More than forty women from all walks of life came together at the Portland Expo on Sept. 22. Their purpose? To kick some ass.
Dressed in brightly colored roller skates, tube socks, fishnets, booty shorts or skirts, matching team tank tops and jersey dresses, these women have enough energy to put most rock bands to shame.
Better known as the Vacationland Vixens, the Maine roller derby team (this season billed simply as ‘Maine Roller Derby’ or MRD), is paired against North Hampton’s Pioneer Valley roller derby team for the penultimate match of the season.
One of these women is USM’s own Alyson Pitts, though she’s better known in the league by her derby name: Pitts of Rage, #508. Pitts, 24, is a media studies student from Barnstable, MA and an original member of the league. She says that roller derby has not only enhanced her own life but also that of other skaters and the larger community. “MRD is a unique outlet for women of all shapes and sizes, and behind all the showmanship there lies an athletic league with grueling, endurance-driven practices.”
For those unfamiliar with the newest sport to hit Maine arenas, skaters follow standards for rules, seasons and safety developed by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. They play with six referees, complete sets of pads and a seemingly never-empty penalty box. They meet three times a week to train and perfect their teamwork, checking techniques and skating skills. Along with their memorable showwomanship, they are real athletes and take their sport seriously.
The game, called a bout, is played in three 20-minute periods. Each team sends five players onto the circuit track: three blockers (defense), one pivot (last line of defense) and one jammer (scorer). Pivots and blockers from both teams organize themselves into a single pack facing counterclockwise on the track, with the jammers starting 20 feet behind.
The referee blows a whistle, signaling the beginning of a jam formation; the pack starts to skate and players can shift positions within the pack, while the jammers stand still. When the last person in the pack has completed a full lap, real play begins: the jammer from each team-a speed skater and the only player allowed to score points-starts skating. During each jam, which lasts two minutes, these skaters try to lap the pack. After their first pass through the group, each opposing skater she passes equals one point.
While trying to defend against the opposing jammer, blockers do everything they can to help their own get through the pack, pushing, pulling and sling shotting her past the other team’s skaters. Meanwhile these blockers are also engaging each other, using their shoulders, torso, hips and butt to block, hit and check other skaters’.
Within the first jam on Saturday at the Portland Expo, MRD had pulled into the lead thanks to their skilled jammers’ deft weaving through the pack. The crowd yelled and cheered with energy that almost matched the skaters.
But the bout was far from in the bag for MRD. Each time they pulled ahead, Pioneer Valley upped the ante and nearly tied the scoreboard before MRD’s jammers could score again.
By the third period, competition was so fierce that each team played through at least one entire jam with their jammer in the penalty box, leaving the teams’ blockers in sole control of maintaining the score. For one nerve-wracking jam, MRD had their jammer and a blocker in the penalty box.
Pioneer Valley kept MRD on their toes through the last minute of the game, but Maine managed to hang on to their lead 109 to 93.
The team’s second victory sets them off on a good foot at their new home in Portland.
After a long and challenging search for a home that has taken them everywhere from outdoor rinks in Westbrook to Roller World in Topsham, the league now holds practices at Victory Lanes Indoor Karting and hosts home bouts at the Portland Expo. Founded in March 2006, MRD is entirely skater owned-and-operated, boasting a roster of more than 30 women.
The MRD is always recruiting “fresh meat,” Pitts said, and anyone interested should e-mail “The Mom Bomb” at [email protected]. Non-skaters are encouraged as well, since there’s always a need for volunteer referees and EMTs for bouts, as well as art and design for team promotion.
But whether or not you want to get involved, the bouts are not events to be missed. The energy, attitude, camaraderie and athleticism cannot be matched.
Your last chance this season to check out the action is Oct. 6, when Maine Roller Derby takes on the Albany All-Stars at the Portland Expo. Doors at open at 5 p.m., action starts at 6 p.m. Tickets can be found at BullMoose or www.mainerollerderby.com for $10 or at the door for $12.