Springfield group plays roller derby

SPRINGFIELD — Wearing a green Oscar the Grouch T-shirt, April Weller — known as “Hollyweird” at roller derby practice — cruises around the rink on 17-year-old roller skates, artifacts from her teen years.

“I’ve been on roller skates since I was about 6. My dad worked for Skateland,” the 30-year-old Springfield resident explains. “I was on the speed team.”

Though she hasn’t skated since she was 16, she was excited to learn about the new Lincoln Land Roller Derby league in Springfield. After hearing about it from a friend, she says her response was, “You mean, I can put on roller skates and knock someone over and it’s OK? Sign me up.”

Each Sunday, anywhere from 30 to 45 players gather at Skateland South to practice roller derby, a fast-paced game on wheels. Skaters of all skill levels are welcome — some of the women glide effortlessly around the rink, while others are cautious in their movements, their balance precarious at times.

Darrel Moore started the flat track roller derby league in Springfield. A gifted skater himself, he participates in The Rollin’ Bones, a men’s traveling roller derby team from Denver.

“I’ve been skating in Springfield for almost 40 years now, and I’m a former speed-skating champion and still skate with a skate team,” he says.

Moore guides the women through a series of exercises on the floor. As they skate around the rink, Moore says into his microphone, “Let’s try to come to a complete stop.” Players drag their wheels in an effort to respond to his instruction.

Later, when the players worked on speed, he says, “Go just fast enough to scare yourself.” Some blur by while others go just a touch faster than before.

“We’ve been waiting a long time for something exciting like this to happen to Springfield,” says J.D. Flock. His wife, Amanda, rolls by dressed in a T-shirt, tutu and shorts; she comes to a stop at the coach’s command. “Good job, baby,” Flock shouts. “I’m her No. 1 fan,” he says.

Before Moore decided to start Springfield’s league, the closest derby option for women interested in the sport was Decatur, where the Soy City Rollers played. That team has since broken into two teams: the Decatur Derby Dames and the Prairieland Punishers.

Dustie Spradlin is a 32-year-old mother of two boys, including a 4-month-old. On skates, she goes by “Dust E. Buster” and says she is glad there’s a local option for roller derby. She says she was looking for something to “mix life up a little bit.”

“While I was pregnant, I told myself I was going to throw myself out of my comfort zone and do something I hadn’t done before,” she says.

She took her 9-year-old son to Skateland one day and saw a flier for the roller derby league. “(I) told my husband `I want to do that!’ He said, `You do know what that is, right?’ And I said `Yes, I want to do that.”’

She says she went to the first practice two weeks later.

“I had no idea what to expect,” she says. “The coach had made it clear you could be at any level to play, so I thought it couldn’t be that bad.”

By the end of practice, she was hooked. “I left and was so pumped up and so hyper that I knew I couldn’t wait until I got back there again. It took me three days to come down from the high I was on,” she says.

She wasn’t sure what to expect from the other players, and was pleasantly surprised with how friendly they were. “It’s like an extended family,” she says. “It’s such a sisterhood.”

Moore says the camaraderie is one reason some women seek out roller derby. That was the case for Spradlin.

“I wanted to meet more people and make more friends . I think I wanted to be involved in a team somehow because I’d never had that.”

Roller derby is a game of team strategy. There must be at least five players from each team on the floor at all times, but the roster cannot include more than 14 players.

A bout in roller derby is two 30-minute periods, divided into two-minute jams. Each team has a group of five skaters: four women called blockers who work as a pack, and a jammer, a lone skater who scores points by maneuvering through and passing the opposing team’s skaters.

In roller derby’s earlier manifestations, the sport focused more on theatricality and scripts — not unlike professional wrestling — than athleticism.

The roller derby gaining in popularity now is unscripted and focuses on skill and strategy. However, the colorful pseudonyms and stylish (if not outlandish) dress are still part of the event.

“The dress and the names is part of the escapism persona. Roller derby encompasses physical activity, imagination and role playing,” Moore said.

That tradition of colorful dress is alive and well during practice at Skateland South. Black and hot pink are popular color combinations, and knee-high socks are everywhere — polka dots, leopard spots, stripes, stars and argyle are common designs. Some skaters are decorated with tattoos, others have a variety of body piercings, and still others wear sweat shorts and T-shirts with little adornment on clothing or skin.

But all the women have derby names they put quite a bit of thought into: Betty Minefield, Foxy Bruiser, Bacon Bits, Kat Fyte. One player calls herself Slay-chel Lindsey — a tip of the hat to Springfield poet Vachel Lindsay.

Women in the Lincoln Land Roller Derby League practice at 7:30 p.m. Sundays at Skateland South, 1500 Recreation Drive. The first team has been created from the larger group, and it has its own practice during the week. Gradually, players each will belong on a team.

“Those teams will be our intramural league, and then from there we’ll pick the best skaters to be part of the traveling team,” said Darrel Moore, who has been coaching new players.