A sharp referee whistle cuts through the grunts and shouts inside the Iowa State Fairgrounds' Knapp Animal Learning Center, ending a struggle between a tangle of players clad in quad roller skates and colorful jerseys. Wheels rattle across the floor as the two teams reset, with a crowd of onlookers arching to see from all corners of the wide event space.
For the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Des Moines Roller Derby skaters held a sanctioned bout last November, marking a major milestone for the growing all-gender league. The team faced off against the Peoria Prowlers in a game authorized by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), the international governing body for the sport. The bout was part of an ongoing test run as WFTDA considers creating an open division that would allow skaters of all genders to compete together, a move that reflects a broader shift happening across roller derby leagues nationwide.
"This is the first really big event that we've been able to do in Des Moines in many years, and we're just so excited," said Katie Akin, a Des Moines Roller Derby skater known on the team as “Skatie Breakin’."
Roller derby is a fast-paced, full-contact sport played on an oval track. While some teams play in banked rinks, derby is more commonly found on flat tracks today, as they allow leagues to play on skating rinks, basketball courts and in parking lots. Games are broken into a series of two-minute rounds called "jams," during which teams field five skaters consisting of four "blockers" and one "jammer." The jammer, identifiable by a star on their helmet cover, is the only skater who can score points during a jam, earning one point for each opposing team member they lap once they manage to break through the blockers.
The sport is physical, earning a reputation for its rough play that is frequently compared to rugby. It can also be dangerous: in 2012, a player in Mason City died after a fall at high speed. But the game is also tightly regulated. Skaters wear helmets and pads, and penalties are issued for illegal or unsafe contact, such as hitting with elbows or making contact with an opponent’s head or below the knees. Penalties send skaters to a penalty box for 30 seconds of jam time.
“There are rules, we do wear helmets, and we cannot punch each other,” Akin said with a laugh. “Those are the three biggest questions we get.”
Roller derby originated in the 1930s as a professional endurance spectacle, invented during the Great Depression. The marathon skating races eventually incorporated physical contact and dramatic rivalries, but by the 1970s, rising costs and declining interest nearly led to the sport’s collapse. The sport resurfaced in the early 2000s as a grassroots, volunteer-run movement centered on flat-track play, which laid the groundwork for organizations like WFTDA, which now includes hundreds of leagues across more than 30 countries. Iowa alone is home to at least eight active roller derby teams, including leagues in Ames, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Sioux Falls and the Quad Cities.
Roller derby is also known for its theatrical flair. The sport embraces pun-filled nicknames (like "Florence Nightmare" or "Britney Smears"), a practice inspired by drag queens, as well as creative makeup and outfits.
“Roller derby is a great game because the community is really wonderful,” said Dannielle Morgan, who skates as “Vigor MorgueTis” for the Peoria Prowlers. “We all know this is a high-intensity sport, so when you're out on the track, there's high emotions, but there's also a lot of appreciation for other people's skills."
While the amateur sport has been long dominated by women, many modern teams — including DMRD — are all-gender, welcoming skaters of different gender identities, body types and athletic backgrounds.
“You can be six-and-a-half feet tall, you can be four-and-a-half feet tall. Every body type has a place in roller derby," Akin said. "Every body type has advantages over others competitively. Someone who's really large or really tall can do certain moves that someone who's very small couldn't do, but then on the flip side, someone who's very small might be better at other stuff. So it really is just welcoming to everyone."
