Ellen Parnavelas - The Roller Derby Athlete

In 2004 I joined a roller derby league. I didnt know what roller derby was. My team-mates didnt really know what roller derby was. We were a few girls in full protective gear learning to move in skates without falling at the jam skate session in the South Bronx in New York City. We were Gotham Girls Roller Derby and at the time we were one of just a few roller derby leagues to exist in the Unites States. Today in 2012 there are over 1,190 leagues in the US and throughout the world playing roller derby (www.derbyroster.com). If you had told me then that my life was about to change forever, I would have said, Whatever, Im just here for a little exercise because I hate the gym and am a poor self-motivator.

Roller derby has resurged in recent years with a big bang to join the alterna-sport scene. America was a good place for roller derby to thrive. Tattoo shops were found in every city, even childrens clothing was printed with skulls and guitars, and skateboarder Tony Hawk and snowboarder Sean White had become household names. Being safely different had become somewhat acceptable. So enter independently minded women looking for an organised group activity that wasnt volleyball at the YMCA. Hell, knitting was back and cool young women were doing it. What a great time to be alive!

To play roller derby in 2004, if you had a pulse and pair of skates, you were in. No experience was needed in either skating or athletics. It wasnt athleticism that brought us together. It did however require extreme dedication, a little blind faith and our good friend, the Internet. What is it that causes a person to just have no fear and decide to play a contact sport on a pair of roller skates of all things? I dont know what it is, but that little bit of crazy is in every woman who plays roller derby.

Next came evolution. Back in the day women chose clever derby names and dressed in fishnet stockings and short skirts. As the sport grew we figured some things out. Fishnet burns your skin when you fall. Its more comfortable to sweat in a pair of athletic tights. Poorly made sexy skirts ripped, fell apart, and had to go. We learned how to buy roller skates that actually fitted our feet from skater-owned businesses. We learned how to use wheels that worked for the different surfaces we played on instead of just picking our favourite colour. The names stayed, but as evolution dictates, the fittest survived, and we became fitter as we learned to be athletes. Our competitive instincts emerged and with every year we trained harder, faster and more seriously than before.

The first generation had passed, and growing pains began as we began to say goodbye to close teammates who thought the new competitiveness and stricter athletic direction was not the same as the DIY fun they were strongly connected to. As time went on, we became exponentially more competitive and practice and fitness requirements were raised. We had become the misfits old high school enemy, the athlete. And WE LOVED IT. I got great satisfaction from working out so hard I could barely walk, and I did it with a group of women who all were as addicted as I was. There is an immense camaraderie and satisfaction earned when you achieve new physical limits together. We feed off one anothers energy and drive.

Today, roller derby is the core of my life. I have roller derby practice four days a week, every week including three hours of running, plyometrics and weights in addition to skating. Then there are efforts to get to yoga and speed skating on the other days of the week, body pain permitting. And if youre a roller derby athlete you are in pain daily. You learn to tell the difference between pain from a real injury versus the I play a contact sport pain.

I think about roller derby as if it was a newly invented language, and I learned how to speak it in 2004. I have a lot of roller derby experience. I never skated before I joined a roller derby league, but its been many years and Im quite comfortable on wheels now. I get invited to travel to newer leagues and teach them about roller derby while still actively competing as part of a top-ranked international travelling team. Our sport is in a major growth trend where its crucial that we foster its growth and offer education to newer leagues instead of being instant competitors with these new leagues as they form. So if 2012 is your first year skating, know that there are plenty of skaters who have been around a while and want to help you discover the same love of being an athlete playing roller derby that has kept us here all these years and hopefully for years to come.

Suzy Hotrod

Gotham Girls Roller Derby

New York, NY

Suzy Hotrod jamming for Team USA at the Roller Derby World Cup 2011.

Roller derby has been popular since the 1930s, but since 2001, it has experienced a major revival to become a very popular contemporary sport, with new leagues appearing all over the world at a rapid rate. Since 2001, roller derby has become a serious sport played by highly skilled and disciplined athletes. As the game itself has developed, the rules and strategy have evolved, as have the fitness and training practices of the skaters, taking the sport to a new level of athleticism.

Roller derby is popular for so many reasons. Not only does it help those that play it improve their general all-round fitness and increase their strength and stamina, it is a great way to combat stress caused by the frustrations of everyday life. It is also a fun and sociable way to exercise while meeting new people by participating in a team sport. Every roller derby league is a highly supportive community made up of a diverse and interesting range of individuals.

As a non-traditional team sport, it has attracted many people who have never previously played sports as well as experienced athletes. It is inclusive of people from a wide variety of sports backgrounds, from ice hockey and speed skating to netball, rugby, running, gymnastics and martial arts, as well as many first-time athletes.

Roller derby can be enjoyed by a wide range of individuals, as there are now mens and junior leagues, as well as recreational leagues for those who dont want to play at a highly competitive level.

Safety should always come first and roller derby is a demanding physical sport, so if you have any doubts about your health, it is advisable to check your health with your doctor before beginning to play.

A little bit of roller derby history

Roller derby first appeared in the 1930s as a sport for men and women based on the roller skating endurance races that had been growing in popularity since their origins in the 19th century.

Roller derby has had many incarnations over the years and the rules are constantly evolving.

In the 1970s, 80s and 90s, roller derby was shown on late night television in the US where sensationalist violence prevailed.

Male roller derby players in New York in 1931.

Members of the US roller skating team practising together at a Haringey rink for an upcoming UK roller derby in May 1953.

Roller derby is now a legitimate competitive contact sport with a comprehensive set of rules to protect the safety of the players.