Roller derby in Warsaw? Absolutely, but there’s a good chance what is myth and what is reality are two different things. Warsaw’s Bone City Rollers is a women’s flat track roller derby team opening the home portion of its schedule on Saturday. “Bone City” references the city’s status as Orthopedic Capital of the World. The team was founded in November 2013. The team is comprised of about 20 women from all backgrounds, ages and athletic experiences. Skaters are regular women in the community including teachers, librarians, factory workers, realtors, moms, sisters and wives. Many, if not most, of the team members have an alias, or stage name, just for the fun of it. “When you join the team, you instantly adopt a new family of 20,” said Julie Hall, also known as “Roxy Runaway.” “On the track there are hip-checks, shoulder hits and blocking. But off the track we are taking each other’s kids to school, making meals for one another when we are sick and planning non-derby road trips for weekend getaways.” The team has an open-door policy and any woman, age 18 and older, can come to a practice and watch or lace up some skates. “Joining derby is an amazing way to make new friends. We all share a love of derby and sisterhood,” said Megan Dinse, aka Mouthy Magpie. Squad members practice twice a week and compete monthly against other teams from Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. “Bouts”, the term for a roller derby match, consist of two 30-minute halves with a short halftime. “Roller derby is full of strategy and constant switching between offense and defense during two-minute jams in which jammers try to fight their way through opposing blockers to score points. It’s a very fast-paced contact sport,” says Casey Rinker aka “AK-Rolling7.” Hall added “You won’t find bodies flying over a rail or elbows to the face. We have to play by rules, just like any other sport. We can hit each other, we just have to do it legally.” For some of the skaters, finding roller derby leads to a form of self-discovery, and an interesting transformation can occur. “It’s exciting to see someone go from ‘there’s no way I can do that’ to ‘OK, I’ll try, but I’ll stay close to the wall’ to ‘I’ll get out there, but I don’t want to hit,’ then to ‘this is so much fun!’ It’s given a lot of ladies a strong sense of self-confidence, and for some it’s been a real life-changer,” explained Hall. “We find a lot of inspiration in each other, and we really do help each other though all kinds of life experiences. I think that’s what gives us a very real sense of family. We’re there for each other, on and off the floor. Not everybody has that in their lives.” When they are not competing or practicing, the skaters are busy helping their community. “We are driven on and off the track,” says Ashley Black aka Smashley Drewblood. “We are dedicated to giving back through donating and volunteering. We are always looking for ways to be involved with our community.” Members have volunteered roughly 500 hours in their community and donated more than $4,000 in supplies and cash to different organizations, including the Animal Welfare League, Special Olympics, Boomerang Backpack and Rudy’s Dog Park. They also have a weekly presence at Fellowship Missions. “We love to be out in the community, and we feel like we really make a difference,” said Rinker. “We like to find a need and try to fill it. Sometimes two or three of us will find we have a little time on our hands, and so we get together and just show up. There’s almost always something that needs to be done someplace. And because we spend that time together, I think it draws us closer.” The home opening bout is against Kokomo City Of Fists at 5 p.m. Saturday at Hansen’s Eastlake Skate Center, aka “The Boneyard,” 3010 Frontage Road in Warsaw. There will be a special halftime show featuring dancers from the Lee Ann Stewart dance company, and there will be a Mother’s Day tribute by randomly giving away a gift to a mom in attendance. For information on sponsorship opportunities or to purchase advance tickets, visit www.bonecityrollers.com or the team’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
