Sell the sport, not the sex..

Recently a discussion came up in the Roller Derby PR group on Facebook. This discussion was based around how to get sports writers to take today's DIY roller derby seriously. I offered my advice.

Sell the sport, not the sex.. even at your special events and fundraisers.. this is where a lot of leagues have made the mistake and that's why this is a lifestyle story and not a bona fide sports story.

Also, while I love many of the elements of DIY derby, some of these elements such as fake names for skaters, the whole punk/tattoo thing, "by the skaters and for the skaters" and the major focus on alcohol consumption, while traditions in modern all girl DIY derby are in the long run hurting the sport from being taken seriously as a sport. I don't feel that roller derby will be taken seriously until there is a professional circuit and the presentation is of a professional manner.

Derby has been a sport that has been in desperate need of an image overhaul since the 1970s. With the WWE style antics of the 1970s, the alligators and figure 8 tracks of the 1980s, the soap opera of RollerJam and the "soft porn on wheels" image of today (yes, one Phoenix paper did call it that...), the sport needs some major repairs.

In the long run, derby is going to need to decide its own fate and as the sport progresses, breaking of some traditions may be in order.

Just my thoughts.