First Time at the Rollerderby

When I was first asked if I wanted to go to the rollerderby by a friend, I was not interested. I had seen in 1989 a pilot show called "Rollergames". The show had wrestler like theatrics, gimmicks and rock acts at half-time like Deborah Harry and others. I was growing out of the wrestler thing and didn't see another episode. That tainted the offer to see the local roller derby.

I did more research and found that roller-derby's it started in the 1930's and was televised in the 1940's. The televised events drew more to the live events and it has grown to over 1200 clubs worldwide, including Egypt and Dubai. The sport is more self-empowering for women and girls than I realized as I was worried about the objectification of women that I remembered in the Rollergames TV show.

The league name is "Eves of Destruction" and last night was started by the junior local team "Rotten Apples vs the away team of the "Honey Badgers". The junior team is made up of girls aged 13-18. The headliners were the home team of the "Belles of the Brawl" vs the away team of "Hula Honeys". The sport is non-profit and every person is in it for the fun of the sport.

The pun and sly humor of the names of the participants, including referees, were hilarious. Some of the names of the local team "Belles of the Brawl" are Sixty Hurts, Taj MaBrawl, Slaya Patra, Jack Widow, Dalai Slamma and Maux Faux to name a few. Some of the Hula Honeys names are After Bertha, Assauted P-Nut, Daisy Chainmail, Impailor Moon, Kay Boom, and Pippy Longstalker.

The night was fun but the seats were not. I'll have to bring a cushion to the next event I go to. I won't become a seasons pass holder but I do respect the sport much more and the women that compete in Rollerderby than I did before.