Image courtesy of DNN
Let us guess....you just went to your very first derby game (good for you!) and were surprised to find the girls skating on a flat track and not a banked one like they do in the movies?
During roller derby's peak, all bouts were done on raised banked tracks. The raised track was oval in shape and about
2 feet in height. Today, more than 98% of all sanctioned derby leagues skate on flat track.
It all began during the early 2000s when derby was begining to make its grand return. During efforts to raise funds and awareness, the Austin city leagues organized exhibition bouts at local skating rinks. All involved were pleasantly surprised to find that skaters could bout just as well on flat tracks as they could on banked.