Hiram Stalkers beat 519ers at roller derby debut
August 22, 2011 – 4:15 pm
Photos by Sanja Frkovic
Roller skating may feel like a past time of long ago, but the revamped game of roller derby (played on updated “quad” skates) is a modern day hit.
Hiram Stalkers jammer, Pain Eyre gets ready for a new "jam" against 519ers jammer, French VanKilla.
Windsor’s very own flat track roller derby league, the Border City Brawlers, had a crowd of over 500 people on the edge of their seat Saturday night at South Windsor Arena for the debut of their 2 new house league teams, the 519ers and Hiram Stalkers.
The green and black 519ers were leading at the half, but purple and yellow-clad Hiram Stalkers made a huge comeback in the second half and won the bout (the derby name for a game) 67 to 39. Having the lead in the game is important but anything can happen in derby, and it’s not unusual for the points to shift drastically after every 2-minute jam.
Game MVP, Pain Eyre (#1847), helped her team work towards their win when she burned up the track with a 19-point jam that had the crowd cheering on every lap as she exploded from the pack.
Pain Eyre – Kate Hargreaves in real life – was thrilled with the attendance and the game, “It felt amazing. We’ve all worked so hard as a group, and put in many hours of work, both on the track skating and off the track organizing and fundraising, and this was the big payoff to finally be able to show Windsor the sport we love.”
Windsorites loved it too and when the game was finished, eager fans were buying up merchandise and asking when the next game would be.
“It was great. Loved watching it,” said Tina Baart, a roller derby first-timer, “I thought it was exciting and entertaining.” Baart said that she remembers the 70s roller derby games that used to be televised but said that seeing it live was so much better.
The "pack" of four 519ers blockers and 1 Hiram Stalker blocker watch as the jammers make another lap around the track to attempt another scoring pass. Derby girls from left to right: Bloody Cupcake, Ginny Wheelsly, Tulkamania, Mod Broad, Kim BashInjure
Joel Luxford came out to see a friend play and said that he’d probably come again, “It seems really competitive…It’s really a different sport.” Luxford too had never seen a live game and his only experience with the sport was through movies like Rollerball.
League organizers hear the same movie and TV references over and over, and spend a lot of time advocating for the legitimacy of the fast-growing sport.
The original game started in the 1880s and reached its peak around 1920, reappearing again around 1935. In those days, players wore no safety equipment and often played on a banked track. The game made another appearance in the 1950s with some staging but the derby of the 70s included all-out theatrics and was often compared to professional wrestling. The updated sport is only remotely similar to its predecessors and most leagues now insist on skills testing, full safety equipment, and following standardized rules and guideline provided by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
If you haven’t seen modern roller derby then be sure to keep in touch with the Border City Brawlers and get ready to take in the next bout. Dates and locations of future games will be announced at a later time as the league continues to search for a permanent home.
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