Fast and furious, Derby Dames wow sold-out crowd
Kristin Ackerson (above), an IBM engineer, known as Star Slayer on the team, is a jammer for the Derby Dames. Jammers score points by passing other players. PHOTO BY WENDY HATOUM
By WENDY HATOUM The Essex Reporter (February 12, 2009)
In fishnets and face paint, helmets and knee pads, the Green Mountain Derby Dames delighted the crowd Saturday night in a fast-paced bout against the Bytown Blackhearts of Ottawa.
Five hundred cheering fans filled the venue at the Champlain Valley Exposition for the popular roller derby spectacle that sold out the day before. The music was loud (many in the audience wore earplugs), and the crowd cheered, shook cowbells, and “oohed” and “awed” as players took some hard spills on the concrete floor.
Along with the fast skating, the players’ attire added to the drama. The women had their skating names screened across their backs: Bruise Control, Queen Defeat-ya, The Silencer, and Zelda Savage, to name a few.
For many people in attendance, Saturday’s bout was their first introduction to roller derby. Ron Manganiello of South Burlington said he wanted to see the women in action because he had seen the Derby Dames at the Vermont City Marathon last year supporting a team member who was running in the race. “They had a lot of good energy. They looked like a fun, wild bunch of women. I thought it would be fun to come out,” said Manganiello, who heads Bike Recycle Vermont.
It was Carol Speranza’s first roller derby bout as well. Her daughter has been training with the team, though she wasn’t skating that evening. “It’s pretty rough and a little scary,” said Speranza.
Though the Dames certainly have a bit of a hard edge to them, the crowd was similar to what you’d find at a Lake Monsters’ game, albeit with fewer children in attendance. It ranged from seniors, no doubt some were parents of the Dames, to couples with babies in tow. Brandee Hayes was there with her husband and infant son. “We came out to support Kristin,” explained Hayes, of her co-worker at IBM, Kristin Ackerson.
Ackerson, an electrical engineer by day, takes on the persona of Star Slayer when she skates. The Colchester resident said she got into roller derby last March.
“I’ve always been a jock. I wakeboard, snowboard, and competed as a gymnast growing up,” she said. Ackerson trains with her teammates three nights a week, for two to three hours a session. She is vice-president of the skater-owned team and is one of the team’s jammers – or scorers.
The Derby Dames play by Women’s Flat Track Derby Association rules with 14 players, and five skaters on the track. Points are scored when the jammer (denoted by the star on her helmet) passes the other team’s blockers or pivot, scoring one point for each player passed. Pushing and shoving is part of the game, but blatant aggression, “holding, grabbing, shoving, punching, chair-throwing...” will result in a player receiving major or minor penalties or getting sent to the penalty box.
During much of the bout, the Blackhearts led by 20 points, but the Derby Dames battled back, narrowing the lead to within two points, with only seconds left on the board. Despite the supportive crowd yelling and some aggressive skating by the jammers, the Dames lost, with the final score of 131 to 136. Regardless, the crowd was cheering their hometown team, as they circled the loop after the bout.
The Derby Dames’ next bout is scheduled for March 14 at the CV Exposition. Tickets are available through the Flynn Regional Box Office at 802-86-Flynn or http://www.flynntix.org/.
Photo captions: The Green Mountain Derby Dames line up at the start of their first bout, held at the Champlain Valley Exposition last weekend. PHOTO BY AMY BRADFORD
