NORTHAMPTON — Gender inclusion, body positivity and some serious competition. A local roller derby league is leading the way for Pioneer Valley athletes from all walks — and skates — of life.
Tucked away in a gritty warehouse with mattresses held to the walls by bungee cords on Nonotuck Street in Florence, Pioneer Valley Roller Derby continued its 10th season Saturday afternoon with a double header attended by over 100 fans.
Attendees sat in lawn chairs and spread out picnic blankets to watch the Pioneer Valley Roller Derby women’s B team, Quabbin Missile Crisis, beat the Salty Dolls of Cape Cod in the first match. Then the Dirty Dozen, the league’s male team faced Capital District Trauma Authority from Albany in the second.
“On the morning of every game day, I wake up in the morning and think, ‘I’m too old to be doing this,’” said David Ketchum, 61. “But the whistle blows and I forget all that. I’m just in the middle of the action.”
Ketchum joined the league 11 years ago, before the first season began. He said he grew up watching roller derby, and thought it was fantastic that a league was coming to the area.
At 51, Ketchum volunteered to be a time keeper or referee, thinking he was too old to get in with the serious skaters that push and block their way around the rink.
But members of the league convinced him to lace up a pair of skates and join the Dirty Dozen, and he has been skating with them ever since.
In a roller derby game, two teams match up in quick-moving loops around a roller rink. The hour-long game is split into “jams” that can last up to two minutes. One player is the designated “jammer” and attempts to push through a clump of “blockers” on the opposing team, earning points for each set of hips they pass through. Though they cannot use elbows, blocking with shoulders and torsos is fair game.
“One person on each team is trying to get ahead of the other team,” explained organizer Kathryn Chang, 36.
The challenge? Both teams have a jammer at the same time, so players must quickly switch between playing offense and defense. And once a jammer has earned a few points, they will often tap their hips to signal the end of the jam before the opponent can score any points.
Because roller derby is a relatively new sport, strategy is always changing, Chang said. In the past, skaters opted to round the corners of the rink as quickly as they could to score points. But now, players opt for a slower pace to play more defensively, Chang said.
One thing that has not changed is the presence of all body types in the game. For example, larger players can block jammers from scoring points and smaller players can slip through blockers, Chang explained.
“A lot of sports have a specific body type, but in roller derby every body is useful in its own way,” Chang said. “The game has even helped me with my own body positivity.”
Players adopt nicknames, called derby names, that fit their personalities. Players like “Quadratic Invasion,” “Trouble Entendre,” and a referee called “Gluten Freedom” rounded the rink.
“It’s so punk rock, it just drew me in. The underground nature of it,” announcer Andrew Steele said before the games began. “All the women on the team are just so badass. They’re straight out of the mosh pit.”
Steele, 47, of Shutesbury, spends each game perched above the rink on a wooden platform. He commands the microphone, calling the games play-by-play and making commentary.
Steele goes by the nickname “Drew Danger” and said he has been involved with the league for nine years, first as a fan and then as an announcer.
In 2008, Steele lugged his P.A. system to a practice to audition for the announcer gig and he has been doing it ever since.
Partners Sarah Lang, 41, and Jake Fahy, 40, both of Holyoke, launched the league a decade ago after they attended a roller derby game in Rhode Island to cheer on a friend.
“We saw it, we loved it, and we thought ‘Wow, that’s really cool,’” Lang said.
From there, the pair learned how to skate and started the league, renting time at local roller rinks before buying a space in Florence in 2009.
Though roller derby is a competitive physical sport that allows players to use their bodies to block and push opponents, Lang said the sport has become more refined than it was in years past.
“There’s no face-punching or chair-throwing like there used to be,” Lang laughed.
According to Chang, the league practices three times per week and holds monthly match-ups in a warehouse space.
Last year, Pioneer Valley Roller Derby launched its first all/no gender team called United Front. The team currently has 10 dedicated members and other members of the league join in on a rotating basis to fill the roster, which allows for 14 players and two alternates.
For United Front Captain Maya Gounard, who goes by the derby name “Mai Tai Fighter,” the inclusive team is a fun way to skate with all members of the league.
“Sports is a very gendered thing, and it really, really doesn’t need to be. Anyone can be good at derby. If you really want it … you can be an amazing skater,” said Gounard.