Roller Game was a variation of the sport of roller derby

Roller derby

Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short matchups in which both teams designate a scoring player who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team...

 that was played in Japan by the Roller Game League, established in 1990. Roller Game was played on either a flat or banked track, and on either traditional (quad) roller skates or inline skates. Although its name is similar to that of the relatively theatrical Roller Games

Roller Games

Roller Games was the name of a sports entertainment spectacle created in the early 1960s in Los Angeles, California as a rival to the Jerry Seltzer-owned Roller Derby league, which had enjoyed a monopoly on the sport of roller derby — and its name — since its inception in 1935. Roller Games...

, Roller Game was, according to its promotional videos, inspired more by the original Roller Derby—it is a full-contact athletic competition with strictly enforced rules and no staged fighting.

The game

Among the unique features of Roller Game, which was played on a 100-m oval track:

• Only one team plays offense at a time – in Roller Derby, both teams have jammers on the track at the same time.
• Only one jammer on the track at a time – in Roller Derby, usually both teams have a jammer on the track at the same time.
• The jam starts with the 4-member defensive team entering the track and skating in a line. At the half-lap point they are joined by 4 of the 5 members of the offensive team, who skate in a line beside them. The offensive team's jammer then enters after the two teams complete a lap together.
• Once the jammer enters, the pack can spread out around the track, and skaters can engage each other anywhere at any time.
• Jams last 60 seconds.
• Sets are used instead of periods, with team winning the best 3 out of 5 sets winning the game – in Roller Derby, the winning team is normally determined by cumulative points scored in all periods.

Roller Game League

Roller Game League was owned by R.G. Produce Japan, Ltd., a Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

-based company headed by , who, in 1973 at age 15 was a star skater for the original Tokyo Bombers of Roller Games. Koizumi's company manages skate parks and rinks, and since the mid-1980s has produced roller skating related events for television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

, theme parks, and musical theatre

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

.

Roller Game events began in 1990, when Koizumi organized the league's first two teams: the Murasaki Sports Cosmos and the Tokyo Bombers, the latter named in homage to the team with which he skated in the 1970s. Early star skaters included Mamoru Murakami of the Cosmos, Eiji Morita of the Lightning Jets, Takamasa Kazueda of the Delta Force, and Wataru Ueki of the Tokyo Bombers.

Initially open to men only, Roller Game League now includes women as well.

In 1993, Roller Game League hosted a male-only "World Cup" invitational in which an all-star team culled from various United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 leagues competed against RGL all-stars.

Season results

Roller Game League regular season results

Season	Season name	Rank	Team	W	L
1990	Rolling Spirits '90	1	Murasaki Sports Cosmos	7	4
		2	Tokyo Bombers	4	7
1991	Japan League Match '91	1	Murasaki Sports Cosmos	5	3
		2	Lightning Jets	4	4
		3	Tokyo Bombers	3	5
1992	Japan League Match '92	1	Murasaki Sports Cosmos	7	2
		2	Bombers	7	2
		3	Lightning Jets	3	6
		4	Delta Force	1	8

1992 season results

• 1992-07-03 – Cosmos 3, Jets 2
• 1992-07-13 – Bombers 3, Delta Force 2
• 1992-07-29 – Cosmos 3, Bombers 1
• 1992-08-07 – Delta Force 3, Jets 2
• 1992-08-19 – Bombers 3, Jets 1
• 1992-08-28 – Cosmos 3, Delta Force 0
• 1992-09-09 – Bombers 3, Delta Force 0
• 1992-09-18 – Cosmos 3, Jets 1
• 1992-09-30 – Bombers 3, Cosmos 2
• 1992-10-09 – Lightning Jets 3, Delta Force 0
• 1992-10-16 – Bombers 3, Lightning Jets 1
• 1992-10-21 – Cosmos 3, Delta Force 1
• 1992-10-30 – Cosmos 3, Bombers 2
• 1992-11-11 – Lightning Jets 3, Delta Force 2
• 1992-11-20 – Cosmos 3, Delta Force 2
• 1992-11-27 – Bombers 3, Lightning Jets 2
• 1992-12-09 – Bombers 3, Delta Force 1
• 1992-12-18 – Jets 3, Cosmos 2

1993 Roller Game World Cup

• Held at Korakuen Rink in what is now known as Tokyo Dome City
  Tokyo Dome City
  Tokyo Dome City is an entertainment complex in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.It includes the world's largest roofed baseball stadium known as Tokyo Dome , an amusement park known as Tokyo Dome City Attractions , and Korakuen Hall...
  
  from May 1 to May 9
• All Japan vs. USA
• Banked track
• Quad skates

2001 Tokyo Dome Cup

• Murasaki Sports Cosmos won vs Remix Yamato, 3 sets to 1
  • Set 1: Cosmos 19, Remix Yamato 18
  • Set 2: Remix Yamato 14, Cosmos 9
  • Set 3: Cosmos 19, Remix Yamato 17
  • Set 4: Cosmos 22, Remix Yamato 18

External links

• Roller Game videos
• R.G. Produce Japan, Ltd. web site

• Roller Derby Classics...and more! by Jim Fitzpatrick (included are photos and mention of Roller Game League and 1993 World Cup in Tokyo, Japan)