When most people hear “contact sport,” they think about sports like football or boxing. Something involving people slamming into each other on a playing field or ring, with hits from both sides of the fight.

For freshman Isabelle Taylor, contact sports look a little different. Taylor plays Roller Derby, a heavy-hitting sport played on four-wheeled skates around a circular track.

“I’ve been roller skating since probably 2020, so about five years,” Taylor said. “I knew some

people who played Roller Derby. So I was like, ‘that sounds cool, I want to do that.’ So I did.”

Roller Derby has five positions on the rink: one jammer and four blockers. A jammer wears a star on their helmet and skates around the rink, scoring a point with each person they pass. The blockers try to stop the jammer from skating by hitting or tackling them.

“I love jamming. I think it’s that you’re kind of the center of attention because you’re the only person on your team that can score points at that moment,” Taylor said. “It’s a lot of adrenaline, and it’s kind of scary, but it’s really fun.”

Each game is called a bout, and runs for half an hour. Within each bout are multiple jams, and each jam usually goes for two minutes. Players line up at the start line and start skating at the whistle.

“So we switch around positions, because, of course, there’s only one jammer on each team in each round that we do. It wouldn’t really make sense for only one person to do that position. You get really tired when you’re doing it,” Taylor said.

In spite of these challenges, Taylor still loves Roller Derby.

“I have some joint pain from falling. But, honestly, it’s just so rewarding the way you feel when you’ve won a game. Of course, it’s like that with any sport, but especially when you’re the jammer,” Taylor said.