Derby has sunk to a new low today

With the forfeit of Dutchland against Gotham for "strategical" purposes, the sport of women's roller derby has sunk to a whole new low and has given the middle finger to the fans.

The Dutchland coach, "Merv the Perv" asserts that roller derby should not be compared to other sports because it is "by the skaters and for the skaters".

As a fan, a journalist, league consultant and an overall derby lover who has seen my share of derby (and derby drama) from both the inside and outside, I am personally sick of this "by the skater and for the skater" bullshit.

Sure, it was great back in the mid 2000s when the leagues were bending over backwards to do everything to disassociate themselves from "Roller Jam", "Roller Games" with the alligators as well as the classic roller derby of years gone by. This was back when leagues were these small clubs (sometimes mistaken for bar room fight clubs) and they were not taken seriously in the media for nothing other than a something at the level of a punk rock concert. At the time the media associated the sport with the WWE style hijinks that took place on TV when I was growing up watching the T-birds (yes, I am old).

Derby has come a long way. For some leagues, we have gone away from bouting at the Rolly-Rama and at outdoor parking lots and are now in venues like the Key Arena in Seattle and Veteran's Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. Derby is trying to go big-time but we continue to stick to some of our old ways. We continue to use the fake names (especially those of the R and X rated varieties), we continue to dress in fishnet stockings, garters and skimpy uniforms, we continue to hold our only special events at 21+ bars and similar shows and we continue to exclude qualified people who don't or can't skate from holding operations positions in leagues because of the supposed golden rule of derby that leagues have to be "by the skaters and for the skaters". Let's not forget the drinking, the drinking and the drinking.

If you are trying to attract the Viagra generation (male 21~34) in adult oriented locations, then fine.. stick with what you have got. But then we hear people complain when they hear the media say that "derby is not a sport" or it's just a "sex show on wheels"... well guess what, many (but not all) of the leagues are continuing to insist on creating this environment.

From everything from public involvement, mismatched teams and an extreme complexity of the rules, derby, even at the WFTDA level continues to put the fans way in the back seat and some might say, under the bus.

If you look at WFTDA's website or even DNN, it is more geared towards "skater fans" (even though DNN has been vastly improving their content lately). The WFTDA front end website should be 100% fan focused with a link to take the user to a skater/league focused site for league operations. Could you imagine if nfl.com, nba.com or nascar.com were focused on the league operations and team support and had little outreach to the fans? This is where derby is falling extremely short.

Of course, I realize that this is mainly a volunteer effort on everyone's part but at the same time, we are wanting to be taken seriously as a sport. To be taken seriously as a public spectator sport that is competing with other sports and things to do on a Saturday night, you have to shift your focus on the fans. They are your bread and butter. They are also your best advertising.

I really think that WFTDA should consider starting a volunteer fan advisory board made up solely of those who do not have a connection to a WFTDA league (e.g. no skaters, no NSOs, no refs, no announcers, etc.) but who represent the fan base and the media. This is a group that should meet frequently by conference call along with WFTDA leadership and brainstorm ideas from a fan perspective on how to improve the fan experience. The little fill in the dot fan surveys just don't cut it. You need something more like a focus group.

Derby is starting to evolve from a physical game to a brain game between the use of various strategy that makes the game less desirable to watch (today's forfeit has sunk the brain game theory to a whole new low) as well as complex rules that require a rocket scientist or a well versed paralegal to decipher.

But yes, derby is still "by the skater and for the skater, at the expense of the fans." and it's up to derby to improve the experience for ALL fans.

Let's first declare "by the skaters and for the skaters" as something that went out with button shoes and let's move forward. Are you ready? I am.