Beware.
On the University at Buffalo campus, a select few women have been found to be respectable and upright citizens by day, but at night, they transform into fierce roller derby girls, who look to macerate any competitor in their way.
These are women who participate as derby girls in the Queen City Derby League, as they escape from their stressful lives and compete on Saturdays at the Rainbow Rink in North Tonawanda.
Roller derby, a sport that resembles a cross between wrestling, street hockey, and your wildest dominatrix fetish, is in no way a typical girly sport. This is why derby girls are in a league of their own.
Two teams of women skate around in a circle in helmets with their fishnet stockings, attempting to gain points by passing and knocking down one another.
While these women unite on the rink, what makes this group of skaters more distinctive is that they are women who hold different titles throughout the UB community.
For instance, Jessica Akey, a graduate student pursuing a doctoral degree in communication, is one of these select few. Undergraduate students who have taken COM 101 or COM 231 may have had her as an instructor in their class.
Students and staff in the English department may be familiar with Nicole Cavallaro. During the day, Cavallaro is the person responsible for such duties as class registration. At night, she transforms into roller derby extraordinaire, Violet Intentions.
Some may think that because these groups of women are affiliated with the university, they must have collaborated with each other in deciding to join the league. However, many of them have joined before they met one another.
"I moved here not knowing anybody, and [one day] I was in the restroom at UB, and there was flyer advertising for a roller derby," Akey said.
Others like Cavallaro were already familiar with the sport. Cavallaro found it to be cool and they predetermined that if ever given a chance to participate, they would.
"What first got me interested was they did a special on A&E called Roller Girls five or six years ago, and I watched that and I thought if it ever came here, I would want to try it," Cavallaro said. "They started a league and I heard about it, and I went to watch a bout. Once I saw my first bout, I was [sold on the idea]."
For the women who participate, roller derby serves many purposes in their lives. Some skate in order to stay healthy and in shape, while others use this opportunity to make new friends.
They all continue to skate because of the feeling they get while competing in front of the fans.
"It's exciting. You get out there and you feel the energy of the crowd and you get really pumped to play your game, but when you start playing, all you see is your opponents and your teammates," Cavallaro said.
As fun as it is for fans to watch roller derby, they don't realize that the transformation into a derby girl is a somewhat painful and tedious process.
People interested in becoming derby girls must attend a two-week boot camp where they become assimilated with skating, the rules, and most importantly the hitting. These two-weeks are usually the hardest because most of the women's bodies are not conditioned for the sport when they first begin.
However, the physical aspect of this sport is not the only obstacle that these skaters have to conquer. Convincing people that this is a legitimate sport, and clearing up negative stereotypes, is part of the game too.
According to many members, many believe that the sport is full of "butch lesbians" and shouldn't even be considered a sport.
But the truth is that most of these women are mothers, wives and girlfriends. They believe that as people learn more about the sport and get to know the skaters on a personal level, the negative perceptions will slowly go away.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
