all of their policies and principals.

On the flipside we have received an incredible amount of positive feedback. Its not uncommon for us to get emails that say “thanks for saying what no one else is publicly” or the not as poetic but equally as satisfying “you rock”. In a short time, we have established ourselves as a site who is always truthful, that admits when we are wrong, and stands up for what we think is right. Those qualities have struck a chord with not only roller derby players but fans as well, who are the main people we are trying to reach with RDIT.

The difference between Roller Derby Inside Track and the majority of websites and publications that report on roller derby is we are not scared to yell “the emperor wears no clothes” when it is true. We are not beholden to anyone but our readers, and ourselves the way journalism should be in its purest form. We write in the vein of ESPN and Sports Illustrated, where anything related to a sport, both on and off the track, are fair game. The thing that is awkward about this is that so far, this type of journalism has been shied away from and discouraged in roller derby. It’s a strange dichotomy in which a sport exists that is marketed as a counter culture movement, yet the flow of information is so tightly controlled and unquestioned. How have we come to exist in a sub culture in which so many nonconformists quickly conform?

The other major difference between traditional sports media and us is that we are involved in the sport on some level. Currently there are very few, if any mainstream journalists, magazines, or sports blogs outside of the derby microcosm that report on the sport of roller derby. For roller derby to grow, for it to continue to prosper, someone has to write about it, to report on it, for people to read, talk about, and debate it. But that also means that we and the sport have to be honest, to ourselves and the fans. For it to continue to expand it cannot exist in a world in which bad news goes unseen via selective blind eyes. If roller derby is to be taken seriously as a sport, as many people champion for it to be, then it must be treated like a real sport on all levels and sometimes that isn’t pretty. If you want to be a real sport, there is a real price to pay that comes with it.

Some argue that any negative press will hurt roller derby in its infant stage; I wholeheartedly disagree with this. All sports have negative aspects, situations, players, and scandals. Football has survived Bill Romanowski, Michael Vick, and Ben Roethlisberger. Baseball is still alive after the Black Sox Scandal, Pete Rose betting on game, and the Steroid Era. In the annals of history, the people who commit these embarrassing infractions are the ones who suffer, not the sport itself. Roller derby is no different; the good will always drastically outweigh the bad. 

Do we hate everyone? No, we really don’t, well I take that back, we do hate Nazis and people who don’t flush the toilet after they are done. We don’t hate WFTDA, we are actually big fans of watching roller derby and seeing the best in the world play each other. We at RDIT will continue to write about roller derby, about the good, the bad, and the ugly. We will write about rules that we think are out dated, about players who should be suspended when they do something dangerous and egregious, and other things that need to change. We do so not out of hate, but because deep down, we care very deeply and sincerely about roller derby.

*illustration by Boxcar