How I Fell in Love with Roller Derby

I'd been hearing about roller derby for a couple of years as friends attended bouts in Lincoln, Nebraska, and my brother's former co-worker was a Gotham Girl, but it wasn't until this fall that I actually got to a bout myself. It was the Brooklyn Bombshells v the Bronx Gridlock and I knew I was in love. At that bout they announced the upcoming Women's Flat Track Derby Association's (WFTDA) National Championship in Austin, TX and I began to hatch a plan to go.

I must admit that I had already been swirling around the idea of visiting Austin to see my dear friend Gina, pregnant with twins, but I had also begun to think that the trip wouldn't happen for a while because of various other engagements. But now, with the WTFDA Championships a week away I decided to be very spontaneous and go. And I went. And Gina and I spent two glorious days watching bout after bout of WFTDA roller derby.

When we first went to the Austin Civic Center to get our tickets, the day before the bouts were to start, I immediately recognized Beonslay of the Bronx Gridlock hanging out in the "lobby" and I went over to say hi. Various other Gotham Girls were there and they were very welcoming. It was so exciting. And I'm not one to go marching up to people I admire. No, I'm much more the shrinking violet in situations like that, so it was doubly wonderful to be so rewarded. And of course I thought I was pretty cool for having traveled so far so spontaneously to support the Gotham Girls, but then at the actual bout I overheard this guy say how he'd flown out from NYC that very morning just to make the bout. That took me down a peg. Good for me.

One of the best things about going to the championships was that I got to see so many different teams from all over the country and that helped me to understand how teams played very differently. The finals were between the Rat City Rollers from Seattle and The Kansas City Roller Warriors. The Rat City women played very tough with lots of penalties. KC Roller Warriors was slightly more gentle--and in the end they were victorious.

I must admit that I had started to feel a bit intimidated as the Championship started. The skill of the skaters, the possibility of painful injuries--it all started to haunt me a little. But by the end I was once again on fire with the dream of actually being a Gotham Girl. During my time in the airport on the way home I signed up for the Gotham Girl try-outs in November. Now I had to get serious.