FURY ON WHEELS?THE EXPLOSIVE RETURN OF THE ROLLER DERBY LIFESTYLE
Words and photos by Dale Rio

I'd heard vague rumblings about roller derby making a comeback. It wasn't until I ran into a long-lost college friend (adorned with a beautiful sleeve by Chris Treviño) at the Dallas tattoo convention about two years ago that I got the chance to get involved firsthand. When I returned to Texas to attend the Star of Texas show in Austin, she arranged for me to photograph the girls in uniform before a bout. Little did I know that, between now and then, my project would grow from photographing one league to trying to keep up with dozens of leagues that, since then, have popped up all over the country. Or that I'd find myself skating with the L.A. Derby Dolls. While the leagues vary and the skaters themselves come from all walks of life—from college students to professional types to middle-aged moms—one thing many of them have in common is ink. As an underground sport, roller derby tends to attract not only accomplished skaters, but girls who haven't necessarily skated since they were kids and are attracted to the rough and sexy image of the sport. Where else can you get a serious workout, rough up a bunch of your closest friends and look hot while doing it? With such a draw, it's not surprising that a lot of the girls are tattooed, and their work parallels their diversity; from small pieces to heavy coverage, and just about every style by artists from all over the world.

THE BEGINNINGS
It all started in a small town in Texas. Austin, to be precise. An oasis in the expanse that is the Lone Star State. In January 2001, when a group of women were approached to start a roller derby league, it is doubtful that any of them foresaw that they would be reincarnating a craze that would spread like wildfire throughout the country.

When the person who originally came up with the idea skipped town, the girls, having put three months of research into it, decided to forge ahead and start of league of their own. Nancy (a.k.a. Iron Maiden), Anya (a.k.a. Hot Lips Dolly) and Heather (a.k.a Sugar) formed Bad Girls Good Women Productions. Having overcome the first obstacle and locating a place to skate, they set out to find a trainer who could mold them into top rate skaters. What they found was a gay figure skater. With over 40 girls taking part, many of whom hadn't skated since junior high school birthday parties, he certainly had his work cut out for him. They practiced with him twice a week, relearning the basics and making up the rest as they went along. After a year and a half of busting ass, holding benefit concerts, and shrugging off nay-sayers, they held their first bout. Using traditional roller derby as their basis (admit it, you watched it on t.v. as a kid!), they added their own brand of B-movie-style chaos, with a touch of Troma and a rock 'n' roll soundtrack. With a carnivalesque atmosphere complete with beer, bands and fun, the BGGW set the precedent for roller derby in the 21st century. They instated the Penalty Wheel, where penalized skaters have to suffer such humiliations as "Trailer Trash," during which the penalized must skate an entire jam wearing a housecoat, curlers and carrying a baby doll. And then there's the crowd favorite, "Spank Alley," during which raffle-winning crowd members line up and spank the offending skater as she skates by. With four teams (the Hellcats, Rhinestone Cowgirls, Holy Rollers, and the Putas del Fuego), the BGGW went from being doubted and down right taunted to being small town celebrities. Their championship bout in October 2002 packed the house with a sell-out crowd of 1,200 people. Over 300 disappointed fans who had to be turned away.

BREAKING AWAY
In 2003, a majority of the girls skating with BGGW, uncomfortable with the way the league was being managed and unable to reach an acceptable compromise, splintered off and formed a second league in Austin called the Texas Roller Girls. With the motto "By the skaters, for the skaters," the Roller Girls are 100% skater-owned and operated. Every girl has a vote in league related issues from financial decisions to technical concerns. Part of the proceeds from each bout goes to a charity chosen by the girls and the remainder is rolled back into league to pay for insurance and other operating expenses. After a short period of regrouping, this group of sexy, athletic, tough-minded, big-hearted women started putting on their own bouts of Rock 'n' Rollerderby ®. They tip their hats to traditional roller derby, but draw a line of distinction between how things were done in the past and how they run their show. Skating on a flat track instead of a banked one puts the action literally in the faces (and laps) of audience members. And it's this atmosphere of audience participation and interaction that they thrive on. The girls are good friends at practice and off the track, but as soon as the whistle blows at a bout their skating personas take over, and they play to the crowd. It's no holds barred, with each girl doing whatever it takes to help their team win. With rivalries created between players on the Hell Marys, Honky Tonk Heartbreakers, Hotrod Honeys and the Hustlers, fans have their favorite skaters and get involved in the drama that unfolds in front of them.

As word spread of the ass-whoopin', all-girl roller derby taking place in Texas, it was only a matter of time till other thrill-seeking, entrepreneurial women followed suit. In July 2003, over a pitcher of beer, the Arizona Roller Derby league was formed in Phoenix. The AZRD's mastermind, Denise (a.k.a. Ivanna S. Pankin), recruited girls on a local punk rock message board and flyered the hell out of the town. After getting a core group of girls together and training like crazy, they held their first pre-season bout in November 2003. The Bruisers, French KISS Army and Smash Squad battle every fourth Sunday of the month and regularly play against the neighboring Tucson Roller Derby league. Their bouts contain the same organized chaos as the Texas leagues do, complete with a Penalty Wheel of their own and bands playing at halftime. They hope to play against the Texas Roller Girls soon, which would herald in a new age of interstate roller derby bouts.

ARIZONA
Tucson's Kim Sin rediscovered roller derby when she was on tour in Austin the summer of 2002. Girls from the fledgling league were handing out flyers at, Emo's, a local watering hole, and Kim was taken back to her childhood—Sunday mornings spent watching the derby on television. She wanted to grow up to be one of those bad-ass girls. But back home in Arizona, when her friend Denise asked her if she wanted to start a league, Kim declined. She'd just come off a European tour, gotten married and started working a 9 to 5 job. She was focusing on establishing some stability in her life and felt she didn't have the time and energy to spare. Plus, for all their talk of dreams, she and Denise just seemed to end up drinking beer, hitting thrift stores and talking more shit. But when the Arizona Roller Derby had their first bout in November, Kim was proud of what her friend (reborn as Ivanna S. Pankin) had accomplished, and after checking out the photos on the AZRD website and seeing how much fun it looked, she decided to rethink her original decision. She agreed to recruit girls from Tucson for a team to be part of the AZRD, but when 13 girls showed up to the first meeting and more followed suit, they eventually branched off and formed their own league, Tucson Arizona Roller Derby (TARDs), consisting of two teams; the Iron Curtain and the Furious Truckstop Waitresses (FTW). Operating independently from each other as far as fundraising, business licensing, merchandise and sponsorship, the two leagues compete in a friendly rivalry that echoes the rivalry of the towns themselves. Kim says, "A Phoenix v. Tucson bout is a brutal and beautiful event not to be missed!"

LOS ANGELES
By the time September 2003 rolled around, something was rumbling in the City of Angels. Five years earlier, Wendy (a.k.a Thora Zeen) had made her way across the country after studying illustration at F.I.T. in New York City. Somewhere lurking in the tangle of her belongings was the pair of beat-up roller skates that would, years later, become the genesis of a new breed of roller derby in L.A. Years later, as fate would have it, she found herself working on a job beside Rebecca (a.k.a. Demolicious), a top-level union sculptor for motion picture and commercial art projects. When Thora pulled her skates out of her bag, the women learned they had something other than their artistic leanings in common. They joined forces, and created the L.A. Derby Dolls. Powered by the strong history of roller derby in L.A., a league over 60 girls strong, and the maniacal training of coach "Blade" Gallager, the Derby Dolls are well on their way to becoming a force to be reckoned with. Practicing four days a week, and having recently acquired a banked track and permanent space of their own, the Dolls' goal is to perfect their skating skills before they unleash their power upon the world. They wear their bruises and blisters as badges of honor. In fact, Thora's biggest hope is to get one of her teeth knocked out.

Holding Hellraiser fundraisers that live up to their name and keeping a steady presence in the community by hosting nights at local bars and generally causing a ruckus, the buzz around them has grown so strong you can feel it in the air. When they do have their first bout, which promises to be a veritable burlesque show of music, roller skates, fishnets and muscle—you'd better strap yourself in!

NEW YORK CITY
Meanwhile, back on the east coast, Karin (a.k.a. Chassis Crass) was toying around with the idea of starting a league in NYC. After talking to her friend Thora Zeen, and checking out the Texas Roller Girls' website, Chassis got bit hard by the roller derby bug. She started an e-mail, flyer, and Friendster blitz to recruit girls for her new Gotham Girls Roller Derby league. After a few months of plugging away at it, the Gotham Girls now have a solid rotation and are looking forward to getting their own practice space. They spread the good word of roller derby by holding fundraisers regularly and by selling merchandise at a space in Brooklyn that has rock 'n' roll skate night where bands play in a cage while people skate around them drinking beer. With teams the Brooklyn Bombshells and Manhattan Mayhem, these are girls to watch out for.

The above mentioned represent just a few of the scores of new leagues that seem to be popping up almost on a daily basis. From the Cayman Islands to Seattle to North Carolina, women are combining their talents and creativity and starting their own leagues, grassroots-style. In contrast to the roller derby leagues of yesteryear, which were criticized for being either too tame or overly staged, roller derby in the new millennium is anything but tame and bears little to no resemblance to the choreographed spectacles of the past. The action is all genuine, practices can be brutal and injuries abound. But to these women, it's well worth it. And many even say that joining the roller derby has changed their lives. From middle-aged moms to young athletes to 30-something businesswomen, the roller derby attracts women from all walks of life; women who want to push themselves to physical extremes and challenge themselves both on and off the track. Those who want to be a part of a community that extends beyond their local league and extends out across the country. Skaters will travel long hours to show support at each other's bouts and, if you're in the roller derby, you know you always have a couch to sleep on if you travel to another city that has a league.

So if you're female, and this all sounds intriguing to you; if skating around in a circle, crashing into 15 to 20 of your closest friends sounds like fun; and if you aren't afraid of a little bruising, keep your eyes and ears open. It's only a matter of time till roller derby hits your town. If it hasn't already and you're the motivated type, get out there start your own league! There's a great support system and plenty of people to look to for inspiration. And who knows, if it keeps gaining momentum, inter-league play and professional leagues aren't outside of the realm of possibility!

Oh, yeah, and if you're male and this all sounds intriguing, get yourself to a roller derby bout as soon as humanly possible. You might be stuck on the sidelines, but you're definitely in for the ride of your life.

ROLLER TEAM WEBSITES
www.azrollerderby.com (Phoenix, Arizona)
www.carolinarollergirls.com (North Carolina)
www.caymanrollergirls.com (Cayman Islands)
www.derbydolls.com (Los Angeles)
www.gothamrollerderby.com (New York City)
www.ratcityrollergirls.com (Seattle)
www. renegaderollergirls.com (recently splintered-off ex-members of AZRD)
www.txrd.com (Lone Star Roller Girls)
www.txrollergirls.com (Texas Roller Girls)
www.tucsonrollerderby.com (Tucson, Arizona)

SKATERS TO WATCH
Furious Truckstop Waitresses (Tucson): Sloppy Flo, Ann Ihilate, Barbicide and Helladonna.
Iron Curtain (Tucson): Moscow Minx, Whamma Pavlova, Dos V. Donna, Nikita Krashchev and Kay G.B.
Bruisers (Arizona): Nurse Ratchett, Joan Threat, Suzy Homewrecker (recently moved from Austin to Phoenix), Brassy Knuckles and Sara Veza.
French KISS Army (Arizona): Mayhemily, Backlash Betty, Stompadour, Ruth Less and Sharon Needles.
Smash Squad (Arizona): T-Wrexxx, Joanna Beatin and Dazy Duke.
Gotham Girls: Baby Ruthless, Contemptress, Hell O'Kitty, Delia Pain, Bratty Duke, Sybil Disobedience and Lady Batterly.
L.A. Derby Dolls: Tara Armov, Robin Graves, Uzi Quatro, Jihad, Lucy Ball-Breaker, Loretta Lynch, Eva Destruction, Joanie Rotten, Kammi Kazi, Jenny Snide, Letha Injection, Crystal Deth, Myna Threat, Mollytov Cocktails, Juana Beat'n, Axles of Evil, Kid Vicious and Candy Striker.