Hell on Wheels: Roller Derby in the GSO

Thoughts of girls in tutus, tights, lace, and possible injury may cause flashbacks to your junior high production of The Nutcracker or Swan Lake, but for some it recalls something a little, well a lot different from a ballet. For many women throughout the country (and across the world) the thought of getting checked into a wall at a high rate of speed, jumping over people in skirts, and slinging people around, is what makes for a good time; add wheels to the mayhem and viola! You have the one and only sport of roller derby.

For some people a few laps around the skate rink with a disco ball and a Backstreet Boys song is enough for a trip to the roller rink, but not UNCG student Aubrey Lockard, 22, who is single-handedly forming a WFTDA Roller Derby league for Greensboro, NC.

“I had played on the Winston-Salem team, but I honestly couldn’t afford to keep driving back and forth between Greensboro and Winston twice a week for practice,” explains Lockard.

“It makes sense to have one in Greensboro since the closest teams are in Raleigh, Winston Salem, and Charlotte, and a lot of people around here want to play.”

The recent popularity of the Greensboro Roller Derby Facebook page is evidence for this. Lockard created the page less than a week ago and there is already has 607 fans, and is receiving a tremendous amount of support. Lockard explains how every time she checks her e-mail, there is a steady flow of people wanting to support the team in any way they can.

A Roller Derby “bout” or match lasts for 60 minutes and is broken into two 30-minute rounds. It consists of 20 players on a team, and 14 need to be on a roster for a bout, and five play at a time. One girl, the “jammer” is the woman who scores the points for each team. “It makes more sense when you watch a real WFTDA bout,” said Lockard.

WFTDA, for all of the non-roller derby hip people stands for Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. According to the WFTDA website there are 74 associated leagues in the United States, with only 17 on the eastern side of the country. Lockard, aka “Molly Flogger” among the derby crowd looks to put Greensboro on this list.

Now, you may be asking why is she calling herself Molly Flogger? Throughout the roller derby culture team members have been playing under aliases. Now, it’s not to protect the innocent (or guilty) it’s just fun. Names tend to have fun twists on violent or aggressive terms, but hey it’s all in good fun. Players tend to play “dress up” for their bouts, and crazy outfits can be expected.

The typical roller derby player and fan is someone a little bit “outside the box.” “Tattoos, piercings, and a punk attitude all tend to go hand in hand with roller derby,” laughs Lockard, “but they definitely aren’t necessary.”

Lockard is also quick to explain that roller derby isn’t just about playing dress up, “I want people who think that it’s about looking cute or hot to really look at the amount of time, effort, practice, and pain that goes into derby.”

Pain is definitely part of this sport, with girls literally slinging each other around, and physically blocking the jammer, elbows are certain to be thrown. “Serious injuries have occurred from roller derby, broken bones, torn ligaments, "rink rash", cuts, bruises, and concussions are frequent in the derby world, more frequent than in football I think,” said Lockard.

But even with all this pain, the trade off is worth it to the players throughout the country, “It’s a huge adrenaline rush, not only because I know I can hit someone and get away with it,” she jokes, “but because it’s a rush you get with any other sport you’re passionate about, it’s really exciting and rewarding.”

“In order to get this thing really going we need as much support as possible, on Feb. 21 between 7-8 PM there is an interest meeting at Chumley’s Bar on Lawndale,” explain Lockard.

“Everyone is encouraged to come, not just girls who want to skate, but fans too, you’ll learn a lot about roller derby!”