Teamwork makes the dream work

The Lesson

Roller Derby, so I'm told, is a team sport. I didn't play any sport before derby. That means concepts like "team", "camaraderie" and "working together" were pretty much foreign concepts, and often slip my mind.

Me (right) not teamsing and failing. Courtesy Jammer Line.

That's me in that picture. I play for the Toronto Outrage. In that game, Roller Derby Masculin Quebec had picked up six players from the Outrage to fill up their roster against the fine gentlemen at the London Pack Men.

Because I didn't know the guys too well and didn't communicate at all, I found myself often at the front of the pack, chasing the jammer to no avail. We lost.

Team work always wins.

A team can have all-star players, but better team work will win. They will score more points using better offense. They will prevent your points with better defense. They will demoralize you. It will suck.

After the game my friend told me that while I did good, I should have been more of a team player.
She said even if we had no experience together, it it would have been better to rally the team, to take the lead and try to organize the line instead of stupidly chasing the jammer, failing 19 times out of 20.

I was angry at the time because, you know, pride and all, but I thought harder about it and she's right.

What does good team work look like? Here's a hyper sexual example

Are you kidding me? That's Gotham against Rose City in the last WFTDA finals. Both teams just owning each other's jammers WHO ARE LIKE THE BEST JAMMERS EVER. Bonnie Thunders trying to dodge and whatnot and still getting owned. That's what team work looks like. It's super effective.

So what can that mean for you and your team? We'll you're going to have to work on team work, on chemistry, on communication, and I think most importantly humbling yourself to work in a team. The best jammers in the world can easily get around the best blocker in the world, but they'd be hard pressed to get by four half-decent players who have their team work locked down.

From that experience I'm posting a basic teamwork drills that I've come across.

The Drill

We call this the Reform Drill. It works on a team's communication skills in the heat of the moment, and also their awareness of, and reaction to, offense.

You start with a full line up. The blockers are all mixed up and everyone is rolling forward. The jammers are hanging out in the back.

I'm good at drawing

As everyone is rolling, the coach will call one of the teams (Red! or Black!). At the call, that team has to fight through the chaos, form up and stop the opposing jammer. The opposing team runs offense to try to break the formation.

In my super cool .gif, you can see everyone starts mixed up, the whistle blows and the black jammer makes a move.

The red blockers form up at the front into a triangle. But not all of them, black has successfully offensed and taken out one blocker for their jammer, which is a good thing. 

The black jammer continues to fight through and the red blockers do their best. When the black jammer is through, it's the red jammers turn to fight and the black blockers turn to coordinate in the heat of the moment.

This drill is important because it creates a realistic situation where everyone is mixed up.

Things to remember:

- Someone, in fact everyone, needs to communicate. You cannot form up, stop the jammer, and read offense if everyone is off in their own worlds. When the drill is running, constantly remind the team to talk to each other.

- As intensity builds it's also a good drill for jammers who have to navigate through a full track.

- You need to encourage your better skaters to take the lead, instead of showing off their skills. 

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And that's my basic lesson for the day, of course, there are a million things to cover and touch upon, and I'll get to them. Thanks for reading!

Me, with my team, effectively blocking an otherwise unstoppable jammer thanks to team work. (Jammer Line)