On Monday nights, State College Area Roller Derby skaters sprawl on the floor of Penn Skates Roller Rink. Among arcade games and a snack bar, women slip on knee pads, wrist guards, helmets and skates before starting their scrimmage. Amber Shaw helped found the league six years ago.
“I always joked that derby was the baby I had when I was thirty," said Shaw, who goes by the name "Ovarian Fyst" out on the rink. "I think that’s a very common phenomenon. Women get to that age, and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, what have I done? What have I accomplished? Well, I should have a baby,’ and my baby was State College Area Roller Derby.”
Also known as SCAR Derby, the local flat track derby league was formed in October 2010 when a handful of women met on social media with interest in what has now become the fastest growing women’s sport around the world.
“None of us had any experience at all with it," Shaw said. "I think maybe one or two of us had seen some roller derby, but most of us were a couple of months into practice and still saying ‘So, how does this game work?’”
A year ago, SCAR Derby became an official member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association. Now, the local league's top travel team Happy Valley Dolls can compete for national ranking and currently has around 50 skaters of ages ranging from 18 to some in their late 40s.
With tryouts September 18, August is peak recruitment season for SCAR Derby which is holding open clinics every Sunday night until August 28 to prepare interested skaters. Dani Kaulakis has been skating with the league for 6 years now and is coach of the 10-week "Fresh Meat" program required of new skaters after tryouts. She frequently instructs at the Sunday night clinics.
“We start with just the very basics for open recruitment," said Kaulakis. "That’s basic stability on skates. We try to teach people how to get some friction so that they can stop and fall correctly so they can avoid injury.”
These basics include a number of stops and falls all anchored in a posture called “derby stance,” which is a squat that offers the steadiest position possible during gameplay. However, aside from leg strength, Kaulakis says roller derby is unique because all body types have different but equal advantages on the rink.
“If you have a lot of mass, you can really do a lot of damage with people when you make contact because you are hitting with all your body weight," said Kaulakis. "Likewise, when you have less body weight, it takes so much less effort to get moving that you can be very fast and very agile.”
Both body types are needed due to the two very different positions in the sport. Each team consists of a jammer, who zooms forward to lap the pack for points, and four blockers, who try to stop the other team's jammer.
Ray Masters is an emergency medical technician with Centre LifeLink who has been a volunteer trainer for the league since its inception. He says that bruises and brush burns are regular, common injuries.
"They’re known as ‘derby kisses,’ said Masters, who attends every scrimmage. "The women are very quick to show them off and pull up their shirts at the bars and after parties to show everyone an outstanding bruise.”
However, the evidence for major injuries is minimal. In six years, the local league has only seen two broken bones, and Kyla Maldonado of SCAR Derby’s board of directors says a lot of people have misconceptions about women’s flat track derby. The WFTDA rule book is around 80 pages in length, with the largest section being devoted to penalties.
“Everybody’s familiar with the old, WWE-style bank track derby," said Maldonado. "It’s come a long way. It's much more athletic now than it seemingly was back in the '70s. There’s no throwing elbows or 'clothes-lining' or anything that you would see then, but there are still hip checks, body checks.”
Shaw says the physicality and effort that goes into learning derby is well worth the major outcome: surpassing your limits on skates and taking that confidence off the rink.
Shaw said there are now situations where she thinks to herself, “You can’t talk to me that way! I’m the Ovarian Physt!"
And she's seen other skaters come out of their shells as well.
"People who would consider themselves meek admitting that they raised their voice in a staff meeting and made themselves heard," Shaw said, "and that’s derby. That’s derby proving to you that you’re tough enough.”
As for what it takes to become a SCAR derby girl, Shaw says a will to show up is most important.
“You’re weird looking? That’s cool. Come skate with us. You’re a mom of five and you go to church on Sundays? That’s cool. Come and skate with us. Your parents didn’t consider you a woman, but you consider yourself a woman? That’s cool. Come skate with us.”
State College Area Roller Derby is hosting a double header Saturday, August 6 at Penn Skates Roller Rink at 1 p.m. Fall tryouts for new skaters and referees will be held September 18th.
