(upbeat uplifting music) - Hi, I'm Matt.

- And I'm Nicole.

- Today, we're taking a field trip to the historic Washington Avenue Armory, the home of the Albany All Stars Roller Derby team.

- That's right, in 2027, the team will celebrate 20 years of skating together here in the Capital Region.

So we're heading down to see what all the excitement is about.

- The All Stars are gearing up to face off against the Jersey Shore Roller Derby, and we can't wait to cheer on our new friends.

- Earlier this month, the skaters invited us to a practice where we got to watch them prep for the bout.

And they were kind enough to give us some background and a crash course in this awesome sport.

- Roll tape.

(film rolling) (upbeat music) - Albany All Stars is a roller derby league in the Capital Region.

About 2006, it was a handful of people got together and decided they wanted to, without ever seeing an actual roller derby bout, just knowing about it, they wanted to get together and create the organization.

- I never did sports before this, because it never felt like necessarily the right environment for me.

So this is kind of an environment where people who maybe haven't always felt welcome in those types of spaces, we wanna make sure, like, everyone feels welcome here.

- Roller derby, it's a full-contact sport.

And we call our games bouts.

And it consists of two halves, and each half consists of a number of jams.

Each jam could last up to two minutes.

Each team will field five skaters, and one of those skaters is a jammer.

Each jammer tries to race around the roller derby track in a counterclockwise direction.

And for each blocker on the opposing team that they pass, they'll make a point.

And the blockers are trying to block the jammer on the opposing team from passing them.

The goal is to get the most points.

- Today, Matt and Nicole are gonna get a lesson on safety and get a lesson on gear, get a lesson on how, the 101 of derby.

You're gonna get to learn about the derby stance and the safety gear, and where you can hit and where you can be hit.

(upbeat music) (air swooshing) - Okay, so you're all ready to go.

- All ready.

- You look great.

Full disclosure, I got to play roller derby a while ago, and my name is Legs Diamond.

- That's not fair.

- I know.

So I have a little leg up.

- And she was my teammate.

- Yeah, I got to play with Di, but now we're gonna play, so you have to get ready.

So I'm gonna go get suited up, and Di's gonna get you suited up.

- Okay.

I don't know what's gonna happen, but I think I'm gonna get beat up today.

They keep on looking at me and smiling like evil.

(air swooshing) - Here you go, I got you some gear.

- Oh my gosh, okay.

Can I just dump it out?

- Yeah, go ahead, dump it right up.

- Okay.

- There you go.

(Matt laughing) I guessed your size, so let's see how we do.

- Okay.

(upbeat music) All right, so we came up with a derby name for you.

Hope you like it.

- Okay.

- News Shanker.

- (laughs) News Shanker.

- We're gonna call you Shank for short.

- Shank, okay.

- Yeah.

- I love it.

- All right, so now that you have your gear, you have a derby name- - Yes.

- Now we have to help your belt fit a little bit.

- Okay.

- So we're gonna help give you a little derby makeup, makeover.

- Okay.

- All right.

(upbeat music) Okay, so one of the basics in derby is blocking and creating a wall with your partner.

So this is Cowboy Jam, and Cowboy and I are gonna get together and we're going to try to get our hips together.

We're going to get low.

We're gonna bend our knees and hips and make, this is called a wall so that we're trying to prevent the jammer, that's the person with the star helmet cover on their head, prevent the jammer from coming through and scoring points on us.

All right, so that is how we would stop a jammer from coming through.

And then another thing that we should probably show you before we start all this is a little bit of a hip hit and how to be able to do a hit.

Anybody would like to volunteer to do a little hit?

Cherry, you wanna do it?

You wanna hit me, Cherry?

- Go, Cherry, - Cherry, you wanna hit me?

So we talked about those legal hitting zones where I can't be hitting Cherry straight into the back, but I can hit Cherry on the side.

I can hit them on the front.

So I'm gonna be teaching a very simple hit where we come in and we're gonna hit with our hips, because I can't come in and I can't throw an elbow.

I can't push Cherry around.

I can't kick and trip her around, but I can come in and hit her with my body.

So I'm gonna come in and hit Cherry to move her out of the way, because that is the position I wanna be in.

I want to be where they are right now.

All right.

- Oh, looks good.

- All right.

(speaking indistinctly) Would you like to come in and try to do a wall?

- Yeah.

- All right.

(group laughing) - I don't have wrist guards on.

- That's okay, we will be very careful with it.

- Okay, they were mildewy.

(group laughing) - Okay, so I'm gonna help you guys get together.

Ready?

So we're gonna practice.

We're gonna squat down.

So you wanna bend your hips and knees, and try to get your hips together.

Yes, that is perfect.

All right, now you just stay just like that.

- And we're gonna get hit, all right?

- Very gently, very gently.

- Get ready.

- All right, go ahead.

(loud thud) (group laughing) Wait, one more, one more, we got it.

- One more.

- One more.

Ready, Matt?

- I'm ready.

- Shanker.

- Shanker.

- Shanker!

Perfect.

Thanks for making us look good.

(laughs) Good job.

- Would you guys like to try to hip hit each other?

- Yes.

(Nicole laughs) - Are you gonna try to hit her with your hips?

- Okay, ready?

- Yeah.

- Yeah, go ahead.

- Whoa!

(laughs) One more.

- Oh, I thought you were gonna do- - Oh.

- Okay, yeah.

Hiya!

(laughs) - Well, that was good.

That was actually good.

All right.

- All right.

Anything else you think we should do?

- I think that's- - That was great.

- That was really great.

- That was good.

- Yeah, we got out uninjured, so let's call it a win.

Can we step aside and see one in full motion?

- Yeah.

(upbeat music) - Whoa!

(upbeat music continues) (indistinct shouting) - Oh my God.

- Oh my gosh.

Oh my gosh, Matt.

(upbeat music) - Ha!

- Woo, woo, woo, woo!

(Nicole giggling) Whoa, that was awesome.

- That was cool.

- Yeah.

- So secret's out.

I'm an alum of the team and a huge fan of the All Stars.

- Well, sounds like News Shanker and Legs Diamond, we gotta go find a good spot to cheer on our team.

- Yeah.

Go All Stars!

- Go All Stars!

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) (air swooshing) - Wow, that was great.

But the only way to truly feel the excitement is to see it in person.

Check out their website for future bouts at the Armory and beyond.

- Yeah, get on down here for a unique and fun experience while supporting our local athletes, entrepreneurs, and an awesome community.

- See you next time on "Field Trip."

- And don't forget to let us know where you think- - Where you think- - We should go next.

- We should go next.

(upbeat music) (singer whistling)