Roller derby first appeared in Chicago during the Depression. With the advent of television, this dynamic, sometimes violent sport became a national favorite. In Roller Derby to RollerJam, Keith Coppage takes a fond look at the origins, history, and players of the game who made it successful, from promoters to superstars.

JAM! TALES FROM THE DERBY GIRLS is an anthology, written by the girls who skate in the roller derby! Selected stories range from slice of life to the fantastic, and each girl brings her own unique experiences of the roller derby to their stories. Sexy and free-spirited, each story is drawn by professional comic book artists, and includes such notable talents as Robbi Rodriguez (Stephen Colbert’s TEK JANSEN), Rick Lacy (THE VENTURE BROS, LABOR DAYS), and Steve Rolston (QUEEN & COUNTRY, THE ESCAPISTS).

“Part manifesto, part how-to-guide . . . required reading for anyone who’s searching for new ways to be fearless.” —Carrie Brownstein When most Americans hear the words “roller derby” today, they think of the kitschy sport once popular on weekend television during the seventies and eighties. Originally an endurance competition where skaters traveled the equivalent of a trip between Los Angeles and New York, roller derby gradually evolved into a violent contact sport often involving fake fighting, and a kitschy weekend-television staple during the seventies and eighties. But in recent decades it’s come back strong, with more than 17,000 skaters in more than four hundred leagues around the world, and countless die-hard fans. Down and Derby will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the sport. Written by veteran skaters as both a history and a how-to, it’s a brassy celebration of every aspect of the sport, from its origins in the late 1800s, to the rules of a modern bout, to the science of picking an alias, to the many ways you can get involved off skates. Informative, entertaining, and executed with the same tough, sassy, DIY attitude—leavened with plenty of humor—that the sport is known for, Down and Derby is a great read for both skaters and spectators.

Roller Derby found a home in the San Francisco Bay Area following its Depression-era Chicago origins. An early television sensation, it faded to a modest existence in Los Angeles during the 1950s. Creator Leo Seltzer turned the game over to his son Jerry, who repositioned the traveling Bay Bombers from their home terrain of San Francisco to Fresno and everywhere in-between...However, economic and cultural changes closed the Roller Derby in 1973. Passionate fans clung tenaciously to its memory. In the 21st century, the game made an astonishing return not only in Northern California but also worldwide -- Publisher's description.

Since 1935, roller derby has thrilled fans and skaters with its constant action, hard hits, and edgy attitude. However, though its participants’ athleticism is undeniable, roller derby has never been accepted as a “real” sport. Michella M. Marino, herself a former skater, tackles the history of a sport that has long been a cultural mainstay for one reason both utterly simple and infinitely complex: roller derby has always been coed. Richly illustrated and drawing on oral histories, archival materials, media coverage, and personal experiences, Roller Derby is the first comprehensive history of this cultural phenomenon, one enjoyed by millions yet spurned by mainstream gatekeepers. Amid the social constraints of the mid-twentieth century, roller derby’s emphasis on gender equality attracted male and female athletes alike, producing gender relations and gender politics unlike those of traditional sex-segregated sports. In an enlightening feminist critique, Marino considers how the promotion of pregnancy and motherhood by roller derby management has simultaneously challenged and conformed to social norms. Finally, Marino assesses the sport’s present and future after its resurgence in the 2000s.

Illustrated with photographs by Walter Iooss Jr.: Iconic sportswriter and commentator Frank Deford’s first book brings to life one of America’s most thrilling—and misunderstood—sports entertainments, the Roller Derby, from its birth during the Great Depression to it second ascendancy in the late 1960s In Five Strides on the Banked Track, distinguished sports journalist Frank Deford opens a fascinating window on this exhilarating entertainment that operates according to its own set of unique rules—both on and off the track. The Derby began as an idea on a tablecloth in 1935 by Leo Seltzer. From its Great Depression roots—when young skaters would run away to join the Roller Derby in the same way one might run away to join the circus—through its prewar heyday, postwar decline, and ultimate rise to superstardom in the 1960s, Deford sweeps us along on an unforgettable journey. He brings together the players, the fans, the promoters, and the celebrities. He shares the exploits of Bay Bomber legend Charlie O’Connell, superstar Joanie Weston, and beloved villain Ann Calvello, with her dyed blue hair, who would ultimately go on to compete in Roller Derby in seven separate decades. Deford vividly captures the excitement of a sport Variety called “cathartic, dramatic, fast-paced, and classic as a John Wayne movie.” From the idolatry of the fans to the loneliness of the open road to the hard-charging frenzy of the arena, this is a rare glimpse into a uniquely American spectator sport that continues to reinvent and resurrect itself today. This definitive new edition includes a foreword by Jerry Seltzer and an introduction by Frank Deford.

This book provides fresh insights on how social innovations are utilized as strategies to make sport more accessible and inclusive. It does so by bringing together theoretical insights and empirical studies from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the United States, Australia, Turkey and Belgium. Within the overarching topic of social innovation in sport, this book covers contemporary themes such as digitalization, urban planning, gender equality and innovation in sport policy and practice. It will be of interest to researchers and students in the fields of sociology of sport, sport management, sport science and sociology.