They are one league with two teams, one beer sponsor and a ton of trash talk among skaters with WWF-style names such as Ivona Killeau, Jayne Manslaughter, Trickxy Trixter and Mommie Dearest.
After nearly a year of bone-jarring practice, the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls league is scheduled to roll out their inaugural bout July 16 at the Bladium Roller Rink at 8797 Montview Ave.
“We train hard, but we’re all one league at the end of the day,” said skater/marketing specialist Catherine Mabe (a.k.a. Jayne Manslaughter).
The league consists of the Red Ridin’ Hoods (formerly the Scarlet Fever) and the Sugar Kill Gang (formerly the Femme Fatales).
The season already has started around the rest of the country where roller derby revivals are going strong in Austin, Texas, Tucson, New York City and Chicago, home of the original roller derby in the 1930s. Denver is right there on the map with them on usrollergirls.com.
In roller derby, each team has five skaters on the rink at one time. They start side by side. A pivot is at the front, directly followed by three blockers. The jammer is in the rear. The object is for the jammer to lap the pack. Points are awarded for each opposing skater passed.
“The jammer is one of the fastest skaters. It’s dangerous because everyone is out to get you,” said Misti Dawn Patterson (a.k.a. Pinky 500) of Red Ridin’ Hood.
“It’s a full-contact sport,” Mabe said. “There are certainly risks.”
The skaters, ages 22 to 39, have day jobs. There are stay-at-home moms, go-to-work moms, grad students. When they finally start seeing some income from ticket sales, they plan to plow the money back into equipment (skates, helmets, pads and mouth guards).
“Our beer sponsor (Oskar Blues Brewery in Lyons)is pretty good to us,” Mabe said.
As more women join, they hope to expand to a third and fourth team.
“If you keep your balance on a pair of skates, we can teach you,” Mabe said.
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-820-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
