Bout Press: Roller derby on display Saturday

From: www.uniondemocrat.com

Written by Allan Mandell, The Union Democrat
February 17, 2010 03:00 am

The High Country Hellcats, a roller derby team made up of women who live in Tuolumne County, will host Atomic Assault on Saturday at the High Country Sports Arena in Sonora.

The bout begins at 8 p.m.

Hellcats head coach, Maria Hines, 45, of Sonora said, “You’ll see a lot of fast-paced skating action, tough girls hitting tough girls, and girls smashing into each other.”

Team performance?

“I wish I could say you’ll see a fine-tuned team from us,” said Hines. “But right now, we’re just a group of women that are putting ourselves out there for our first bout.”

Roller Derby has been around for more than a century and, thanks to television, rose in popularity during the 1970s.

The Derby takes place on an oval track. While the Hellcats have 24 women on their roster (from ages 20-through early-50s), only five per team are on the track at any given time.

Each team has one designated “jammer.” The eight non-jammers (some referred to as “Blockers”) must skate within 20 feet of each other, which causes what they call in derby vernacular a “pack.”

“You score a point on your own jammer’s second pass through the pack,” explains Hellcats’ team organizer Shelly McFarland. “You score one point for each opposing player you pass.”

So each team, by way of its jammer, is always on the offensive.

Of course, neither side wants to give up a point — so both perpetually pay attention to defense, too.

Which leads to ....

“Injuries,” says McFarland. “We’ve had a lot of injuries already.”

Each player must wear a helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, wrist pads, and use a mouth guard.

The Hellcats practice three times a week and will compete in an organized league this year called “Mountain Derby Girls.” The Atomic Assault, made up of players from Fresno, compete in the Central California Roller Derby League.

“I know nothing about the Atomic Assault except they are a brand new team like us,” said Hines.

The strengths of the Hellcats, said Hines, “are that we have some really good jammers that are fast and we have some blockers that are tough as walls.”

Hines has been a figure skater for over 30 years.

So is she ready to compete?

“Am I playing? Are you kidding me? No! I’ll just stand behind them, watch them, coach them, yell at them and be thinking, ‘You girls are crazy...’ ”