The wheels on the track echo like whistles and the plaster on the walls are peeling in patches. The players have names like Nicholas Rage, Boobie Trap, and Killanois, and they sport neon gear, sparkly helmets, and rainbow wheels.
Amidst the chaos of braking drills, talk-while-moving exercises, and backward practice, the air is alive with energy. It’s all fast, loud, and dynamic — nothing stays still. And this is just as true in the game itself.
The Windy City Rollers, Chicago’s oldest and most prominent competitive roller derby team, was founded in 2004. The league grew quickly, forming four teams — Hell’s Bells, The Fury, Attackers, and Double Crossers. By 2008, the WCR was selling out the 1,500-capacity Cicero Stadium and moved to the University of Chicago’s Pavilion, where the home season championship — called the Ivy King Cup, after player Ivy King — is still held today.
Roller Derby is about simultaneously playing offense and defense. The game takes place on an oval-shaped track with ten players. Each team tries to get one player, called a jammer (think like a quarterback, without the ball), through the opposing team’s four blockers and around the track. Once a jammer breaks through the blockers and laps around the track, they earn a point for every opposing blocker they pass, and the round ends. Each round is called a jam, which lasts up to two minutes.
Keep in mind, derby is a contact sport. So after a jammer is done punching, pushing, shoving, and tripping their way through the blockers, they loop around the track to push and shove again in order to score points.
Also, keep in mind that this is all done on rollerskates.
Bruises are pretty common. Andrew Cooley (BFA 2027), an SAIC student in derby, said there has been more than one occasion in which he’s gotten a wheel-shaped bruise on his leg.
Beyond the physicality, the heart of roller derby lies in its culture.
Derby was developed in 1935 and championed by event promoter Leo Seltzer, who held his first game as a rollerskating race in the Chicago Coliseum. When the novelty of an organized sport played on rollerskates wore off, sportswriter Damon Runyon spiced it up by creating rules that are still the foundation of the game today.
Derby attracted crowds for its drama and violence, and kept audiences in seats by appealing to their love for certain players and embracing the bonds that kept teams together. The sport has persevered because of the community that is created by the players.
Izzy Daze, a player for the Double Crossers, said, “I really like the sportsmanship here. There is just nothing like it here. I’ve never felt so comfortable in a sport before.”
Daze has been trying different sports all their life — basketball, track, volleyball. No sport was worth committing to. They joined derby to try and keep active after high school.
“Everybody here is very friendly. I love it here. It’s very easy to get along with each other. A lot of people grow here, and I just really love seeing that,” Daze said.
Carrie Spencer, another Double Crosser, came to derby a little more reluctantly. Spencer’s sister-in-law started playing in derby and asked her to go to try-outs.
“I was like, no, that’s where people punch each other in the face, like absolutely not. Then I went to her first game and I was like, ‘oh my God, I’m in love with this,’” Spencer said.
Outside of derby, Spencer is a high school math teacher. They value the release that derby provides them a couple times a week.
Most players have jobs outside of derby; it’s a difficult sport to “go pro” in because of its smaller size and popularity compared to other sports. However, that also means players are much more likely to meet their heroes.
“It’s quite crazy, like, when you get to [the] adults [level], you realize the derby community is not this out of reach thing, like, let’s say, basketball. You grow up looking at the elite players in basketball, you’re never gonna meet them, you’re never gonna play against them, unless you get to that level. In roller derby, players that I only heard about, I’m now playing with in Chicago,” said Cooley.
Derby is also defined by inclusivity — especially of queer people. Derby has always been a co-ed sport. All genders are encouraged to play. In response to the executive order banning trans players from sports, Windy City Rollers released an Instagram post rejecting it, reinforcing their commitment to being a welcoming space for everyone. This welcoming space is the reason players join, and it’s a reason players stay.
Pain Goodall, a Double Crosser and long-time derby player, can attribute to how widespread and consistent this inclusivity and community is.
“I used to play in Hong Kong. I was there for eight years, and our league there was very small, like 30 people. But even going from there, coming here to WCR, it’s the same vibe,” said Goodall. “Everyone wants to help each other out, and people want to be like, ‘let me show you how to cow better, or how to get this jammer better, or how to block or whatever.’ It’s just kind of like the community spirit and people helping each other out.”
