The Fast Life on Wheels
8
by Erin Kelly
After a bad day at work, some people like to pour a nice glass of red and sit quietly in their living rooms. Others nestle up with a good book or great movie. Some slip into a warm bubble bath or take a nice jog in the park. Janie Fuselier puts on her skates. “There’s nothing like slamming into people after you’ve had a bad day,” she says. Janie, a nurse, is a jammer for Lafitte’s Ladies, a roller derby team with the Gulf Coast Rollergirls League. As a jammer, her job is to skate her way through a pack of opposing team members whose sole purpose in life – during the jam, at least – is to prevent her from moving forward. With ten women on the circuit each wearing eight wheels and all trying to push or prevent each other from advancing in the bout, things can get ugly. Roller derby is an intense contact sport dominated by women. The highly physical sport, whose showmanship often includes elements of punk and feminism, has experienced a revival over the past six years nurtured mostly by grassroots leagues in Austin, Texas. “Once that first whistle blows, it’s go, go, go,” said Fuselier, who skates under the derby name Calamity Jane. The use of “derby names” is another common element of the sport’s tradition; self-bestowed monikers are used by skaters as well as coaches and officials. “It’s a huge stress relief to get out there and slam into people. And it’s great exercise.” Laura Martin, a.k.a. Ho E-Ramone, described the game as “empowering.” She skates for Flat Out Roller Derby, a USA Roller Sportssanctioned team based in Lake Charles.
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The Flat Out Roller Derby team watch the jam. Source: traci-marie.com
A jammer with the Flat Out team swings through the opposing pack with help from a teammate.
26 www.thriveswla.com
Thrive Magazine for Better Living
October 2011