Roller derby!

Rhinestone Cowgirls (red) versus the Holy Rollers (black/white)

We've never been to a roller derby before so were not sure what to expect. It's actually pretty rock'n'roll (forgive the pun) and very lively. Two teams of rollergirls compete against each other. As far as we can figure out, the main pack starts out at the first whistle (shown in the video above). The pack is led by a pacesetter from each team (with a stripe on her helmet). The second whistle launches the two sprinters (star on helmet) who have to get past the pack of blockers, complete a lap to get round behind the pack again, and then they get a point for each member of the opposing team they pass on this second encounter with the pack.

There seems to be a lot of finer points which we missed, penalties were being awarded for I know not what. I dare say there are rules about tackling/blocking/tripping people over or whatever.

It gets spiced up when spontaneous fights break out between girls; on more than one occasion two rollergirls would just break off the chase and start having it out amongst themselves!

Meanwhile, sometimes extra challenges are delivered to the teams, which seems to be driven by a wheel-of-fortune. This is usually a one-on-one challenge. We saw tug-of-war, arm wrestling and pillow fighting and I'm sure the list grows longer...

It was very entertaining!