Scott Stephens received his first set of roller skates at age six in 1966 – and soon he was staging Roller Derby games in his backyard.

This title introduces young sports fans to roller derby, introducing the sport's history, rules, equipment, and why more and more athletes love playing it.

But in recent decades it’s come back strong, with more than 17,000 skaters in more than four hundred leagues around the world, and countless die-hard fans. Down and Derby will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the sport.

But in recent decades it’s come back strong, with more than 17,000 skaters in more than four hundred leagues around the world, and countless die-hard fans. Down and Derby will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the sport.

Since 1935, roller derby has thrilled fans and skaters with its constant action, hard hits, and edgy attitude. However, though its participants’ athleticism is undeniable, roller derby has never been accepted as a “real” sport.

You have just discovered the new sport of in-line skating, and you want to be the best. Have you got what it takes to be a roller star?

Roller Derby found a home in the San Francisco Bay Area following its Depression-era Chicago origins.

Larry Smith got some strange looks as a boy when he told everyone he wanted to join the Roller Derby, but hed go on to have the time of his life living out his dream.

Since 1935, roller derby has thrilled fans and skaters with its constant action, hard hits, and edgy attitude. However, though its participants’ athleticism is undeniable, roller derby has never been accepted as a “real” sport.

Roller derby is a unique, fast-paced, female-dominated sport that is taking the world by storm. It originated in the USA in the 1930s but it is the revival that began in 2001 that has inspired this new book.