Did you know about the Blue Ridge Roller Girls? Because I so totally didn’t. With names like Chelle-O Shoot Her, Break Neck Beck, Nico Suave, Pulp Friction, Miss Chete, Psycho Anna Lies, and, Poison Sue Smac, they’re bringing fast-paced, agro roller derby back from the … ‘70s.
Actually, it was the all-women’s roller derby leagues (first formed in Austin, Tex. in 2001) the kicked off the sport’s revival. And what’s not to love? It’s like ice hockey played on a skating rink by cute girls in skimpy gym shorts and fishnet tights. HowStuffWorks describes it as “roller skating on steroids.”
The sport seems retro (the way all things involving satiny short-shorts do) but its history reaches much farther back than disco-fueled kitsch. Roller Derby actually evolved in the 1930s from a Depression-era endurance race. 25 teams of one male and one female skater each had to complete 57,000 laps around a rink, the supposed distance across the U.S.
What fans really liked, though, were the blood-spewing collisions, so the sport changed from a distance challenge to a more theatrical brawl-oriented past time.
Want to know more? The Roller Girls are hosting “What the *$!Bleep!$* Is A Derby??” at Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company on Thursday, Feb. 15. The 9:30 p.m. event includes derby footage, a Q&A and a chance to join the league as a ref, an announcer, a coach, a fan or—yes—even a skater.
“Our vision for the future includes maintaining a regular practice schedule and bouting locally by the spring of 2007, eventually competing in inter-league bouts while striving for regional and national competition through a travel team,” the girls write on their MySpace site. For more info, visit myspace.com/blueridgerollergirls.
– Alli Marshall, A&E reporter
