It’s a lot to unpack, but let’s give it a shot: Flat track roller derby is a contact sport played on an oval track by players in quad skates. The games are commonly called “bouts,” and the two-minute-apiece contests within those bouts are “jams.” There are three positions on the track: The jammer, who scores points by lapping opposing players; the pivot, who can control the speed of play; and the blockers, who knock jammers off their pace and sometimes off the track entirely.

I’m leaving much out, but admittedly I’ve never studiously read the WFTDA (Women’s Flat Track Derby Association) rulebook, let alone played derby myself. Everything I know about flat track derby I learned by watching it being played, beginning in the mid-2000s when some cool, stalwart and fearless women resurrected the sport, whose popularity first peaked in the 1950s-1960s, in a new, punk-rock DIY idiom. Among the WFTDA’s founding leagues was Las Vegas’ own Fabulous Sin City Roller Derby (sincityrollerderby.org), which played its first season in 2005. The gender-inclusive league is now well into season 19, and they can’t stop, won’t stop.

“Like we all say, we sacrifice our bodies to save our souls, and that’s pretty much all it is,” says FSCRD skater and general manager Pain Gretzky. (Almost forgot: The skaters choose their own player names, and they’re awesome. Some of FSCRD’s other current skaters include Buzz Fightyear, Nitro Glistenin’ and Slim Skatey. Gretzky—who, like most derby players I’ve known, prefers not to use her “government name” when it’s not required—plays for one of the FSCRD’s travel teams and for its in-league Notorious VIP squad.)

“We’re all going through something, and derby has just been a huge outlet for me personally,” Gretzky says. “You know, just being able to disassociate safely.”

In a way, it’s like that for fans, too. Derby brings together elements of a lot of sports fandoms—the athleticism of basketball, the speed of hockey and a bit of the kayfabe of professional wrestling—into a tremendously satisfying hour of whips, hip-checks and grand slams. Once you realize that the skaters who seem like bitter rivals on the track are working together behind the scenes to keep this 100-strong, all-volunteer league rolling, it’s easy—and terrific fun—to lean into the cheery bloodsport of the bouts.

“I can’t speak for everyone, but [derby] is my only way to actually have friends,” Gretzky says. “My only friends are derby people, and they’re the only people I trust with my life and my children.” 

As it has for many WFTDA-affiliated leagues, FSCRD’s popularity has waxed and waned. They once played bouts to a sizeable audience at the Riviera, but today the crowds are smaller, and the league is currently looking for an indoor venue to call home.

“We could even use a warehouse,” Gretzky says. “We tell everyone all the time, ‘We’ll rent your shanty warehouse as long as it’s big enough for us and we can put our track down and we can have fans.’ We will do all that, and we can pay for it.”

In the meantime, FSCRD is playing outdoor bouts at West Flamingo Park. (“We’re just subjected to the elements at this point,” Gretzky jokes.) Their next home bout is June 29, and features the league’s four in-house teams squaring off: The Flying Aces against the Notorious VIP, and the Stardust vs. the Hoover Damned. (These names! You gotta love it.) If you’ve never seen a derby bout, start now. And if you’ve seen a bout or two, it’s a great time to return to the Vegas sports entertainment franchise that preceded the Knights, Raiders and Aces. You can support Fabulous Sin City Roller Derby from the stands … or, if you were born rolling, from the track.

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