On a recent Saturday night about 100 spectators gathered at the Reva Rollerdrome in Auburn to watch a group of women, clad salaciously in fishnet stockings exposed under short skirts, circling on roller skates. Wild-eyed mascara and liner in shades of purple, black and blue sealed their appearance with the mark of a lipstick kiss.
The only dollars being spent were at the hot dog and merchandise stand and the rollergirl-on-girl action that ensued wasn’t exactly what you’d call a Boogie Nights floor show—unless your fetish involves damsels dashing around, knocking each other on their ass in a fast-forward orgy of skin-bruising hip-checks, elbow-whips and pirouetting hoodwinks.
What went down on Feb. 23 was the first competition in front of an audience with official scoring and timekeeping for the upstart Assault City Roller Derby (ACRD). This isn’t your grandfather’s S&M on wheels: These sisters of skate stand united to invigorate the antiquated notion of roller derbies.
“Roller derby was big in the 1970s when women were becoming more liberated and progressive and pushing forward and forward,” says Lishelle Fazzone, competitor in and founder of the ACRD. “And we definitely pay homage to the women that came before us, but we’ve put a more modern twist on it.”
Although their application for a Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) membership is in process, the team still abides by their rules and their governing philosophy: “by the skaters, for the skaters.” The WFTDA encourages women to be the primary managers and operators of each league to promote a do-it-yourself ethic, which is exactly how Fazzone and the rest of the women turned a cyberspace concept into roller skate reality. In fact, despite being the de facto proprietress, Fazzone prefers not to be referred to as the “rink leader” or “head” of the league as she says all members share equal responsibilities.
“We are not in this for the money, though, and once all our expenses are paid, we donate the rest of the proceeds to a given charity,” Fazzone notes. “We each pay $55 a month in dues, most of which goes to cover rink fees. The rest goes toward equipment such as cones, rope, lights and helmet covers.”
In January, they became members of USA Roller Sports (USARS), each paying $40 per year for insurance in case a skating-related injury occurs at USARS-affiliated venues. That same month, the ACRD branched off into three teams to expand their base in the Syracuse area. When it’s time for the roller vixens to arouse angst and get prepared for battle, the signs on their locker room doors read the Syracuse Psycho Dolls, the Ithaca Suffer Jets and the Auburn Prison City Pinups.
Hot Wheels
The term “roller derby” dates to 1922 when the Chicago Tribune coined it for a track-oriented racing event on roller skates held at Chicago’s Broadway Armory. Throughout the years it grew increasingly popular and became a TV staple from the late 1940s, when ABC aired Roller Derby on Thursday nights from 1949 to 1951, to the early 1970s; one syndicated program in the late 1960s featured San Francisco’s Bay City Bombers and aired Sunday mornings (!) on then-WNYS-Channel 9. Several silver-screen spinoffs have also been issued: the 1971 documentary Derby, the 1972 Raquel Welch skateploitation gem Kansas City Bomber, Playboy centerfold Claudia Jennings in 1972’s Unholy Rollers, and the 1975 James Caan thriller Rollerball, then considered a futuristic vision.
But soon after America was entertained by Sonny Corleone on skates, roller derby slowly disappeared, popping up occasionally for nothing more than nostalgia, mostly on TV incarnations like the 1990 syndicated RollerGames and the Nashville Network’s 1998 Roller Jam. That is, until 2004 when enough re-interest bubbled up that the WFTDA was organized to provide a nationwide set of rules to enable competition among leagues from different cities. This revolution wasn’t televised until 2006, when the A&E Network debuted a reality show called Rollergirls, which is where Fazzone initially had a rolling epiphany.
“I didn’t really know that much about roller derby until I started watching that show,” she says. “I had just moved here from a different city and couldn’t find that much to do so I decided that I was going to start a roller derby.” Before that, Fazzone, 25, was an aerial transportation specialist in the Air Force stationed at the Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, Mass. She landed in Syracuse in October 2005.
“I started a MySpace page {in December 2006} to try to get a derby league going and ended up recruiting a few girls who thought it was an awesome idea almost immediately,” says Fazzone. “Our initial practices were held in January during open skate at Action Sports and Skate in Mattydale with only a handful of girls, but I could see that it had real potential and we all had no intention of giving up on it.”
They practiced there every weekend until July 2007, when they finally reached an agreement with the Reva Rollerdrome to work out there three nights a week. “That allowed us to start having real practices and recruit more girls,” she continues. “Because of that, we really had an influx of new players and got a nice core of girls, who are all still very dedicated.
“We began to hang flyers around town and we attended a few events like the Syracuse Heroes Expo and a Gear Factory art show just to get our names out there,” she says of their takin’-it-to-the-streets attitude. Around the same time, they continued to generate interest from MySpace and registered the league and participated in community events, like the Breast Cancer Walk at Onondaga Lake Park held this past Sept. 30.
The Feb. 23 event was their first intra-league bout, almost 15 months after the creation of the MySpace profile. Ithaca defeated Syracuse 114-64, but the celebration wasn’t one-sided. After their victory, the Suffer Jet city ladies presented Fazzone with a sublime floral memento to show their appreciation for her idea that had become a reality. Everyone was able to go home smiling, resting on laurels of determination and accomplishment.
But the sentimentality won’t last long as the ACRD will take the show on the road and travel to the state capital on April 26 to face the Albany All Stars Roller Derby at the Washington Avenue Armory, 416 Southern Blvd., Albany.
There are currently more than 20 members spread out over the three different teams and since there is ample time between events, any woman over age 18 can get in on the action. “We are looking for fun, foxy ladies who want to have fun, make new friends, participate in a sport and give back to the community,” says Fazzone. “All skill levels are welcome so come on out!”
Five for Fighting
WFTDA competition rules state that five members of each team take the oval track—88 feet around and 13 to 15 feet wide. Four wait at the starting line, and are referred to as the “pack.” The fifth is stationed a few feet behind the pack in a position dubbed the “jammer.” They are responsible for scoring points for their team and are identifiable by a cover worn over their helmet with a single large star on it.
When the whistle blows to start a bout, the pack takes off and, as soon as there is 20 feet of distance between them, the jammers follow. Scoring begins after the jammer successfully passes through the pack. From that point on, every member of the opposing team they pass again accounts for one point. Referees are stationed on the inside and outside of the track and are responsible for monitoring different aspects of the game, such as tallying the point count or keeping an eye out for any gross misconduct, such as illegal tripping or fighting. Those infractions can result in a trip to the penalty box or ejection if the circumstance is severe enough.
The rules state that hitting is allowed between the hip and shoulder, but elbows have to be clenched to the waist during contact because “you can’t have chicken wings,” points out Johanna Bolos, a Syracuse Psycho Doll who becomes Princess Impaler after she puts on the skates. Hip-shaking an opponent is also legal, as well as the self-explanatory booty block, which is imperative when trying to clear a path for the jammer to pass opponents and rack up points.
The entire event is either divvied up into three 20-minute periods, or two at 30 minutes each; the competing teams decide on a time frame beforehand. Each individual bout within a period lasts two minutes, at which point teams can substitute players and rotate the lineup to preserve energy. This is absolutely necessary as time winds down and thighs start burning.
The ACRD is building its reputation in hopes of joining the more than 50 leagues currently competing in the WFTDA, among them the Gotham Girls of New York City, the Dixie Derby Girls of Huntsville, Ala., and the Sin City Rollergirls of Las Vegas. And although it’s not uniform code, most teams maintain a punk-siren Suicide Girl aesthetic in their appearance, which is part of the reason why roller derby is often classified as “sports entertainment.”
But unlike professional wrestling, no bout is scripted and when the athletes fall, they bleed and bruise. The only similarity is they compete “in character” with whimsically titillating stage names such as Chainsaw Mama, Mya Fliction and the Venomous Vixen, as well as idiosyncratic costumed personas that allow fans in the audience to pick out a favorite character as the mayhem erupts.
“I’ve never owned a pair of fishnets, then I started doing this and now I’m in them all the time,” says Fazzone, who skates under the alias Baroness Von Brutal. “It lets you be bolder than you normally would be. When I go out with friends I won’t dress like that, but when it’s derby time, it’s tube tops, miniskirts or whatever. . . it’s part of it.”
And as deceiving as a crowd of come-hither candy-stripers in milky white and rose red lace at an Indigo Girls concert would be, don’t the let the demure outfits fool you. “It’s very physically intense and very physically demanding,” continues Fazzone. “When we get out on the rink, it’s like a whole other world. It’s hard for women to express their aggression without sounding like a bitch, so this is a good outlet for us.”
Adds Bolos, “It’s half athletics, half the show, but when you’re out there skating, it’s all sport.” The 29-year-old real estate agent is no stranger to bringing it on. While attending Buffalo State University, she joined the rugby team. “Actually, I’ve played sports all my life and when I found rugby, I loved the contact and just the pure athletics of it. Roller derby is the exact same way, except you get to dress up and look cute doing it. Plus it’s empowering; I come home and I’m all pumped up feeling good about myself knowing I’ve done my best. It’s the sports rush.”
As with any sport, the risk of serious injury looms, but here injury will not result from a wild melee of skating anarchy. “It’s pretty rough, but there are definitely rules,” Bolos continues. “A lot of people think it’s a free-for-all, but it’s not like you can punch or trip people or anything.” But alas, “My second practice, I fell and I’m convinced I cracked my tailbone,” Bolos remembers. “I didn’t go to the doctor, but I couldn’t even sit on it for like a month. I have a protector now; the ‘ass-pad’ is what we call it.”
She notes that tailbone injuries seem to be the most common, since everything else is protected. The roller derby equipment consists of traditional quad-wheeled skates, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, mouthpieces, helmets and sexiness. Most likely to the delight of some members of the audience, “Your butt is the only thing left exposed,” Bolos cheekily observes.
Injuries aside, the benefits of engaging in athletic activity far outweigh the risk involved. Feisty Fury, who portrays Karen Palmer in real life, says, “I wasn’t doing anything athletically before I joined this and it’s great because we get to stay in shape and have a lot of fun. It’s too cold to run in the winter, and I’ll try to run in the summer, but it’s hard to get motivated sometimes when it’s real hot. But we have a group of girls that when we get all together, we’ll motivate each other to keep going and push each other harder and harder.”
A former high school hockey player in Ogdensburg, Palmer, 25, had been searching for a hockey league to join ever since she stopped playing in 2001. When she signed on with the ACRD, she faced a dilemma. “About a week after I joined the roller derby, I found out there was a hockey league in Cicero and had to make up my mind quick,” she recalls. “But the girls were all positive when I got here and once I got into it, it was hard to turn back.” ✪
To become part of the Syracuse team, show up at Action Sports and Skate, 2299 Brewerton Road, Mattydale, Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m., or Sundays from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. If you’re out toward Ithaca or Auburn, make your way to the Reva Rollerdrome, 359 E. Genesee St., Auburn, Tuesdays, Thursdays or Fridays between 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Visit the league’s Web site at www.assualtcityrollerderby.com, or the page that started it all, www.myspace.com/assualtcityrollerderby.
