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Friday, May 1, 2009

C1

WEEKEND

Above: The roster lists team members by their professional names. Below left: Windy City Rollers skaters Ruth Enasia (left) and Slammah Montana tie up their skates and get ready for practice at their gym on Hubbard Street in Chicago. Below: Amy Nonamey, (from left) Ying O Fire, Shocka Conduit, Loco Chanel, Hermione Danger, Slammah Montana and Nina Millimeter among others practice blocking and jamming at their gym.

When you go
The Windy City Rollers have three matches left in their season. All bouts are played at UIC Pavillion, located at 525 S. Racine St., Chicago and can be accessed from Interstate 290. May 2 Double Crossers V. Hells Belles and The Fury V. Manic Attackers Doors open at 5 p.m. Game starts at 6 p.m. May 30 Hells Belles V. Manic Attackers and The Fury V. Double Crossers. Doors open at 5 p.m. Game starts at 6 p.m. June 20 2009 Ivy King Cup Championships Teams to be announced Doors open at 5 p.m. Game starts at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.windycityrollers.com Adult tickets start at $20; discounts are available for students and seniors.

Jammin, slammin roller derbys in revival

points and she does so by passing the opposing teams players. Blockers and pivots play defense and do their best to keep the other teams jammer CHICAGO In her first official jam, May R. from getting ahead. Daley said she took Tex Anns elbow to the face Players can use their bodies in contact with and it dislocated her jaw. another from their shoulder to upper thigh, chest When youre in the middle of a jam, its hard or upper torso, and from their shoulder to above for a dedicated skater to roll off to the sidelines to their elbow. tend to her wounds. May R. just popped her jaw Violating a rule will get a player thrown in the back into place and kept skating. penalty box, where the other teams jammer can Roller derby has experienced a revival in the score points by passing. past few years that turned it The Windy City from an obscure sport, based Rollers is Chicagos own largely on theatrics, into a league. The four teams in genuine athletic event owned the league, Hells Belles, and run by skaters. Manic Attackers, Double May R., who by day Crossers and The Fury, practices law as Marisa play each other throughMartinez, plays for Hells out the season. An all Belles, one of Chicagos star team travels and modern-day roller derby plays other high ranking teams. teams in the country. May R., who described Currently The Windy Tex Ann as as big as her City Rollers are ranked name, is the chairman of the first in the North Central board of directors for Windy division and second in City Rollers, and has been the country. skating since the leagues If you come to see Nina Millemeter (left) and Shocka inception in 2004. the Windy City Rollers, Conduit practice blocking. And players say it isnt you will see some of the going to be what you expect. best roller derby in the country, Loco Chanel, Theyre going to come see this and realize, aka Emily Trinks said. Its a really fun thing to you dont have a clue, May R. said. watch folks who dont know they leave and The Womens Flat Track Derby Association say oh my God, that was the best thing. was founded in 2004 after the need arose for uniThe Windy City Rollers practice in a wareform rules and organized interleague play. house on Chicagos west side, but play games at According to WFTDA rules, during a jam the University of Illinois Chicago Pavilion. a two-minute scoring session five players roll During practice, you can hear punk rock music as onto the track. One pivot, three blockers and one well as soul, pop, metal and reggaeton. jammer. The pivot wears a stripe on her helmet, But these women arent just there to entertain. the blockers have no identifying marks on theirs Theyve come to compete. and the jammer has a star on each side of hers. We train really hard, Loco said. I think we A jammer is the only one who can score have an incredibly strong team vibe and it helps
By Lindsay Welbers Princeton Reporter

me get my ass to practice. teachers, bartenders, computer programmers and Players are required to attend practice two- graphic designers, to name several, Slammah three times a week but Slammah Montana, aka said. Kim Nelson, said most choose to practice more Aside from the fact that modern derby is frequently or face getting injured on the track. played on a flat track instead of the banked ones These folks are going to rely on me to liter- played on during the 1960s and 70s, the biggest ally protect them on the track, Loco said. Its a difference is that today, its all volunteers who constant physical and mental challenge. care deeply about roller derby as a sport. Loco, who also serves as treasurer for the We are not paid, we are all volunteers, from WFTDA, said despite the tough attitudes and the skaters to the refs to the stats crew, Slammah potentially violent competition, women are said. Because of this, we can control the direcdrawn to the game because its theirs. tion our sport goes, such as the emphasis on athThe word empowerleticism and being taken seriing is overused, Loco ously as a real sport. In the said. I like skating and past, derby was controlled by hitting people and where the owners who made else can you do that and money off the league, and have it be OK as a the sport became more about grown-up? spectacle and entertainManic Attackers ment. team captain Malice Women of all shapes and With Chains, aka Alice sizes play for the Windy City Gleason, said she got Rollers. into roller derby after No matter what your she got burned out on body type you find your other team sports she strength, Slammah said. It had been playing. made me really proud of my Malice played colbody, I just feel more powerlege soccer at two sepaful in my own skin, rate universities and Amy Nonamey (left) gets a boost from Slammah, a petite, professed made two final four Loco Chanel. Skaters use the technique to book nerd said. appearances in that time. help gain position on the floor. The majority of the ladies She was drafted to play skating are in their 20s and professionally but never signed. 30s, but because the current revival has only been Weve got the gracefulness of a female ath- around for the past five years or so, nobody has lete combined with aggression, Malice said. had time to get too old to play. Ive got 80 friends that are amazing, intelligent May R. said she doesnt intend to skate forevand respectfully knock each other around. er, but said it would be cool to drive past the UIC Off the track these women come from all Pavillion when shes 80 and tell her grandkids walks of life. she used to play roller derby there. I dont know what the majority of day jobs would be, but the occupations of women in the Lindsay Welbers can be reached at (815) 872league covers a wide range: lawyers, florists, 1069 Ext. 13 or ntprinceton@ivnet.com.

Photography by Kemp Smith