Who We Are

​

Lil’ Adelaide Rollers was founded by two mums, Mama B and Lil’ Mama C, who wanted their kids (who themselves were already massive roller derby fans) to be able to have a go at playing flat track roller derby. Discovering that junior derby in Australia was almost non-existent; in August 2010 they decided to form their own junior league in Adelaide, South Australia. Since then, junior roller derby has quickly spread across Australia with leagues popping up in nearly every state.

​

Staying close with the grassroots philosophy of adult roller derby, the Lil’ Adelaide Rollers board is primarily made up of the parents and family members of our skaters to ensure that the league is run with the skaters’ best interests in mind.



We use the Junior Roller Derby Association’s (JRDA) system of assessing skill levels to make sure that our skaters are skilled and safe enough to play roller derby, whilst primarily using the Women’s Flat Track Derby Associaton’s (WFTDA) rule set. Unlike some junior roller derby leagues, Lil’ Adelaide Rollers is full contact just like the adults, although our skaters must go through rigorous skills and safety assessments before they are able to use contact in training to ensure safe and legal gameplay.



If you are under 18 and wanting to play roller derby, or have a child that is interested in playing roller derby, shoot us off an email to let us know that you want to attend a training session. We look forward to seeing you there!!



What Is Roller Derby?

Roller derby is a sport on quad roller skates where the aim of the game is to score points by overlapping skaters from the opposing team. A group of skaters called "the pack", made up of skaters from each team, begin by skating around a circular track. Soon after the pack starts skating, one person from each team, called “the jammers”, must attempt to get through to the front of the pack before the other team’s jammer in order to be named lead jammer.



Both jammers must then skate another lap and attempt to get back through the pack, scoring one point per person from the opposing team that they pass. The skaters in the pack are called “the blockers” and must attempt to block the opposing team’s jammer from getting through the pack. Each round is called a “jam” and runs for a full 2 minutes, or until the lead jammer calls it off by placing their hands on their hips. Although roller derby is traditionally a women’s sport, Lil’ Adelaide Rollers is proud to be a co-ed league to allow both boys and girls the chance to learn and play junior roller derby.



Junior roller derby is essentially the same as adult roller derby, just with more rigorous skill assessments before contact is allowed.

Roller derby is a very community-driven sport and prides itself on “grassroots” style organisation. Roller derby is also highly theatrical with each skater having his/her own alias, or “derby name” and designing their own costume, or “boutfit”. This theatrical element does not take away from the real athleticism of the sport however; in order to play roller derby, each skater must learn a wide array of skating skills, strategies and manoeuvring abilities. Lil’ Adelaide Rollers is teaching the next generation of derby stars!!