By Amber Fricke
Cars fill the Supergoose Sports Complex on the evening of May 22, opening night for the Savannah Derby Devils – the city’s roller derby team. Women in short skirts and boots with fishnet stockings direct drivers to park down the street at the Kroger.
People take their tailgating here seriously, just like they would at a Jaguars or Braves game with beer coolers and lawn chairs. It’s a puny parking lot that can’t really hold the breadth of the fan base.
When the sign reads that the gates open at 5 p.m., doors open at 6 p.m., and hell is unleashed at 7 p.m., they aren’t kidding. Get there early or be prepared to walk.
If you thought roller derby died in the ‘70s, don’t feel bad–you probably just didn’t see it coming back like bell-bottom jeans and disco. But, the 2009 movie produced by Drew Barrymore, “Whip It!”re-introduced this underground sporting phenomenon to an unsuspecting and curious crowd of mainstream, suburbanite moviegoers.
The film stars Ellen Page (“Juno”) as an awkward indie-rock teenager who comes into her own on a roller rink in Austin where she learns the art of full-contact roller racing against other women.
A whispy Ellen Page wasn’t present at the Supergoose on May 22, when the Derby Devils took on Greenville Urge, and that’s probably a good thing. Page’s seventeen-year-old character couldn’t cut it with these women. They’d eat her alive.
Before the game, the arenafeels more like a strange hybrid of a rock concert and family fair than a sporting event. Fans dress in black and red, some with Derby Devil tee shirts and others covered in face paint. Music blares from the overhead speakers as people crowd the bleachers and set up lawn chairs around the rink. In the far corner of the arena sits a bouncy house full of jumping and cheering children.
Minutes before the game, players roll onto the rink as the announcer calls the lineup with names like Fear Abby, Rhymes with Death, Chick Norris and No Mercy Jersey. Uniforms are devised from tight tank tops, tiny shorts and leggings. One glance at these women and you know you’re not at your Momma’s roller rink.
If you don’t know what you’re looking at, roller derby can seem like a free for all race with women throwing elbows and knocking each other onto the ground. In actuality, derby is a pretty organized game.
Here’s how it works: the game is divided into two 30-minute periods containing as many jams as time allows. Jams are two-minute races where each team has five players on the rink – for a total of 10. Of the 10, eight are blockers (four from each team) and two (one from each team) are jammers. Jammers score the points.
The blockers line up ahead of the jammers and start skating first. On the second whistle, the jammers take off and try to fight their way through the pack. The jammers’ job is to score points by making it past all of the opposing team’s blockers and getting to the front of the pack. One point is awarded for each player on the opposing team the jammer passes after making it around the rink once.
The Derby Devils squash the Greenville Urge, 107 to 71. They remain undefeated.
Roller derby is a fast moving game with an average of ten jams getting packed into a single period. The players are fast, tough and not afraid to fall. Impressed by the “no crying in baseball” rule? That’s nothing compared to the lack of tears in roller derby.
In the first period, three players wipe out into the suicide seating section along the rink floor, and multiple others fall along the course. Picture a NASCAR multicar pile-up, but with women instead of Formula One race cars. Players’ thighs turn the crimson of their painted faces. Bruises are just part of the uniform.
At half time the Devils lead the Urge, 77 to 27. The buzzer sounds and an in-house band plays hard-rock originals, while the “Derby Jeerleaders” take the rink and entertain the crowd.
Players use the intermission to hydrate and visit their families in the stands. Rhymes with Death, a second year player with the Savannah Derby Devils, skates to the bleachers and steals a kiss from her three-year-old daughter, Sophie.
“I love being a Devil,” says Rhymes with Death. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun.”
Her husband John agrees with the “lots of work” part. “Sometimes I see this little one more than I see my old lady,” he says, motioning toward Sophie.
But when asked if he likes being a derby husband, his answer is supportive. “It’s fun to watch. We come out to every home game.”
The Savannah Derby Devils have been around since January 2006 and belong to the Women’s Flat Track Association. Like most teams involved in the sport, the Devils have seen a sharp rise in popularity in the past few years. The first home game of the 2010 season saw a record attendance of over 700 people.
The Savannah Derby Devils are comprised of approximately 20 players and five Jeerleaders who consider themselves more like family than a sports team.
But it’s not all fame and glory for these roller racers – being a derby girl is hard work.
Cherry Buster, a Derby Devil who joined the team after participating in the 2009 Roller Girl Boot Camp, works the merchandise table.
“It’s a huge time commitment,” she says. “Being a Devil is more than going to practices and playing in games–we set up for games, run the booths, fund raise…you name it.”
Even with all the time and effort, Cherry Buster doesn’t regret joining the team for a second. “My only regret is that I didn’t join sooner.”
Roller Girl Boot Camp is an invitation for women 18 years and older of all skill levels to come out and learn about roller derby. This 2010 camp started June 6, and more than 95 women signed up to learn how to block, jam, hip butt and elbow their ways around a rink balanced on wheels. They celebrated the end of camp with a party at B&B’s.
At the end of camp, the team invited 10 to 20 campers to practice with the team until the open audition tryouts on June 30.
“If you have any desire to tryout for the team, you really need to be at boot camp,” says Cherry Buster. “But even if you don’t want to play, it’s worth it to come out and have some fun.”
Boot camp, however, is not a pre-requisite. If you think you are scrappy enough to roll with the Derby Devils, you’re welcome to lace up your skates. Just bring knee pads.
The next home game takes place on Sept. 18, and will feature the Fresh Meat Scrimmage with the newly acquired players from the June 30 tryouts. Tickets are available in advance online.
