The Killamazoo Derby Darlins aren't exactly hell on wheels, although one member of the team uses that as her "derby" name.
What the
Derby Darlins are is a group of women of varying ages, shapes and sizes, and day jobs who have two things in common -- a passion for speed on roller skates and the talent to stay upright when going around a flat track while trying to defend a teammate or out skate members of an opposing team.
During a recent Sunday practice and scrimmage at Rollerworld, team members in colorful tank tops, leggings, T-shirts and shorts, strapped on their arm and knee pads and fastened their helmets before taking to the rink's hard surface. Skate over skate with arms pumping they maneuvered around each other on the oval track, coaches and fellow players shouting words of encouragement.
Beverly Clark, a.k.a. Beverly Hells, got involved in roller derby as an outlet for the pressure she was often under while attending pharmacy school in Arizona. Clark, 30, now a pharmacist at the Family Health Center, says one of the biggest misconceptions people have about roller derby is about the very nature of the activity.
"People need to know that it's a real sport," Clark says. "We are athletes. We practice at least three days a week. We do endurance, core work, everything. We're not in it for show."
The emphasis, however, was on the theatrical when Leo Selzer created Transcontinental Roller Derby in the 1930s. Then it was a touring competition. Under Selzer, the sport evolved from a marathon skating race on a flat track to a more physical competition emphasizing skater collisions and falls, says the Women's Flat Track Derby Association, the governing body for roller derby.
Selzer's roller derby events started to draw larger audiences once the sport was televised in the late 1940s. By the 1960s competing roller derby franchises emerged, some of which emphasized theatrics more than sport, and Selzer put his son Jerry in charge of the business he'd built up.
But, the sport's popularity would not last much past the early 1970s and in 1973 Jerry Selzer shut down the roller derby organization founded by his father.
Then the Texas Rollergirls, founded in Austin, Texas, skated onto the scene in the early 2000s and laid the groundwork for a sport that now has more than 500 flat track roller derby leagues throughout the world. The leagues are owned by skaters or retired skaters, says Kelly Kozik, who co-owns the Derby Darlins with Kristy Howard.
Kozik, whose derby name is Battleaxe, says there are more than 20 roller derby teams in Michigan. In Southwest Michigan there are the
Cereal Killers in Battle Creek,
Grand Raggidy Roller Girls in Grand Rapids and the
Renegade Rollita in Marshall, in addition to Kalamazoo's Derby Darlins.
A television show about the Texas Rollergirls inspired Kozik, a packaging supervisor at EPI in Battle Creek, to get involved in the sport of roller derby.
"As a kid I used to roller skate all the time," Kozik says. "In 2006, I went up to Grand Rapids to watch a roller derby bout."
That exposure inspired Kozik to join the Kalamazoo Kamikazes, founded in 2006. In 2008, she and Howard, whose derby name is Javelin, reorganized the team into the Derby Darlins.
Kozik, 46, was one of many derby girls skating today who grew up watching earlier versions of roller derby on television. It featured glamorous women with derby names that were considered fairly scandalous at the time. The antics on the rink were less about athleticism and winning and more about providing entertainment.
Those unprovoked elbowing and punches thrown -- knocking many a skater to her knees and bringing some to tears -- is not a part of today's roller derby bout, Kozik says.
"There are no staged fights," Kozik says. "We have a strict code of conduct in place. The instigator of anything that doesn't follow that code of conduct could be suspended or ejected from a team.
"I think there are still a lot of people who think it's theatrical and that it's all staged. The object of the game is not to hurt your opponent, it's to get your jammer through to score points. I have yet to find another skater who feels good about injuring another player."
After a hard-fought bout, Kozik said it's not uncommon for the opposing teams to get together and offer each other advice and support.
Clark, who started out with the Kamikazes in 2007, said she continues to skate for the exercise, fun and friendships it provides.
The 32 women who skate for the Derby Darlins and its B crew – the Killa Crew – fine-tune their techniques during longer practices on Sundays and Wednesdays and a shorter practice on Tuesdays at Rollerworld. Some of them have been skating since childhood and others are new to the rink.
Women who try out for the team go through comprehensive training and skills assessments before they can participate. Among the techniques they are taught is how to fall properly and get into a protective stance. Kozik said the injury rate among derby girls is no higher than other competitive sports.
But, unlike other competitive sports where players have the potential to make big bucks, derby girls chip in to cover the cost of facility rental for practices and games. They also pay for their own skates and protective gear.
"We're not like other athletes where we make money," says Kozik. "Everything they (the team members) give is on their own time and for the love of the sport."
In 2011 the Derby Darlins did about $32,000 in ticket sales. All of that money was reinvested into the team to pay the cost of traveling expenses, rental fees for the venues they skate in and some advertising. Their season is year round and bouts are scheduled as they connect with other teams.
Kozik says ticket prices for the team's bouts at Wings Stadium are set intentionally low in keeping with the sports commitment to providing family friendly entertainment. Adult admission is $12 in advance and $16 at the door and $5 for children ages 6 to 12.
Kozik said she invokes the family friendly focus with skaters when they are choosing their derby name.
"I've had a few that were a little bit inappropriate," Kozik says. "I tell them that if it's after a game and a little girl comes up and wants you to sign something, what are you going to want to sign."
In keeping with their often rough and tough derby persona and colorful derby names, the women who make up the Derby Darlins focus on giving their all at every bout.
There's another colorful side to the sport. Clark describes herself as a "heavily tattooed individual"--a side people don't see when she's on the job. The tattoos are definitely visible when she skates, she says.
"I'm completely in it for the fun. People always tell me when they watch me skate that I'm always smiling," Clark says. "I get mixed reactions when I tell people that I'm involved in roller derby. A lot of people will say they didn't even know there was roller derby here."
Jane C. Parikh is a freelance reporter and writer with more than 20 years of experience and also is the owner of In So Many Words based in Battle Creek.
Photos by Erik Holladay.
The Killa Crew battles its way through a recent bout.