‘Little Steel Derby Girls’ Give as Good as They Take
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Natalie Clark isn’t a woman to be pushed around even though other women try their hardest to knock her off her feet. To them it matters naught that she wears glasses.
Clark, a slender woman in her mid-20s, takes such efforts in stride. The give–and-take is part of women’s roller derby, a take-no-prisoners sport where 10 skaters zoom around an 88-foot oval track at speeds as fast as 30 mph, ostensibly trying to lap their opponents. If they should happen to knock their opponents’ jammer or four blockers on their behinds, well, that’s part of the game.
Clark simply smiles and says, “I don’t have contacts [lenses]. My glasses are part of my face. They haven’t been smashed yet,” she laughs.
Clark belongs to the Little Steel Derby Girls, a local women’s roller derby team affiliated with the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. Among her accomplishments: MVP blocker in October 2010 and winner of the Chuck Norris Award.
The derby association is composed of flat track leagues around the world. The skaters own and operate these leagues, most of them organized as limited liability corporations and governed by the bylaws and a board of directors. Numerous fundraisers needed to keep the leagues financially afloat supplement the monthly dues the skaters pay.
With revenues barely exceeding expenses, the federation relies on dozens of volunteers to be referees, scorekeepers, announcers and emergency medical technicians.
Many skaters adopt superhero identities as they don helmets, elbow- and kneepads, mouth guards and, of course, lace up their high-precision roller skates. Every skater has taken a nom de guerre such as Superman or Batman, and the Derby Girls have come up with monikers intended to inspire fear such as Maulin Brando, Tamamaniac, Pistol Gete and Cutthroat Kitty.
Clark, a recent graduate of Youngstown State University, has taken the name “Knock-Out Natalie” and her uniform number is KO. Someone meeting her for the first time – away from the track, that is – understandably would get the impression that she could well be a genteel librarian who helps children find books in the stacks.
On the track, however, “I’m playing,” Clark states. “It might be dangerous. It might take up my time. It might cost me money. But it has brought so many positive things into my life. It gives the most pleasure that I can have.”
Other skaters feel the same. Two-year veteran Mona Walter, also known as Tequila Ann Tix, talks about the feeling of ”game on.”
“Once the anthem plays, you know it’s time,” she says. “You play and give it all your heart and soul.”
Flat track roller derby continues to grow in popularity as evidenced by its 1,200 leagues around the world. At the 123rd session of the International Olympic Committee in Durbin, South Africa, officials announced that roller derby is among eight sports under consideration for addition to the 2020 Olympic Games.
On the track, the Little Steel Derby Girls are bumping, blocking and jamming. Away from the track, they give back to the community.
Sarah Cragle, aka Dixxie Hazard, has returned to the team after giving birth to a daughter in 2011. “We volunteer at the Rescue Mission,” Cragle relates. “We want to give something more to the community, to add to it.”
In addition, the Little Steel Derby Girls make gift baskets and take part in toy drives, Relay For Life and car shows. Their good deeds are not transparent to their fans. One, Mark Hancock, says, “We followed them for the first time last year at the Covelli Centre. We’ve seen them out and about in the neighborhood at different functions. These girls are having fun, so let’s support them.”
During a recent match, Hancock stood up, sat down and hunched over in his seat as the skaters zoomed around the track.
“Flat track women’s roller derby is awesome,” he begins. “Lots of action. These girls are tough. You can tell they’re having fun, so it sort of makes the fans have fun and it’s fun to back the local team.”
To which Clark responds, “It’s not old-school ‘70s roller derby. It’s not a show. It’s a little bit more family-oriented. Everyone has fun.”
The person responsible for the fun continuing is Tifany Griffin, president of Little Steel Derby Girls, whose nom de guerre is Ground Zero. “Lots of savings, lots of fundraising, lots of knowing where your sponsor money is and league dues are,” she says. “If you plan year-round, it gets easier and easier.”
Last year, the Derby Girls played at Covelli Centre. This year, they’re playing at Youngstown Skate in Boardman. ”Bigger venues spread out our fans a lot more,” Griffin explains. “Since, this is still new to the community, we didn’t get as many people at Covelli Centre.”
Her team’s final game of the season, Sept. 19, will be played at the Covelli Centre, she points out.
A female fan asks for an XXL blue Derby Girls T-shirt at the merchandise table, wondering aloud if it will fit comfortably before trying it on. Monica Hayes, who works the table, hands the fan another T-shirt, one size smaller and in black. The fan tries it likes the second better. Hayes asks, Do you want to wear it for the game?”
The fan says, ”I will,” as she peels off $15 in payment.
“The sale of our merchandise is extremely important,” Hayes says. “What we sell goes to pay for our venue and any items we may need for the team.”
Roller derby, around almost as long as there have been roller skates, has gone through periods of boom and bust. Leo Seltzer introduced it to the United States in 1935. Derby skating peaked in popularity in the early 1940s. In the early days of television in the 1950s when programmers had airtime to fill, those who could afford a TV set watched roller derby in black-and-white.
Old-school roller derby with its elevated track came to a screeching halt in the 1980s. In the late ‘90s, roller derby enjoyed a resurgence of sorts on cable with shows such as “Rollergirls” and “Roller Jam.”
A decade ago saw the birth of modern women’s roller derby with the Texas–Roller Girls skating on a flat track that became the current WFTDA.
Contrary to what some fans think, women’s roller derby is not simply skating around a circle trying to knock opponents on their behinds. The goal is for the lead jammer or pivot, who wears a star on her helmet, to complete as many laps in a two-minute jam as possible while opposing blockers try to prevent her without committing fouls. After she completes her first lap, she scores one point for each opposing skater she passes.
Says Hancock, “Once you know the rules, [the game] is so much easier to follow and understand.”
After every match, the Little Steel Derby Girls circle around the track and high-five the audience. The team has learned social media deepens their connection. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are part of their social media blitz.
“We communicate with our fans,” Griffin says. “We try to let them know where we are in the community, whether it’s a fundraiser or charity. We try to get them involved, not just roller derby.”
She concludes, “We’re thrilled that super fans are excited to come to our games. And we’re working on getting people to watch us for the first time. Hopefully, they will think it’s is a fun time and come back next time and tell their friends and family.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story appears on the front page of our MidJuly 2013 print edition.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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