18 Best Roller Derby Gifts People Will Actually Want

Gift giving is a wonderfully happy activity, and it gives joy to the giver and the receiver. It can sometimes end up becoming a very stressful activity when you are not sure what to give.

Some basic rules for gifting include finding out what the person likes, needs, and wants. The next is the person’s age, and of course, your budget is the final determinator. Allow yourself some time and space to snoop a bit, to find out what the person has or is hoping to receive.

Roller Derby Skating is an old sport, played mainly by women until very recently. Today there are male teams and mixed teams as well. Besides being a competitive sport, it allows for many accessories and shows, which makes gifting easier.

Choosing a gift guaranteed to please a young person committed to roller skating is an exciting affair with a whole list of options to choose from.  You can pick from loads of accessories, jewelry, and clothing that are season-specific or occasion-specific.

The list of items below is not exhaustive in itself. It is a comprehensive listing of different categories and gifts for roller derby players as well as people that like roller derby. There are links to sites that give you more options to choose from within categories. Going through it will enhance the whole process of your gift-giving.

Unique Roller Derby Gifts

1. Jewelry

A trinket that celebrates the person is a great gift for any occasion. You can consider a pendant necklace, with the person’s birthstone. The higher the quality of the birthstone, the higher the price of the gift.

Another piece of jewelry that looks pretty is a stamped bracelet. These come in a variety of materials and types. You can get an adjustable band bracelet or a chain bracelet. Best of all, the bracelets (on the site) are customizable. You can have a date, a message etched on, or anything significant to the bracelet’s wearer. Both these gift options start at around $10 and move upwards. So whatever your budget is, one or more of these make an excellent gift option.

2. Clothing

Knee-high socks and leg warmers! A couple of options you can get under $20. The best thing about this option is that socks and leg warmers are one size fits all, so you do not need to know her size! The other great part of this gift is the variety of socks and leg warmers available. There is no such thing as too many leg warmers and socks for a roller skater, so you are sure that she will love this gift. If you know her well, you can also gift her tights as a package deal. There are different sizes in tights, so you have to know her size before you buy them.

Another fun gift is a pair of custom shorts that she can wear when at the gym. You choose the color and the message you want on the shorts! You can also team the shorts with a roller derby tank top. She can decide whether to wear them together or not.

Gifting clothing can get tricky in terms of size so be sure before you buy the right size. You can consider gifting one or more items depending on your budget.

3. Coffee Mug

An ideal gift option for those hands and feet frozen from being out in the cold for too long. There is no limit to how much you can customize a coffee mug. Use photos, or messages, or favorite cartoon characters, or pick one to match the season. At under $15 for a coffee mug, it is a very affordable gift, and you cannot go wrong with this gift choice. You can even consider giving a pair of these mugs to a couple if one or both are into skating. Given the variety of the mugs (use them for coffee/chocolate, or to make mug cakes, or as planters), no one ever really has too many coffee mugs.

4. Stickers, Pins, and Patches

You can consider creating a little gift pack with roller derby related vinyl stickers, enamel lapel pins, and embroidered patches. These fun accessories can go on helmets and collars, on car windows, and laptop covers. They can be stitched/ironed or pinned on! The funnier they are, the more everyone loves them. Look online for any number of choices. Lapel pins are a subtle, fun way to indicate a person’s commitment to a cause or to a sport. A roller skate pin is a perfect accessory for any skater to have on at the disco or at a game!

5. Custom Portrait

Now here is a delightful and creative gift, a customized photo print. Get her face put on her favorite cartoon character, and then have the artist convert it into a portrait. This conversion from photo to portrait print only works if you have at least one high-resolution image of the person who you are giving the gift to. Ideally, have a couple of good pictures, so the artist can work with them and come up with a great portrait. You can consider having the portrait framed as part of the gift.

6. Makeup Pouch

For every professional roller derby skater, a makeup pouch is a must-have. And of course, she will have many in the course of her career. So giving her one more, even if she already has another, is not a bad thing. This makeup pouch comes as a zippered bag, and you can ask for them to add a D-ring and or a carabiner to make it more portable. Choose from a range of colors and prints.

7. Custom Bobblehead

A rather unique and unusual gift for a roller derby girl, custom made bobblehead. If well made, this gift will ensure the derby girl remembers you fondly, every time she looks at it. You choose which material bobblehead you want based on your budget. An ideal material is a polyresin. Choosing this material means a substantial hike in the cost, but in terms of color, finish, etc. it is a superior option. Also, be aware that it takes upwards of six weeks to get a bobblehead made (time to make a mold, etc.). So order in advance to avoid being disappointed.

8. Glow-In-The-Dark Shoe Wings

Here is a fun little roller derby gift guaranteed to brighten up the day or rather the night for these wings’ wearer. Glow-in-the-dark shoe wings are not easy to come by, and being hand-made, there is often a long waiting period before you get them. So plan and order it at least a couple of months in advance. These little wings are very affordable, and best of all, they add so much fun, they are bound to add some cheer to countless hours of practice.

9. DIY Papercraft Roller Skates

A creative gift that becomes a showpiece can be hung on a wall or even become display items at parties and baby showers (if the mommy-to-be is a roller skater). To get these papercraft roller skates, first make the payment so that you can download the 3d files, then print full size and fold according to the instructions. You can pick our color and print from the list on site. It will take you a couple of hours to convert 2D to 3D.

10. Roller Derby Skate Bearing Magnet

Skate bearings are components in skates. Converting these into magnets makes for a fun gift. If your skater is not fond of jewelry, gifting her or him a designed magnet made with skate bearings is a fun alternative. You can ask to have birthstones filled into the bearings to make it prettier. Buy those bearing magnets here.

11. Massage Equipment

After practice sessions and demanding games, getting a massage is not just the ultimate relaxation. It is much needed. The Massage Gun comes with six different heads that work on different muscle groups and 20-speed options.

The Vibrating Electric Foam roller is also a very worthy piece of equipment to have. Both of these massage tools come with rechargeable batteries and can run for a substantial period. At approximately $100 apiece, neither are cheap options, but either/or makes a great gift. Whether the roller derby player is male or female, they will definitely want this gift.

12. Pillbox Holder

Although listed here as a pillbox holder, this metal box can function as a trinket box, or a place to keep your trinkets or as a coins box or carry any other little items to a game. The best part of this box is that the cover is the vintage image of skating printed on the box lid. It instantly upgrades it from a utility item to the status of a great collectible. Sturdy, durable, and lightweight, with two separate compartments inside, it is a great gift for any girl, wife, and mom in roller derby.

13. Fanny Pack

Get a modern take on an old favorite, the fanny pack on the bum-belt back. These fanny packs are made of cloth. You can choose the color (including leopard print and denim) and material, and the patches (animals, flowers, cartoon characters, dinosaurs, etc.) for the fanny packs. Extremely convenient, these packs carry a whole bunch of essentials.

14. New Gear

Now here is an expensive gift idea. You can consider gifting your skater new gear, a helmet, a pair of roller derby skates, etc. Good quality helmets start at least $50 and go upwards from there. Skates come in a wide range, and it wouldn’t hurt to do some snooping before you buy them. Check your skater’s preference and, most importantly, size. Given the cost of skates, giving them as surprise gifts is not a good idea. Vegan skates are available for those who want their skates to be a hundred percent leather-free.

15. Workout Plan

Roller derby is a physically demanding sport, and the skater needs to continually focus on working out. Therefore what better gift than to help her do just that! You can consider giving her a well-designed workout plan structured to her exact specifics and needs. The plan’s goal is to keep the skater fit and increase performance ability viz speed, stability, and strength. You can buy the plan as a gift, while the skater works within the program to create a workout plan exactly suited to her, one that includes diet, etc. This gift is undoubtedly perfect for fresh meat in roller derby.

16. Birthday Cutout Card

You can choose to customize a birthday greeting card. The card cutout design is usually a fixed template, but you can choose the color and send the person’s name to be put on the card. The inside of the card is blank for your hand-written message. This site uses recycled paper for the card and the envelope, and non-plastic packaging and so your gift is more than just a regular card. Delivery takes some time, so it is best to pre-order.

17. Adult Coloring Books

The ultimate gift to help the skater destress and relax post an intense practice session or game. This coloring book is for adults, with intricate designs based on roller skating that allow them to step back from a hard workout and get lost in a different world. The book has over 15 designs pages, separated by blank pages to prevent bleeding of color from one page to another.

18. Gift Cards

When you are overwhelmed by the choices available in terms of gifts for roller derby skaters, you have the option of giving a gift card. The value of the card ranges from $10-$500. The best part of a gift card is that your skater gets to choose what she/he wants, and it can happen at any time. In a way, a gift card is a gift that keeps on giving. You get to choose the amount and the time of gifting it.

Conclusion

After going through the roller derby gifts above, you may find yourself a little spoiled for choice and still struggle with making a decision. One option to consider is to create a gift basket or package, with small gifts from two or more categories. Fix your budget, and then pull different items together. You could create a starter kit, or body-care kit, or a hamper of cute accessories.