8 minute read
Whip It: All City Rollers
By Hayli Zuccola Holly Frazier Photography
Dressed in black and yellow; exuding confidence and a commanding presence; and absolute beasts on a pair of quad skates, members of the All City Rollers all gleaned interest in roller derby for various reasons, but one thing remains consistent: win or lose, derby has made an unmatched impact on all their lives.
“Me and some friends went to a Gainesville bout, and I was like, ‘yeah, I want to do this; this is badass,’ for lack of a better term and so I started my roller skating journey pretty much shortly after that. I was encouraged to come to a practice and I kind of never looked back,” said Shanna Swiers, who initially skated in Gainesville before joining the All City Rollers in 2013.
Before derby, Shanna’s prior history with roller skating centered around school eld trips or the occasional trek around the rink in high school, but training with the league in Gainesville was an entirely new feat.
Shanna Swiers Keith Ridge Derby Photos
“It was grueling. I used parts of my body and muscles I didn’t even know I had and I basically relearned to skate and, they, I mean, they taught me everything—all the basics—so I went from a wall-clinger to I think now I can probably roller skate better than I can walk,” she said.
Of course, being comfortable on skates is only half the battle of this intense sport. The premise of roller derby is that each game—or “bout” as they’re referred to in the league—is comprised of multiple mini games called “jams.” During the start of each jam, the designated jammer from each of the two participating teams— identi ed by a bright yellow star on their helmet—
Vets from the Ronald H. Jenkins Domiciliary. Photo: Karen Kutyna attempts to score points by passing members of the opposing team. While the two jammers try to make their way around the track, the other players, called blockers, take both o ensive and defensive measures to help their jammer through the pack while preventing the other team’s jammer from doing the same. This full-contact game is a rather erce sight to behold, but one that has evolved into a completely sanctioned sport with rules and regulations versus an entertainment spectacle.
“It’s kind of like football on skates, but instead of there being a ball, the jammer is essentially the ball. It is a very start and stop kind of game and it has quite a bit of rules because really, I think a lot of people, de nitely when they watch something like Whip it or I know it’s been dramatized on TV shows lately, I think people see that it’s very aggressive, you know, elbows are being thrown and punches, and derby de nitely used to be about that kind of showmanship, but over the years it has formed into a legitimate sport,” said Shanna, whose derby pseudonym, Vera Dreadful, pays homage to her grandmother Vera, who’s been one of Shanna’s biggest cheerleaders.
Derby is also a sport that welcomes everyone to join the team, regardless of past athletic experience, body type or skating history.
“We take all shapes and sizes, all di erent forms of folks from the community; it’s somewhere that you can feel like you’re in a safe space and be able to be the person who you are,” she said. “We do all di erent things; some people are yoga instructors and Buddhists, but yet here they are toughing it out with all of us; some people have played sports their whole lives and you know this is just another outlet for them—and some folks just happen to stumble upon it and nd that it’s something that’s there for them.”
After coming out of a bad relationship, roller derby gave Shanna an outlet to nd herself, build her con dence and surround herself with a supportive community.
“I can take risks and that I can push myself and my body to achieve some pretty cool things, but I think for me what it comes down to is also learning that there are people from all walks of life and you may not have the same opinions or values as that person, but when you’re on the track, you are truly equal and for me, it’s just making sure that whether it’s my own teammates or guests who are there, that they know that I respect them and I see them and I think that they’re just as badass as I am for doing this crazy sport,” she said.
Tomiko Kutyna
Tomiko Kutyna, who goes by Beatrix Plotter while on the track, is the current CEO of the All City Roller’s board and has been a skater with the ACR Hunnies since nearly the beginning. Having originally trained with the Gainesville league, when that organization decided to split into two divisions, Tomiko opted to join the All City Rollers—previously the Alachua County Rollers—which was focused more on
being a recreational team rather than playing on a competitive level. Today, the All City Rollers draws in interested skaters from multiple counties including Alachua, Columbia, Marion, Orange, Suwannee and even Lowndes in Georgia.
Tomiko, who’s a librarian by trade, initially learned about the revival of roller derby in—her words—the ultimate librarian way: she read about it in a book. Her connection to books also inspired her moniker, which is a spin on Peter Rabbit author Beatrix Potter. Since joining the team, Tomiko not only ful lled her goal of exercising more, but made lasting friendships along the way.
“It’s a hive, like we really do embrace the idea that we’re a hive, so each of us has our own duties that we know we need to ful ll and just work together for the betterment of the team,” she said.
That one-of-a-kind camaraderie continues o the track as well. When reminiscing on the impact roller derby has made on their life, Katie Jo Collins—better known by their derby persona EnPSYCHOpedia—is frequently reminded of a common saying among the derby community: “We destroy our bodies to save our souls.”
“Two months after I joined roller derby, I had life-changing, signi cant trauma and so derby has been the one constant that has helped me and my children process that and navigate it and develop our support system…basically everything we have is derby people who have come and supported us and it’s given me an outlet to process all of that and to feel empowered, not just with skating, but in life in general,” Katie Jo said.
Though EnPSYCHOpedia, whose name is a play on their moderate knowledge of a variety of topics combined with their support for mental health awareness, doesn’t skate for the Hunnies but for a ranked league in Jacksonville, the Minnesota native travels to Lake City to coach the All City Roller’s vet skaters and their “new-bees.”
“This team is what’s considered a ‘rec’ team, so it’s more about like team dynamic and having fun and supporting one another and having a space for everybody to come and skate. It’s not that other leagues don’t have that, but everybody is welcome at all levels and everybody’s going to have an opportunity to play where if you go to a bigger, higher-ranked team, you may sit on the bench through a game if other people have skills that outdo your skills,” they said.
In skating both competitively and serving as a coach for the Hunnies, Katie Jo notes that there are a few misconceptions regarding the prominent roller derby image seen in movies like the 2009 movie, Whip It. aggression. So the way I explain it is that the like 1960s roller derby that Whip It is based o of, is like the WWE equivalent to what we do today where they both absolutely require great athleticism, but one, we have shifted more to a legitimate sport where people are cross-training and it’s an international sport so you have people competing all over the world,” they said.
Regardless of the preconceived notions surrounding the sport, the aspect of roller derby that translate across the leagues is their community involvement both on and o the track with ACR speci cally hosting several 50/50 ra es; engaging in Relay for Life and the March of Dimes; and frequently inviting veterans from the local domiciliary to watch bouts, and their continued e ort to be an all-inclusive society.
“I will say if there are people who are interested and they’re uncertain about contact but they want to skate, re ng is a great opportunity to be on skates. If you’re just not into any of that but you want to come and learn about derby and be a part of the culture, we have what’s called non-skating o cials, and so they run our penalty box, they do our scoreboards, and without all of those people, we’re just people skating in a circle and it’s super boring. They are important and we need all of them, so there is literally a place for anybody—disability, age, any of that—we have a place for you,” Katie Jo said.
“That’s what’s cool about derby is you’ve got people from every walk of life, every profession, every body size, age, we all come together and we gure out where we t.” ■
Katie Jo Collins
Photo by Eric Vicaria
—Shanna Swiers
