For young athletes looking to make their first foray into traditional sports like football, basketball or baseball, the choices seem endless.

Not far from home, a myriad of starter leagues and instructional opportunities await them, each offering a gateway into their chosen sport.

But for youngsters looking to strap on a pair of quad skates and try their hand at roller derby – one of the fastest growing “fringe” sports nationally – the choices have been a bit more constrained.

Although Seattle’s Rat City Roller Girls and Tacoma’s Dockyard Derby Dames have provided youth leagues in their respective cities for years, for beginning derby prospects there was nada locally.

Until now.

This summer the Junior Roller Derby Summer Camp for Boys and Girls has offered instructional classes at Auburn’s Skate Connection, hoping to inspire youngsters to try their hand at derby and possibly stoke enough interest to start a local youth league.

“There is no league here,” coach and instructor Christopher Bower said. “We’ve considered starting a league here, but to do that you need about 15 to 20 kids. And we don’t know where those kids are. So we figured we’d start with a camp and see how many kids would show up. We have about 10, so we could use a few more. But if we have enough interest at the end of summer, we’d like to start a league.”

Every Wednesday evening Bower and his cadre of veteran derby skaters take over the Skate Connection, teaching young newcomers the fundamentals of skating on quads – the four-wheel skates used in derby, in lieu of the inline skates popular with speed skaters – and the intricacies and basics of the sport.

Bower, who skates for the Puget Sound Outcast men’s team, has competed in the sport since 2009.

“I watched the Dockyard Derby Dames win the championship in 2009, and that was my introduction,” Bower said.

When he was starting out, Bower – who skates under the moniker “Bowser” for the Outcasts – said opportunities for men skaters in the female-dominated sport were few.

“The Outcasts are the only men’s team in the area, so we wanted to make sure that boys had an opportunity to play derby,” Bower said. “My son is 8 years old, and when he wanted to skate, the girl’s teams wouldn’t let him skate with them. So this is an avenue for boys to skate. A lot of the boys here have been desperate to skate, and this is their chance. If women’s derby is the fringe sport, then the men’s derby is the fringe of the fringe.”

Helping Bower teach newcomers is Chad Grout, 42, who skates as “Thunderstruck” for the Outcast.

“I’ve been skating since I was three,” he said. “Basically, my whole life has been rolling. I’ve been doing derby for four years now and coaching for two and a half years.”

Grout started coaching when his 8-year-old daughter got interested in the sport.

“She would watch me, and there really wasn’t but one youth program around the area, which was Seattle,” Grout said. “So I started the Kitsap Tootsies, which is basically the PeeWee level of the sport, the entry level.”

For Grout, an accomplished inline skater and snowboarder who has participated in those extreme sports in several ESPN X-Game competitions, the camp is not only a chance to share his love of derby but also an opportunity to empower youngsters.

“I’ve taught body mechanics for years for different types of sports, so I’ve always enjoyed teaching, just with any sport,” Grout said. “But derby is very rewarding because I’m just teaching them fundamentals… If you teach someone the right way to do a pattern, they’ll know from muscle memory how to do it right. So if you show them how to do it right the first time, that’s the reward, seeing them flourish and take the next step. There is nothing better than watching a kid who goes from ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can do this.’ You’ve just empowered them to do something.

He continued:

“Roller skating is one of those things where you’re teaching someone balance and confidence,” he said. “Whether they do derby a day or for their whole life, you’re giving them a gift by teaching them. You’re giving them something they can use in the future, anyway they want to. I think what it comes down to is giving kids a positive environment they can flourish in.”

Payton Krier, 7, a Tahoma Elementary School student and recent Auburn transplant, decided to turn out for the challenge.

“I wanted to see if I could do it because it sounded really fun,” Krier said. “At the first camp they said I would probably be able to be on the team because I did good. The best thing I like is having fun, because everything they do is fun. I like it a lot. I come here after dance. I’ve learned a lot of great skating techniques because all my great coaches are helping me out and teaching me. I really like it.”

Lakeridge Middle School student Kaitlyn Shocky, 12, was no stranger to skating. Her mom manages the Skate Connection, and Shocky has spent much of her life on wheels.

“I’ve been on wheels since before I was born,” Shocky said.

Previously an inline speed skater, Shocky jumped at the chance to take the camp.

“I’ve been thinking about doing roller derby for a while, and I thought this would kind of help me get started with some of the basics. The energy and the speed are great.”

The Junior Roller Derby Summer Camp for boys and Girls continues through Sept. 4. The one-hour classes begin at 6 p.m. at Auburn’s Skate Connection and dropins are welcome. Cost is $7 per class.

For more information, e-mail Bower at derbycamp@live.com or call 360-402-3874.

DERBY PRIMER

With origins dating back to the 1930s, roller derby is one of the fastest growing sports internationally, with more than 1,000 teams competing in various leagues worldwide.

The rules are simple. Two teams of five attempt to outscore each other in a series of jams. Each team designates a jammer who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team.

Teams help their own jammer by clearing the way for them, trying to block the opposing team’s jammer and preventing them from scoring.

Blockers for both teams use various tactics and body contact to assist their jammer and hamper the opposing team’s jammer. Contact with the hands, elbows, head or feet are prohibited, as is contact to opposing players above the shoulders or below mid-thighs.

Positions include jammer – denoted by a helmet cover with stars on it – pivot – with stripes covering the helmet – and blockers.

Bouts consist of two periods of 30 minutes, each containing several jams that can last up to two-minutes each.