Roller girls beat stuffing out of Grand Raggidy

The Cincinnati Rollergirls’ Black Sheep and Silent Lambs both crushed their competition, the Grand Raggity Roller Girls’ All-Stars and G-Rap Attack, winning their bouts 147-29 and 103-25 respectively, Saturday, May 30, at Cincinnati Gardens.

The teams now sit in fourth place in the North Central Region of Women’s Flat Track Derby Association with a 4-1 record and a shot at regional and national championship competition.

Roller Derby has  experienced something of a Renaissance since 2001. The sport has been modified since its heyday in the 1970s and is now played on a flat track instead of the traditional banked track. More than 300 all-female teams play throughout the world in what Cam McClung, the Rollergirls’ public relations manager, calls “an unscripted, athletic, full-contact, revolutionary team sport.”

The sport is played in bouts consisting of either two 30-minute or three 20-minute periods. There are five members of each team on the floor during play: one pivot, one jammer and three blockers. The pivot is the pace setter of the team and the jammer is the scorer. The job of the blockers is to prevent the opposing team’s jammer from scoring points.

Before any points can be scored, the jammer laps all other skaters once. The jammer then sprints through the pack, picking up points as she passes members of the opposing team. Each “jam” lasts a maximum of two minutes.

Coach Pale Rider, one of two team coaches along with Quad Almighty, says teamwork, strategy and smarts are paramount to team success.

“That’s why the scoring disparities were so great,” he said of the May 30th bouts. “We were able to bring all three of those things together consistently. We
outplayed them.”

Pale Rider called out a few players from each of his teams as having played exceptionally well.

“Candy Kickass [Silent Lambs] exceeded expectations in both blocking and jamming,” Pale Rider said.

Two players new to the Black Sheep squad also made quite an impression. K Lethal is in her first season with the Cincinnati Rollergirls, having played in previous years for the Gem City Rollergirls of Dayton. And Dr. McDerby was recently promoted to the Black Sheep from the Silent Lambs. Both, Pale Rider said, performed beyond expectations.

He gives kudos to Hannah Barbaric, “the smartest jammer on the team.”

“She has the mentality and knowledge of a coach. That’s how winning happens – she’s out there making calls before I even have a chance to,” Pale Rider said.

But the star of the night, and the fan favorite if the many posters declaring love for her are any indication, is Sadistic Sadie.

“Sadie is one of the best dirty players in the game,” Pale Rider said.

He said a successful blocker has not only a tough physical game but also a tough mental game.

“The real purpose of a blocker is to crush [the opponent], to make them quit, to cause them to make mental errors,” Pale Rider said. “Sadie is a real intimidator. She gets right in the heads of the competition.”

As for all the crazy skater names, it’s a long-running tradition. Most express some facet of the players’ personalities, hobbies, day jobs or senses of humor. It’s all in good fun and it all adds to the tough girl image of the sport.

Despite all the posturing, the women of the Cincinnati Rollergirls do good. No one associated with the team gets paid to play, and in fact they pay to play. Proceeds from sponsorships and ticket sales go to travel and team expenses and charitable donations.

In 2008 the teams made donations to Big Brothers/Big Sisters Association of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden and Relay for Life, among others.

The teams will wrap up their regular season schedule June 20 against the Ohio Rollergirls out of Columbus. Gates open at 6 p.m., and the action is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. General admission tickets cost $10, and $1 beers are available from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.