Pirate City Rollers

Stacey Roper says the sport is pretty cool. Roller derby, the American contact sport on roller skates, is back - complete with theme music, tattoos, skeleton-printed black tanktops, miniskirts and fishnet stockings.Since February, when the sport reached New Zealand, more than 30 women have joined the Pirate City Rollers league, and more are rolling up each week. American Dale Rio, who plays for the LA Derby Dolls, got 12 players together at Skateland in Panmure.Rio started a committee and it wasn't long before the Panmure rink was busy with women determined to have a crack.At a practice this week there were 11 new players, or "fresh meat" as Roper refers to them.In the US, roller derby is one of the fastest-growing sports - from some 3000 players six months ago to an estimated 10,000 now. It seems the same trend is happening here."We are pioneering a new sport, which is pretty cool, " says Stacey Roper, captain of the Dead Wreckoning team."We had two exhibition games recently to get more girls involved and 400 people came to watch the first and about the same came to the second."AdvertisementThis was only from word-of-mouth and a few flyers.Michelle Smales, a former NZ speed-skating champion, is equally astounded at the numbers who have shown up."There are some really good skaters here - I was really impressed."She remembers seeing video clips in the US when she was little and thinking it looked like fun.So what exactly is the allure of roller derby?
"It has some sex appeal because of the uniforms we wear," says Roper. "It's ruthless and empowers women - everyone who plays has a confidence about them. It's the smaller, quiet ones you have to worry about." She thinks one of the reasons it has grown so fast is that instead of the old-style sloped roller derby rinks, players now skate on flat tracks, which means they can play on courts. The sport is pretty brutal, and it is not surprising you have to be 18 years old to play.There are 10 players on a rink at a time, five from each team. Each team involves a jammer and four blockers. The jammer scores the points and does this by passing the opposition. The blockers have to stop the other team's jammer and help theirs through by pushing the other blockers, either with their shoulder or hip.There are three periods of 20 minutes and in each round there are two-minute countdown periods called a "jam", when the teams try to score points.The teams like tough names such as Veronica Assault and Bonnie Collide.Even the nicknames of players are rough. Roper's skatename is "Pieces of Hate" and one of the other players, Bex Wells, goes by the name "Lil Deville". Without doubt roller derby is a spectator sport - the audience loves it and there is never any lack of atmosphere.It is totally American but the new form is so modern and so styly," says Roper. "It looks rad to watch because it's intense and rough."

"It has some sex appeal because of the uniforms we wear," says Roper. "It's ruthless and empowers women - everyone who plays has a confidence about them. It's the smaller, quiet ones you have to worry about."She thinks one of the reasons it has grown so fast is that instead of the old-style sloped roller derby rinks, players now skate on flat tracks, which means they can play on courts.The sport is pretty brutal, and it is not surprising you have to be 18 years old to play.There are 10 players on a rink at a time, five from each team.Each team involves a jammer and four blockers. The jammer scores the points and does this by passing the opposition. The blockers have to stop the other team's jammer and help theirs through by pushing the other blockers, either with their shoulder or hip.There are three periods of 20 minutes and in each round there are two-minute countdown periods called a "jam", when the teams try to score points.The teams like tough names such as Veronica Assault and Bonnie Collide.Even the nicknames of players are rough. Roper's skatename is "Pieces of Hate" and one of the other players, Bex Wells, goes by the name "Lil Deville".Without doubt roller derby is a spectator sport - the audience loves it and there is never any lack of atmosphere."It is totally American but the new form is so modern and so styly," says Roper. "It looks rad to watch because it's intense and rough."