Rink Derby Is What Its All About 2011

July-August 2011
RINKSIDER
In-rink or out, derby is what
it’s all a-‘bout’!
By Kathy Bergstrom
R
ink owners can find a business opportunity in the growing popularity of
roller derby, even if their rinks are too
small to host a derby bout, experts say.
But it requires work to build relationships with local derby leagues and the
women who participate in the sport, said
Beki Safar, assistant rink manager and program director at Oaks Park Roller Skating
Rink in Portland, Ore.
Derby teams hold practice sessions at
the Oaks Park rink, and team members buy
a lot of items from the rink’s pro shop. The
rink and local derby league do a lot of cross
promoting. “It’s really about building the
personal connection,” Safar said.
The number of flat track roller derby
leagues has reached about 500 worldwide,
according to the Women’s Flat Track Derby
Association based in Austin, Texas.
Roller derby’s roots date back to the
1920s, but the sport all but died out in the
1970s, according to the association. Modern
roller derby got its start in Austin in the early
2000s with the Texas Rollergirls, the association’s Web site said.
Flat track skating has spread because
it can be played almost anywhere, including
parking lots and roller skating rinks, an association fact sheet said.
Oaks Park began its relationship with
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Independent Voice of the Industry
the Rose City Rollers about eight years ago,
when the league rented the rink for two-hour
endurance practices on Sundays. The relationship grew from there.
The Rose City league has four home teams
and two travel teams.
In addition to the rental income from
the building and practice sessions, Oaks
San Anotnio Roller Girls jammer El A. DodgeHer, with the star-emblazoned
jammer helmet, turns a sharp corner to get ahead of the pack. (Photo credit: Bill
Smotrilla)
Oaks Park also is an amusement park
and had a building on its grounds that it
began leasing to the league in 2004. Derby
bouts are held in the building, although
endurance practices are still held at the rink.
Park’s pro shop business has more than doubled because it supplies derby team members
with skates and other gear, like wrist guards,
helmets and elbow pads.
“I looked at it as a chance to bring
more revenue into the rink by carrying what
the girls needed,” Safar said. “We went from
just selling skates to having everything you
can imagine.”
But getting the business requires building relationships, she said. People shop for
gear online, so Safar has built the pro shop
business by offering personal services like
fittings and classes on skate maintenance.
“We’ve fostered making informed decisions,” she said.
Derby skaters receive a 10 percent discount at the pro shop, which also sells team
promotional items like T-shirts. The pro shop
also gets business from other leagues.
Rink operators who want to bring derby
skaters to their pro shops might consider
asking to attend a practice and making a presentation to team members about what they
offer, Safar suggested.
Another option would be setting up a
booth at a derby bout to publicize the rink,
she said.
Oaks Park also connects with derby
skaters by offering a beginner’s class for
people who are interested in joining a derby
team. The first session is free, and the classes
are taught by derby team members.
Instead of paying the instructors, they
receive credit for the Oaks Park pro shop.
In addition to renting skates and other
equipment, the new skaters also come to the
rink during other skating sessions to practice,
Safar said.
Rose City Rollers also has junior derby
teams, and some of those skaters come to the
rink for skating sessions after they practice in
17
the other facility.
The Alamo City Rollergirls in San
Antonio, Texas, hold both practices and bouts
at The Rollercade, a local rink.
About 40 skaters are involved in the
league, which has a travel team called Las
Tejanas and a B team, said Stephanie Urias, a
former derby skater and league co-owner.
The league holds at least one indoor
practice per week at the rink, and other practices are held outdoors.
The league enjoys a good relationship
with its home rink, Urias said. “It’s one of the
best rinks that are in the city, and we’re lucky
to call it our home,” Urias said.
“We help with their profitability and
their bottom line from the money we give
them through ticket sales,” she said. “Then
they help us by giving us a home and being
flexible with us.”
Attendance at the bouts averages about
500. Bouts are scheduled for Sunday nights
in order to avoid conflicting with the rink’s
regular sessions.
The league’s goal is eventually to get
its own facility so it can hold bouts on Friday
and Saturday nights, she said.
Both the practices and the bouts have
brought extra income to the rink in addition
to increased equipment sales and new people
getting involved in skating, said Verna Quaranto, owner of The Rollercade.
Quaranto is not concerned about damage to the rink floor during bouts, because
skaters wear rink-friendly skates. She believes
the rink gets more damage from walk-in customers than derby bouts.
One of the most beneficial parts of the
relationship with Alamo City Rollergirls is
the media exposure from coverage of the
derby bouts, Quaranto said. “We couldn’t
buy the advertising we get form what they
bring in as far as media coverage,” she said.
And she would recommend other rink
owners get involved with derby if they have a
chance. “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity
for them to draw a new customer base,” she
said.
Many of the 150 members of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association are either
practicing or scrimmaging at rinks, said Juliana Gonzales, the association’s executive
director. While derby can be played in a variety of places, such as parking lots, convention
centers and basketball courts, rink surfaces
are more appropriate for the sport.
Gonzales noted that skating rinks tend
to take good care of their floors, and skaters
can get good speed and a good grip. Other
benefits of using a rink are the concessions
and the sound systems.
Another reason derby leagues like to
skate at rinks is that they often share a culture,
she said. As rinks struggle for entertainment
dollars, roller derby can help rinks freshen the
image of roller skating, Gonzales said.
Hosting a derby team can be a way of
“reminding the community about what’s fun
and cool about roller skating,” she said.
6/21/11 5:39:54 PM