Appalachian Rollergirls Bring Roller Derby to Boone
T
he sound? Oh, it’s not pleasposted a few vague notices here and ant. Like fingernails slowthere, created a Facebook page and ly, agonizingly scratching then waited, hoping for a response. a chalkboard, the sound of skin and She got many. plastic grinding against concrete in a “I really didn’t take it was going to hard, screeching skid elicits uncomtake off like it did,” she admitted. Jordyn fortable cringes and shudders. Not to and five other women—including Megan worry, though. She’s okay. Carmody and Mason Herman, current It’s a Thursday night in June skaters on the team—strapped on skates at the National Guard Armory at Skate World in Vilas and talked derby. in Boone, where the ApAnd they decided, as Jordyn recalled, “You palachian Rollergirls are know what, let’s start this.” Another, morepracticing. Hitting—and falling—is a mapublicized meeting was held, and this time 80 jor part of flat track roller derby, which women showed up, much enamored with the has grown exponentially since a group of prospects of roller derby in the High Country. women in Texas reinvented the sport 10 They soon learned, however, that derby requires years ago. In a roller derby bout, each team much more than rolling up a pair of stockings and fields four blockers and one jammer skating applying a couple of coats of mascara. Of the origicounterclockwise around an oval track. The nal 80, only about 20 were able to stick with it. jammer, whose helmet has a star on it, tries to skate through the “pack”—everyone on the other team—and then scores one point for each opponent passed in the two-minute window after the initial pass through the pack. The blockers work to protect their jammer, who is the only one who can score points, while also attempting to knock down the opponent’s jammer. It’s fierce, feminine, strong and sexy, and no— none of these traits are mutually exclusive. Roller derby embraces womanhood while encouraging female athleticism and empowerment.
Why Wait? She had roller skated since she was 4. And the first time she witnessed the hard-hitting, swift-skating women on eight wheels of the Rogue Rollergirls of Fayetteville, near her hometown of Dunn, Jordyn Coats “immediately fell in love with it.” Jordyn left the Sandhills for higher altitude and higher education at Appalachian State University, and, as a sophomore English major, started looking for a team sport or activity in Boone in which to take part outside of class and other responsibilities. “There’s quite a bit to do, but nothing like I really wanted to do,” said Jordyn. “I decided, you know what, I really want to play roller derby.” She was going to try out in Fayetteville the next summer, but—“I just couldn’t wait that long.” In early 2010, to gauge interest in starting up a team in Boone, she
The Appalachian Rollergirls’ jammer Nell Raiser (left) works to maintain control and break through the pack during a bout with the Blue Ridge Rollergirls at the Holmes Center in Boone.
July 2011
High Country Magazine
53