By Wade Coggeshall
INDIANAPOLIS
November 04, 2009 03:42 pm
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They look like something out of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
They are the women of the Naptown Roller Girls. And during a recent scrimmage in the Toyota Blue Ribbon Pavilion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, they fly around a flat track sporting torn spandex and lots of black colors and tattoos.
Falls are normal. Torn tendons, dislocated shoulders, and broken bones are not uncommon. And with names like Valerie Hurtinelli, Sin Lizzie, Ima Hurche, and Slammy Faye, the motif fits the activity.
The Naptown Roller Girls are a do-it-yourself flat-track roller derby league comprised of two teams — the junior-varsity Warning Belles and the A squad Tornado Sirens. A member of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, the Naptown Rollers formed in 2006. Their fourth season starts Nov. 7 with a doubleheader against the Bleeding Heartland Roller Girls from Bloomington.
Roller derby, which is roller skating around an oval track with points scored as designated players lap members of the opposing team, has been around for decades. And while it’s regaining popularity, it’s still somewhat unknown in popular culture.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” said Blazin’ Ace, a Sirens member who was recently voted top female sports figure in the city by Indianapolis Woman magazine. “I had never actually seen roller derby. I just knew I liked to skate and it was good exercise.”
Christi Wallace, coach of the Sirens, says the skating aspect is obviously the biggest attraction for participants.
“What’s kept me there is it’s just such a cool sport, where a woman can be unbelievably tough and aggressive and cutthroat, while still remaining feminine,” she said.
4 Leaf Cleaver, another skater on the Sirens, joined the Naptown Roller Girls in November 2006.
“I like the fact it’s very aggressive, but I didn’t have any preconceived notions about roller derby,” said Cleaver, who has been an athlete her whole life. Six months after joining, she saw “Kansas City Bomber,” the 1972 movie about roller derby starring Raquel Welch.
“If I would’ve seen that before I started playing, I never would’ve played,” she said.
Ace says you can make roller derby as physical as you want.
“If you really want to get aggressive out there and be a strong hitter, you can train yourself to be like that,” she said. “If you just want to be a skater who is agile and tricky to hit, you can do that too. Some people who come here, this is their outlet. They feel like they have a lot of pent-up aggression they can’t get out in the real world. So we come here and whale on each other, but we’re friends afterwards.”
You don’t necessarily have to be a certain age or build to participate. Wallace says they get everyone from ages 18 to 45, big and small, with a variety of backgrounds.
“Really I think everyone (who participates) surprises me,” she said. “They seem like normal girls; a lot of them are shy and mild-mannered. But it’s a completely different story the minute the whistle blows. You put the skates on and start hitting people, you get in touch with whole other side of yourself.”
It’s the same phenomenon with their fans.
“We have conservative types and liberals — people with tattoos and people wearing suits,” Wallace said.
The Naptown Roller Girls operate as a non-profit organization. So far it’s been strictly a labor of love for its participants. Every member pays dues to the league and buys her own equipment. The teams practice three days a week, two hours each time.
“You have to love it to come out here and do this,” Ace said. “It’s very time-consuming, including the events for promotion. But most girls who come here figure out it’s cool and worth the time, the effort — the pain.”
Their work is paying off. This is the first season the Naptown Rollers will play their six home bouts at Pepsi Coliseum. Season ticket packages are available on the league’s website at www.naptownrollergirls.com. Tenacity and recent dramatizations like “Whip It” continue to stir interest in the sport.
“I’m surprised we’re not known everywhere by now,” Cleaver said. “We promote so much. I still run into people who’ve never heard of us in this city, but I’m finding fewer of them.”
The excitement has spilled over on the teams too. At the end of the Naptown Roller Girls’ first season, they had 15 skaters left. Only 14 comprise a roster. Now they have enough for almost three full teams. One player who joined in February is already on the Sirens.
“The quality of girls we’re getting now is amazing,” Cleaver said.
Added Ace, “As we’ve skated each season, we’ve learned a lot. We play as a team a lot better. Right now we’re looking pretty good. Now is the time for everything to start coming together.”
What is roller derby?
There are two teams of five skaters on a track. Each team has one scoring player called a jammer, who starts at the back and wears a star on her helmet. The rest of the skaters are called blockers and form a pack. The blockers get a head start on the jammers when the first whistle is blown. The jammers take off once the second whistle sounds. The jammers must pass through the pack and back around another lap before they can start scoring. Then they earn a point for each opponent they legally pass. The blockers try to stop the other team’s jammer from passing while helping their own jammer through. The team with the most points at the end of the bout (consisting of two 30-minute periods) wins.
2009-10 home season schedule
Nov. 7 — Bleeding Heartland Doubleheader
Dec. 5 — Burning River Doubleheader
Jan. 16 — Tornado Sirens vs. Derby City
Feb. 6 — Tornado Sirens vs. Memphis Roller Derby
March 20 — Tornado Sirens vs. Sioux Falls
April 17 — Ohio Doubleheader
All matches in Pepsi Coliseum except March 20 in the Toyota Blue Ribbon Pavilion.
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