Marine Women Battle in Roller Derby
The Devil Dog Derby Dames roller derby league played its quarterly bout at the gymnasium here Sept. 24 to keep their competitive edge.
The league, which was created a year ago, is made up of status of forces agreement personnel and service members, and boasts two teams, the Machine Gun Mollies and the Blitzkrieg Betties.
The league has a month-long training evolution, called the “dog pound,” where participants learn proper sportsmanship and the safety rules of roller derby.
“The dog pound lasts about a month and trains the girls in roller derby,” said Alisa Helin, a skater for the Blitzkrieg Betties. “It starts with the basics of how to roller skate and teaches players the rules of the sport.”
Roller derby is a contact sport, so the rules must be followed or players can easily be hurt.
“We wear protective gear from head to toe,” said Erica Kelcinski, the assistant captain of the Blitzkrieg Betties. “We wear a helmet, mouth piece, elbow pads, gloves and knee pads to help prevent injuries.”
In addition to the protective gear, there are strict rules regarding good sportsmanship that keep the competitors playing fair.
“It’s a very aggressive sport,” said Nikki Hacker, the main pivot for the Machine Gun Mollies. “You can’t push opponents with your hands; you can only use your hips and shoulders, and it must come from the front.”
There are three different types of skaters, and all are identified by their helmets.
There is a jammer, who is identified by a star on her helmet. This player scores points by completing laps around the track. There are three blockers who form a wall, so the opposing team is unable to pass through. The pivot, identified by a stripe down the center of her helmet, clears the path for the jammer to get through the pack of blockers.
Even though the sport is naturally aggressive, the members of the league still operate as a family-oriented team.
“What happens on the rink stays on the rink,” said Hacker. “We are all very aggressive and competitive, but after the jams, we all hang out. It’s almost like a sisterhood.”
A “jam” is the term roller derby uses instead of game.
The newly established league plays every three months, using the off months in between to recover.
“(The derby) is a new concept on island,” said Kelcinski. “We are always looking for more girls to come out and join the team.”
For more information on the Devil Dog Derby Dames, visit devildogderbydames.com or look for the team on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Devil-Dog-Derby-Dames/158946617476048
Story by Lance Cpl. Alyssa Hoffacker
DVIDS
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Marine Roller Derby
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 6th, 2011 at 8:00 am and is filed under Military, Marines, Military, Military, Our Best: Military Women. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Just in case people don’t know, modern women’s flat-track roller derby has been growing by leaps and bounds for the past several years. There are hundreds of leagues across the USA, and even in other countries around the world. Check it out–you may have a league in your own city! I’ve been doing statistics for the Detroit Derby Girls since 2006.
You can find out more about modern roller derby at Derby News Network (www.derbynewsnetwork.com) and at Derby Life (www.derbylife.com).
BTW, “jam” is not a pseudonym for “game”–a jam is a period of time (up to two minutes long) in which teams try to score points on each other, with 30 seconds between jams. Think of a jam like a “down” in football. One of roller derby’s appeal to me is the fact that each team is on offense and defense at the same time. Your blockers both try to help your own jammer through the other team’s blockers while trying to block the other team’s jammer from passing through the pack.
Anyway, good news that roller derby is catching on all over the world. Maybe it will become an Olympic sport, after all! There are some really talented skaters, and the best teams have the best teamwork.
Rusty Wheeler
The league has a couple of active duty Marines, only one played in that bout due to injuries, TDY, and not being cleared to bout yet. We do support our female Marines, but it is difficult to convince them and the COs that derby is less dangerous than basketball and soccer because of all our precautions.
Knight Sabres…Sanjo!
Yea,well none of them will ever match Joan Weston of the San Francisco Bay Area Bombers.
Are these WMs? None is identified as such in the article or on the league website.
Even though it does not mention it in this version of the article, this is taking place in Okinawa, Japan. Devil Dog Derby Dames are one of three active roller derby leagues in Japan. Another league, Kokeshi Roller Dolls is also active on Okinawa and Yokosuka Sushi Rollers is based out of the Navy base at Yokosuka in Tokyo Bay. Another league is forming at the Yokota Air Station.
I hope roller derby in Japan grows in the future. So far, they are off to a good start.
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