China establishes its first Roller Derby League

A year or so ago I was lamenting that there wasn't a roller derby league in Hong Kong. There's been some general speculation that roller derby isn't something that has taken off because of cultural perceptions of women (apparently evidenced by the fact that the leagues in Asia are predominantly run by expat women), a lack of interest in the sport given that China already dominates in approximately 352035623 other sports, not to mention potential opposition from the state.

It looks like things might be changing. Meet the Shang-High Rollers. There's a Derbylife Article about them here.

It makes sense that the first roller derby league in China is in its biggest city, and once they get a foothold it'd be really interesting to see how far this can spread across the Middle Kingdom. There is already a sister league forming in Beijing, and I think as interest and momentum gathers we can hope to see leagues starting up in other cities too. I think that China is the last major country without the presence of any derby, and in the past year we've seen derby make its way to Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and South Africa. If this takes off then future Blood and Thunders could be very interesting, especially as the sport becomes more global and less dominated by traditional western democracies with skate venues and sponsorship and whatnot.

The Rollers noted on their blog that they've been having some trouble securing a venue. I'm not sure if this is due to actual opposition to derby (or even that it is devalued so the practice space--which is a skating rink--can be used for other non-skatey things like BADMINTON). I know that space is pretty limited in big cities in China, so even trying to do an outdoor skate might be tough. However, I think time on skates might be good for practice and also exposure, even outside a rink.

Anyway, imagine how much untapped potential for derby there is in China. I'll be keeping my eye on this one. I just hope that eventually derby makes its way to Honkers...