The rink transforms into a flurry, a loud mob of mothers, nurses, marketing agents and technical gurus with ponytails, skates, and tattoos. Flint Roller Derby has been around for 11 years, but these ladies skate like they invented the four-roller.
Head coach Nicholas Cotton is rinkside at Rollhaven Skating Center, yelling himself horse. “The first game I saw here was when I had just gotten out of the Air Force back in 1998,” he says. “I had just moved home and a friend of mine knew I was into pro-wrestling and said, ‘You’re going to really enjoy this.’”
He did. First as a fan. Then as a referee. And, since 2010, as coach.
“I went to the first public scrimmage here and it was terrible,” he recalls. “They couldn’t skate. The best part about it was the halftime show. … I mean people got hurt. It was bad.” Cotton’s humor, like his coaching, is straight on—often taking extra care to work one-on-one with every player to improve her skills.
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In derby culture, all players take on nicknames that often are a play on words of their real names.
So what is Roller Derby, anyway?
It’s basically racing. With a certain vicious elegance. And, cool names.
"These are like the sweetest women you've ever met, like singing at church, and then they come and kick my frigging butt," said Ashley MacDermaid, aka Ash Tray.
Related video: Watch the rough-and-tumble Flint City Derby Girls in action
A roller derby bout is played in two, 30-minute periods broken into jams. A jam lasts up to 2 minutes. In the jams, each team puts five players on the track: one jammer (who wears a star helmet cover), three blockers, and one pivot (who can become a jammer if the star helmet is passed off successfully). The goal is for the jammer to lap her opponent, receiving a point for every lap while in a jam.
The game includes blocks, strategy, hits, elbows, and tight defensive moves.
“I think what a lot of people discover with the sport is that you can go out there and really get banged up,” Cotton says. As the game gets under way, that truth becomes obvious. Women from both teams lock together as jammers try to blow past. You see body checking and shoulders and elbows flying. Fans are booing, screaming and clapping in a frenzy.
It looks like a rowdy rugby match on wheels.
And, Flint City Derby Girls are something special. Formed a decade ago, the group is seeing success with a good mix of veteran players and high-performing new talent. “These are folks I’ve helped train, that have turned and helped me build up this team of believers,” he says.
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Nicholas Cotton (center) has been in love with the sport since the late 90s and came on as Flint Roller Derby head coach in 2010. On a recent Saturday, the Flint City Derby Girls showed off their speed and tight defense to take a dominate lead against the Kalkaska Small Town Outlaws, eventually beating them 259-101 and remaining undefeated.
MacDermaid went to a fan appreciation game only to find herself immediately wanting to be out on the track. “I didn’t know much about the game than I had just seen and I didn’t know anyone else on the team," she says, “but it just really stuck with me.”
The Flint resident says the hardest part is getting back up, “I fell a 1000 times,” she laughs. “But they teach you everything,” and after 6 months of rigorous training and “so many squats,” she learned every aspect of the game. The best part, MacDermaid says, is “learning to be a team player, because I always preferred the lone wolf position and now I really like being able to count on my teammates during matches. That has been a big thing for me.”
Plus, you get to fight—and that's just awesome (at least it is for those who love roller derby).
The bout becomes more strategic after one jammer takes the lead—sparking a series of complex plays and blocks as they try to drive up the score.
“This game is so fast paced. We spend a lot of time teaching skating, but also that strategy,” Cotton says, “Blockers can’t just skate anywhere, and it’s also important for us to teach players the way to block and take a hit.”
Jammer Michele Entrekin, aka Blue Velvet, says she was attracted to the culture of Roller Derby. “It’s a bit alternative,” she says. “And perhaps because of the physicality of the sport. It’s not your everyday club or group, but it is made up of women from every walk of life.” A mother and artist, Entrekin says, “There is an incredible sense of community. … It’s great to see how we support each other on and out off the rink.”
Grace Seymore, or as she is known in the rink as “Graced Lightning,” says it is a lot of hard work that goes into getting better at the sport. “But if you’re thinking about trying out, don’t quit, keep pushing through and watching derby because the experience only makes you stronger. It sounds cliche, but I do this for my teammates, I love them, I love my coach and the friends I've made, I love their attitudes on and off the track." Seymore says. "It’s the people, they're just really awesome."
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Sydney McCarley, aka Slim Fast; Veronica VanCleve, aka Van Cleaver; and Grace Seymore, aka Graced Lightning, (left to right) get ready for the start of a jam.The Flint City Derby Girls, won out the match 259 to 101, heading into the next half of their season, undefeated. “The one reason I keep doing it,” Cotton says, “We have these women come in and discover that it’s a really athletic, but also challenging mental process, and its hard, but once they go through it all, you see their confidence get built up and they change for the better.”
“Our team is like a family, you really see how each person is looking out for the other, and helping each other improve.”
It’s family — in fact Cotton is engaged to long-time girlfriend and team co-captain Katie Feher aka “Slapher Sally” — but it is always looking to grow.
For more information, check out Flint City Derby Girls on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/flintcityderbygirls/ or email
[email protected]
A six-week, beginners skaters boot camp runs Aug. 13-Sept. 27. The group meets Wednesday and Sunday evenings. Cost is $65.