Roller derby provides stress relief, workout for some Q-C moms
Debra Bozik is a mother of three who worked until recently as a church secretary. But for two hours two to three days a week, she escapes her normal life through a pair of roller skates as a member of the Quad-City Rollers.
“I was looking for something that was an aggressive outlet and yet I could still be feminine at the same time, and I really wanted something that I could have that whole alter ego thing and cut loose and be something beyond who I was every single day.”
Bozik went to her first roller derby practice the day after Thanksgiving and by that Sunday’s practice, she had her pads, skates, helmet, mouthguard and alter ego: Q. C. Banshee.
She says roller derby practice is an outlet for the stresses of her job and of being a wife and mother.
“Everything that I hold within during a week, all the stresses, everything that bugs me, it goes away,” she said. “I focus on the hitting, the blocking, the skating, the sheer madness of it all. I guess I just let everything else go and I become Banshee.”
Most of the Quad-City Rollers’ 12-member team are mothers looking for a workout and a release from the pressures of everyday life through the high-contact sport. No one uses first names at practice. They all go by their derby names such as “Doom Kitty,” “Fannie Fracture” and “Sugar ‘n’ Slice.”
In addition to their gear, they come dressed in knee-high socks, fishnets, bright red tights, plaid miniskirts, workout shorts and tank tops that display their roller derby name and number.
The two-hour practices are filled with drills that alternate between developing techniques and endurance. They practice crossovers, hitting, blocking and even falling.
There is one drill in which coach Cory Shook calls out the different falls they need to practice and recover from within two seconds. There are the left knee, the right knee, both knees, baseball (where they fall on their backsides as though they were sliding into a base) and their emergency fall.
When they lose all control and fall on all fours, “That’s instead of breaking your face,” said Sarah McCarthy. Pointing to her face, she added, “Wouldn’t want to mess with all this magic.”
Shook is among a handful of derby girls’ husbands who get involved in the sport. He took over the coaching duties in January when his wife, Heather “Slamazon” Shook, was still skating.
Today, Slamazon is working as an assistant coach because she’s 4 1/2 months pregnant. She still stretches with the team, but that’s all she can do.
“I’ve finally gotten used to being the assistant coach instead of skating,” said Slamazon, who misses being able to get out on the ring with the women. “I can’t force myself to do any other form of exercise because it’s really boring compared to this.”
Roller derby matches are held on an oval track and played with one pivot on each team responsible for setting the pace of the pack. They are followed by blockers, whose job it is to stop the jammers, who attempt to skate past all the blockers and come out ahead of the pivots. Points are earned by the jammers as they pass the blockers. Fourteen players are needed for a bout.
“It’s kind of like a cross between hockey and football, any aggressive sport that you can think of, because ultimately you’ve got your two teams out there and you’re kind of fighting for position because you don’t want the other team’s jammers to get through, but yet you’re trying to hold your position so your jammers can get through,” Q. C. Banshee said. “So you’re kind of throwing bodies around and moving them out of the way.”
The Quad-City Rollers will host their first home game at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Beyond the Baseline Fieldhouse on the the former Marycrest College campus in Davenport. Because the Quad-City team does not yet have enough skaters for a bout, its roster will be filled out with players from Rockford, Ill., and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
IF YOU GO
What: Cry-Baby Brawl roller derby bout
When: 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15
Where: Beyond the Baseline Fieldhouse, 1540 W. 12th St., Davenport
How much: $10 in advance, $12 at the door
Information: myspace.com/quadcityrollers
Also on the Web: Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, wftda.com
TO JOIN
Women 18 years and older who are interested in roller derby are welcome to attend a Quad-City Rollers practice to get an up-close view of the sport and decide whether they’d like to join. For practice schedules and locations, visit the team’s MySpace page at myspace.com/quadcityrollers.
Stephanie De Pasquale can be contacted at (563) 333-2639 or sdepasquale@qctimes.com.
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