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Don't Let Them Eat the Baby: Why Roller Derby is the Greatest Sport Never Sold
The year is 2006, and roller derby is on the brink of a massive explosion. This was right after the TV show Rollergirls, before the movie Whip It, and before Erica Vanstone ever dreamed of becoming the Executive Director of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). Soon, the newly married NYU film school grad will nearly flip her life upside down to get the sport of roller derby on broadcast TV. And it all starts the night Erica walks into a Camden roller rink.
Erica doesn't realize her soul needs saving until she reads the words on the back of someone's Roller derby saved my soul. With AC/DC blasting overhead, Erica watches two teams of fishnet-clad and tattooed women muscling their way around a rink in a counterclockwise direction. As the unapologetically badass skaters fly by, both intimidating and inspiring, Erica doesn't yet understand the sport, but something in her bones tells her she wants in on it.
Before she even knows the rules, Erica finds herself announcing at roller derby bouts all over the city and soon, the country. While navigating career shifts, motherhood and eye-roll-inducing misogyny, Erica finds a way to help grow the sport into what it is today, while never giving up on its roots or herself.
In this memoirella, Erica Vanstone weaves humorous, humbling personal narrative with cultural journalism to make the case for women's sports as a community lifeline. Don't Let Them Eat the Baby is told in raw, unrelenting prose by one of roller derby's architects. Now more than ever, the world needs safer sport spaces like roller a sport steeped in authenticity and belonging. In her debut memoirella, Vanstone shares why roller derby is the greatest sport never sold and learns what parts of her own soul really needed saving.
Erica doesn't realize her soul needs saving until she reads the words on the back of someone's Roller derby saved my soul. With AC/DC blasting overhead, Erica watches two teams of fishnet-clad and tattooed women muscling their way around a rink in a counterclockwise direction. As the unapologetically badass skaters fly by, both intimidating and inspiring, Erica doesn't yet understand the sport, but something in her bones tells her she wants in on it.
Before she even knows the rules, Erica finds herself announcing at roller derby bouts all over the city and soon, the country. While navigating career shifts, motherhood and eye-roll-inducing misogyny, Erica finds a way to help grow the sport into what it is today, while never giving up on its roots or herself.
In this memoirella, Erica Vanstone weaves humorous, humbling personal narrative with cultural journalism to make the case for women's sports as a community lifeline. Don't Let Them Eat the Baby is told in raw, unrelenting prose by one of roller derby's architects. Now more than ever, the world needs safer sport spaces like roller a sport steeped in authenticity and belonging. In her debut memoirella, Vanstone shares why roller derby is the greatest sport never sold and learns what parts of her own soul really needed saving.
242 pages, Paperback
Published October 14, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 16, 2025
I give this 5 bags of popcorn 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
October 17, 2025
Fun to meet the author and read this ahead of watching roller derby for the first time! It was cool to learn more about the resurgence of the sport over the last 20 or so years. I loved the idea of a memoirvella!
November 2, 2025
Don’t Let Them Eat the Baby is a story of resilience, grit and humility. I will never forget my first Rose City Rollers bout, the energy infectious and invigorating. Vanstone brought me right back to that place, showed me the beauty of women’s sports, and the tragedy of a world that only takes men sports seriously. She bares witness to what it means to be a team player and take full accountability for our actions through fury and perseverance. She did this all with her young son in tow, giving him a front row seat to how women get shit done. If you love womens sports or you just love badass women this book is for you!
December 1, 2025
Captured my heart and made me smile
What I loved about this book most was the behind the scenes look at the governing body of WFTDA and how it came to ESPN. As a roller derby skater myself for the last 15 years it was like a walk down memory lane but with an insiders look behind the curtain.
If you don't know roller derby this book will still make you smile with its heart felt love of roller derby and Vanstone's relationship with it and her fellow teammates.
What I loved about this book most was the behind the scenes look at the governing body of WFTDA and how it came to ESPN. As a roller derby skater myself for the last 15 years it was like a walk down memory lane but with an insiders look behind the curtain.
If you don't know roller derby this book will still make you smile with its heart felt love of roller derby and Vanstone's relationship with it and her fellow teammates.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews