Down & Derby
The Thrill of Competition
Words by Taylor Dutch Photos by Eric Morales
The Texas Rollergirls have been credited with starting the modern flat track derby movement that now consists of 300 leagues worldwide. As the first league of its kind, the Texas Rollergirls provides a unique opportunity for women who love the thrill of competition.
From the turn of the track, she flies into the wall at full speed. Skates, elbow pads, and helmets collide as she attempts to muscle her way past three women whose responsibility is to block her, the jammer. Every push and shove is a battle for ground until she breaks free with a jump through the gap between the blockers and the perimeter of the track.
Somehow, she maneuvers her way past a human wall while on roller skates. It is an escape that seems impossible, and yet just as quickly, she is skating at full speed around the turn once again.
That battle on the Pan Am Park track on Tuesday night is just one drill during practices for the Texas Rollergirls, a roller derby league that started in 2003. The Austin-based league is skater-owned and managed as a nonprofit organization. It’s made up of four home teams: Hell Marys, Hot Rod Honeys, Honky Tonk Heartbreakers, and Hustlers. All-star members from each home team make up the travel squad.
“It’s hard to come here and not be starstruck. Even now, I can’t believe I get to skate with these girls. I get to say that I skate for Texas!” raves Caitlin Klammer, known as Thugs Bunny on the track. “I never would’ve imagined that I’d be here after starting out in a very small town in North Carolina.”
Thugs Bunny is a jammer for Honky Tonk Heartbreakers and the All-Star team. She has been skating for six years and joined the Texas Rollergirls when she moved to Austin in 2014. By day, she works as an employee referral coordinator at Indeed, and by night, she skates at full speed into and around human walls. Her name is aptly based on her unique skating style that involves a run and skip motion to get out of a pack.
The skaters all have a variety of occupations: nurses, lawyers, teachers. However, during practice, they are only referred to by their derby names. When the skates are laced and the pads are on, it’s the identity they assume as fierce competitors representing a game-changing league. “It doesn’t matter what you do during the day; we all come here because we all love it,” says Thugs Bunny.
The final regular season game took place on August 25, and now they’re on to the championship portion of the season. The playoff brackets were just announced, and as of August, the Texas Rollergirls were ranked No. 6 in the world behind No. 1 Victorian Roller Derby League, No. 2 Rose City Rollers, No. 3 Gotham Girls Roller Derby, No. 4 Denver Roller Derby, and No. 5 Arch Rival Roller Derby. The ultimate goal is to win the 2018 International Championship on November 9-11 in New Orleans.
“We are Texas; we put everything we have into it,” Thugs Bunny grins. “Going into playoffs, we’ll leave everything we have at playoffs to make it to the championship, and we’ll do it all over again at champs.”
After two grueling hours of practice with countless hits, the park lights begin to dim, and skaters finally take a moment to rest. In a few minutes, they will pack up and return home to their families and resume their everyday routines. But before they disperse, the teammates form a huddle in the middle of the track for one final collective chant, “Texas! Texas! Texas! Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Did You Know?
Roller derby begins with four blockers and a jammer from each team starting behind their points. The blockers begin 30 feet ahead of the jammers. When the first whistle blows, the pack begins to skate. Once the pack moves past the front line, the jammers take off after the double whistle. Teams earn points when the jammers lap members of the opposing team. The jammers earn one point apiece starting on their second pass through the blockers. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Contact
tickets@texasrollergirls.org
texasrollergirls.org
@texasrollergirls
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