I recently did some deep searching about the internal drive and purpose of Roller Derby Athletics. I was trying to give definition to my spark plugs — those little fires that drive me to work on this project — that have always been there but are sometimes hard to define.

The results are in!

Roller Derby Athletics empowers every roller derby athlete to be safe, strong, and unstoppable.

We take the mystery out of cross-training, giving skaters the tools and inspiration to transform their game, without a lot of equipment or time.

We provide sport-specific training programs and resources to help skaters around the world achieve their best.

In doing so, we abide by these core values. Without exception, RDA is:

• Safe: Injury prevention is the first priority of all Roller Derby Athletics training programs.
• Inclusive: We focus on outcomes and abilities, not appearance. Every athlete’s sweat counts equally, whether you’ve never exercised before, or you’re a total gym rat.
• Authentic: Booty’s a real person, and a derby athlete like you. She doesn’t expect perfection; she requests your best effort. We won’t suggest you buy a program if it’s not what you really need.
• Challenging: Booty will kick your ass, and you’ll thank her for it.

I have recently updated our “About” page to reflect this newly-clarified mission. But I felt that the original story I told, of why Roller Derby Athletics came to be, was still worth telling. 

Here it is:

Derby’s modern-era appeal to a lot of skaters from “the A&E Rollergirls era” was as a sport for non-jocks. A sport for people who never liked sports, because they didn’t like the sports crowd. A few years ago you could rock up to practice, skate it out, and then crack some beers in the parking lot after.

But the intensity is rising. The level of competition increases year over year at the higher levels of play. Travel teams and house teams are getting wise, and realising that “conditioning” or “cross-training” is an important ingredient to giving them an edge over their competition.

Essentially, our sport now demands us to be ATHLETES, not just “derby girls.” The challenge, though, is that few derby skaters come from a high-level sports background. They’ve never been coached by a professional, or taught how to properly train, care for their bodies, nourish themselves, treat injuries, or prepare mentally for competition. They’re doing their best, but they don’t have the whole toolkit to work with.

Roller Derby Athletics is the world’s foremost training resource for roller derby skaters, covering the full spectrum of what it means to be an athlete, including cross-training, injury prevention, stretching, nutrition, and sports psychology. Pretty much everything but lacing up the skates and practicing skills and strategy. Cause you’ve got that part covered.

Sport is empowering, and we know that when a skater works hard and achieves the success she was looking for on the track, that will quickly translate to other areas. We provide readers the tools and information they need to achieve their goals in derby, and in life.