I’ve working on a post about making game rosters – I’ve asked some captains and coaches to share how they do it, and how skaters can improve their chances of making the list. So look out for that next week.
While I was thinking about it, though, I was chatting a bit on Twitter about home team rostering. If you’re not playing a WFTDA-sanctioned game, you don’t necessarily have to limit your roster to fourteen skaters. Rose City does with their home team bouts, after experimenting with rosters of sixteen for a couple of years. Inevitably, there would be two to four skaters who didn’t get played very much on those 16-person rosters.
All of which made me wonder: would you rather play in one or two jams in a game, or just not play at all?
Hanging out on the bench, by Flickr user ercwttmn.
Roller derby is fun and all, but would you rather be drinking a beer if you’re only going to be seeing 60 seconds of gameplay?
[polldaddy poll=7642866]
I had a bad experience once with being rostered for an out-of-town game and only getting to play in a couple jams. I think we can all agree that no one wants to fly to another city thinking that they’ll get to play, and then ride the bench for the entire first half.
(And then cry so much afterward they miss out on the free pizza, adding insult to injury.)
(Roller derby is glamorous.)
On the other hand, with most home games, I think I’d want to be included, no matter the playing time.
What about you? What would your preference be?
The problem for me (being relatively new, meaning I wasn’t as skilled) was always waiting on the bench for my name to be called. The hoping and hoping, just to cool down and only play once or twice was most excruciating. In that case, I would much rather sit with friends on the outside and cheer on the all-stars that way.
Having to play completely cold is frustrating, and not very productive for the team. I can’t imagine being one of those backup jammers who sits until they’re called – I liked blocking at least twice to get my bout legs before jamming.