The Hudson Valley Horrors and The Frightmares: Roller Derby Dream Teams
After attending a bout in Ottawa, Jane Demuth was asked by a player, “Who do you skate for?”
“Oh, I just watch.” she said. This had been one of many occasions where she was asked this question but this time she was tired of saying she just watched. On that day, “I decided it would be the last time.” and that was a month before she attended open enrollment for the Hudson Valley Horrors.
The Horrors is an all-female flat track roller derby league founded in early 2006. They practice at Roller Magic in Hyde Park every Tuesday and Thursday night. They have four adult teams. The two travel teams are the Horrors and the ZomBs. The two home teams are the DracuLadies and the ApocaLips. Their junior team, the Frightmares, can have players from 9 to 17 years old.
6-year-old Presley Silva had a different experience from Demuth. After ice skating for three years, Silva’s father, Rich, saw the talent and passion she possessed off the sturdiness of her own two feet. Her Girl Scout troop was taking a trip to the roller skating rink. “Of course she didn’t want to go at first. She loved to ice skate, not roller skate.” said Rich. Once she saw the bright lights, the loud, fast-paced music, the attitude, and the outfits, she fell in love and has been roller-skating since.
Presley is one of the more advanced skaters on the Frightmares team. She will be turning 11 next week and has been on the junior roller derby team since she was nine. She has scrimmaged with the adult team on occasion and her skill level is extremely impressive for her age. Her dad is so proud she plays against 40 year-old women, but at the same time understands that the adult women don’t want to hit an 11-year-old girl, but “Presley says she’s not scared. She wants to get hit.”
Her skate name is Ever Mean. After passing all of her skills tests, she was able to pick a skate name. This name can be anything the player wants and is what they will be called the majority of the time by teammates. Some skate names you might hear being tossed around on a Tuesday or Thursday practice of the Horror’s roller derby team are Daemon Mistress, S. Scar Go, Rxy Ramalotte, Prudence N. Paine, and Poutine Riot.
“I have a strong fascination with Canada and I love poutine.” said Demuth. These names are chosen at random by most on the team, and other players can’t remember how they came up with them in the first place. They show a glimpse into a player’s personality. Whether it’s their quirkiness, their interests, or just a sign of intimidation. Either way, it is a representation of status and skill, as well as it being a privilege.
In order to gain the right to create a skate name, there are sets of tests an individual must complete according to the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). There is a written skills test, which includes questions regarding rules, regulations, etc. There is also a 2-level skills test, for which an individual must display specific skills such as falling, skating forwards and backwards, and stopping to complete level 1. Level 2 requires more advanced skills such as hitting and blocking. These tests must be completed yearly in order for each player on a team to not violate WFTDA standards.
10-year-old Emily Cloutier has passed her skills test and is just waiting on her written test to be graded. She is excited to be finished and see where Roller Derby takes her. Her aunt and cousin both play Roller Derby, so she has been going to bouts for a few years now and has been fascinated since. “I like that when you go really fast, the wind goes past your face. That’s my favorite part.” The one thing Cloutier has taken away so far from Roller Derby is “it’s not just about you, it’s about your team.” Roller Derby teaches the junior skaters how crucial it is to be a team player and communicate with your team in order to win.
The Horrors have not played in the past season; instead they are building up the team they have. Looking for new players and critiquing the skills of the players they do have. The junior team isn’t large enough to scrimmage or practice against each other, so instead on Tuesdays, the adults and children practice together. It’s amazing to watch the newcomers look up to the advanced teammates for advice and critiques. “I like the family you create with all the girls.” Said 13-year-old Brielle Wilson, who has only been on the Frightmares for four months but skating for years.
Roller Derby is a contact sport, usually played on a flat track where players are wearing either quads or blades on their feet. This fast-paced, continuous sport is played with five members from each team on the track at once. Each bout lasts about 60 minutes, they are comprised of two 30-minute halves. Within each half are jams. Jams or match-ups are a series of short plays that can last up to 2 minutes unless stopped by a specific player.
There are 3 different positions:
1. Pivot- Just one player, calls the shots, also plays defense.
2. Jammer- Just one player, scores points.
3. Blockers- Three players, defense.
To distinguish teams, each team has their own pinnies. To distinguish between positions there are different symbols on skater’s helmets. There is a star on the pivot’s helmet cover and there are stripes on the jammer’s helmet cover. On the track, the formation or order in which blockers and the pivot are in is based on preference of the jammer and pivot playing. There is no specific order in which skaters must stand. Some jammers find it easier to start in the front and others in the back. This is where strategy comes into play. Additionally, there are two managers. A bench manager to continue picking packs that will be playing in the coming up jam and a regular manager that manages the team playing.
The objective of the game is for the jammer to gain as many points as possible within two minutes or before the lead jammer ends the jam. At the beginning of each jam, each team lines up to form a pack. Once the whistle is blown to symbolize the start of the jam, the jammers must muscle their way through the other teams pack by pushing through the pivot and blockers. The first jammer to break through the entire pack becomes the lead jammer during that jam and has the ability to call off the jam at any time before the 2 minutes are up. After breaking through the packs, the jammers must lap the other team’s players. Every time a jammer laps an opposing player, they score a point for their team.
During the jam, teams must communicate with each other and do so by screaming different plays. The pivot is always in control of which play and will be the one to communicate the most strategic one. Two common plays are “demo!” which lets players know it is now time to ‘bust up’ the other team, and “fast lane!” which instructs players to move towards the inside lane.
During jams, there are a lot of rules that would be considered penalties. This includes but is not limited to colliding into a referee, blocking another player with any part of the arm below the elbow, and blocking a player that is out of bounds. Consequences for penalties can result in being banned from playing in the following three jams or being sent to the penalty box.
Playing Roller Derby results in a variety of injuries, often. Robbyn Lagreca, also known as S. Scar Go has been playing for six seasons now. 63 prospective players came to the tryout she attended. 56 passed on, but many were scared away by the potential injury. Only four still remain from Lagreca’s fresh meat class. It was only last week that long-time skater and Horror’s player had come head first into her worst injury so far. This surpasses broken legs and noses. The incident occurred during a scrimmage last weekend. There was less than a minute left during the final seconds to break a tie, Lagreca, instead of bumping into a referee and getting a penalty at the end of this scrimmage, she got hit from another player on the opposite team that was skating at full speed.
“It was the loudest and most intense hit. I felt my brain crash into my forehead,” Lagreca said.
If an injury ever occurs while playing roller derby, the injured is supposed to remain on the floor so everyone around becomes aware and stops skating. Lagreca, after years of breaking her fibula and tibia, knew she had a concussion at least but got up and skated away. That just shows the strength and determination that the Hudson Valley Horrors have.
The Horrors continue to show their determination off skates as well. They are always looking for ways to help out within the community or wheel up some money to donate to a worthy charity. They’ve volunteered at anti-bullying campaigns-such as the Headless Horseman, they have done surface projects like adopt-a-highway and they are doing a benefit bout next month for Ryan McElroy. A young boy, whose family lost to ewing sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. The Horrors are always looking for ways to help the community or help their girls in promoting a body positive attitude. Proving you can play roller derby no matter your height, weight, or athletic ability.
This league is more than a few women on skates. Even with all the typical girl drama that never gets old, roller derby has become such a “tight community” said Demuth. After every bout, both teams will head to a local sponsor or bar/restaurant and have an after party. Regardless of the tension on the rink, off the rink they are just a bunch of women with one thing in common, their passion for roller derby.
