It’s like rugby. But on roller skates. And without a ball.
That’s how Loganlea’s Sally Ormston describes her favourite sport: roller derby.
She took up the sport 15 years ago, in her 30s, on a whim. And she’s never looked back since.
A game of roller derby is played by two teams of five who chase each other anti-clockwise around an oval track.
Each team selects a team member to be the point scorer – called a jammer – whose objective is to skate past opposition players to get points.
Meanwhile, the remaining team members must try to stop the opposition’s jammer from getting past them, mostly by knocking them off the track.
“It’s a very strategic sport where you are having to play offensive and defensive pretty much the whole time,” Ms Ormston said.
“It’s a very physical, full contact sport.”
Players are allowed to use most of their bodies to block, hold back, or knock an opposition off the track. But there are a few exceptions, including targeting the head, back and feet.
“We can use our hips, anything above the knees, and the arms to the elbow – just not your head.
“I can’t hit you in the head, or trip you at the feet, elbow you in the face, or push you over with my hands.”
Despite how rough the sport might sound, Ms Ormston said there were very rarely injuries.
“We train quite a lot and very much focus on safety when we start,” she said.
“We have a very rigorous program with regards to people starting out to make sure they learn the basic skills, and are comfortable on their skates and with some of the roller derby moves before we knock them around.
“There’s quite a lot in place to keep it as safe as possible.”
Ms Ormston currently plays with Sun State, a roller derby league based out of Mansfield in Brisbane.
However, tournaments are sometimes held in Logan. The next one is organised for August at the Mount Warren Park sports centre , which over the weekend hosted the 2025 junior roller derby world cup, featuring teams from Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Canada, France, Great Britain, Mexico, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States.
Ms Ormston was introduced to the sport in 2010, when she filled in for a colleague’s teammate at the very last minute.
“I got offered to throw on some skates and have not stopped since.
“It was a bit interesting to get into sports in my 30s. I hadn’t really done anything since I was a teenager.”
Now she plays frequently, has competed in national competitions, and is known on the field as the “Die Wrector of Mayhem”.
She said her Sun State crew was always welcoming to new members.
