By David Rogers. February 8, 2012. BLOWING ROCK -- In 1940, more than five million spectators watched roller derby bouts in 50 U.S. cities. After decades of decline, the sport is making a serious comeback -- as serious athletic competition for women instead of the often theatrical entertainment gimmick of earlier times. Photos by Ashley Tanner, skater for ARg

On Wednesday, Blowing Rock gets to meet a High Country incarnation of the emerging sport -- the Appalachian Rollergirls (ARg) -- in a special benefit arranged at Canyons Restaurant, overlooking the gorge in Blowing Rock.

Canyons is donating 10% of the food and beverage revenues between 5 pm to 8 pm to Appalachian Rollergirls when the customers declare their support of the team. ARg's immediate mission is to pay off the purchase of the regulation track now used for home bouts at the Holmes Convocation Center.  And, according to team organizers, the track (which is picked up, piece by piece, stored on eight pallets and hauled away after each bout) is portable, so it can be used in other venues as well, including outdoor exhibitions. 

Since its formation in 2010, Appalachian Rollergirls has been active in the community, raising money for organizations such as OASIS, and participating in special events like Celebrity Serve, where last year they served breakfast, lunch and dinner at Panera Bread.

In an exclusive interview, Blowing Rock News spoke with team captain Megan Carmody and public relations director Jennele Vaquera Monday afternoon about "flat track" roller derby in general, as well as about the Rollergirls organization, its mission, and its challenges.

"We are involved in the community and having fun," Vaquera said.  Carmody quickly added, "The Holmes Center managers tell us that, on average, in our first year (2010) we drew bigger crowds than the university's basketball teams. We were slightly more than the men's basketball team, and probably five times more than the women's basketball team.  And the best thing about our crowds is that we have this family thing going on.  Parents are bringing their children and enjoying the family-friendly fun."

Fighting History and Responding to New Societal Trends

In 2009, Ellen Page's film, "Whip It", burned an indelible image in theatre-goers' minds about a roller derby featuring scantily-clad women with sometimes garish make-up and outfits to match, and a lot of cheap theatrics. Despite the unlikely subject matter, the movie and story were generally well-reviewed: an indie-rock loving, misfit high school girl is unhappy with her life in a small town -- until she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin, Texas. While her over-bearing mother is pushing her down a beauty pageant path, Page's character has other interests and other ideas.

There are two sides to every story. Critics call roller derby an exploitation of women (ironically, much as they describe beauty pageants).  The participating athletes call it "empowering." The truth is probably somewhere in between, as with most things in human life, but the appeal of full-contact team athletic endeavors is increasing among women.  As girls are encouraged to participate in sports at a younger age, more and more are demanding higher contact, even "rougher" opportunities. In short, the physically cathartic benefits of a full contact athletic endeavor are not just appealing to men.

For decades, women had scarce opportunities to play team-focused sports that include the level of physical contact associated with traditionally male sports, such as American football.  Many high schools around the nation have an annual "powder puff" football game, both tackle and "flag" versions. Although those games have been widely popular among the girls participating, girls' and women's team sports have generally been limited to those with less physical contact, such as softball, field hockey, volleyball and soccer. On their own merits, each of those are terrificly competitive and demanding sports, but not the bone-jarring, high contact experiences that many women crave.

Meanwhile, American society has been changing. In 1972, the U.S. enacted "Title IX" into national education law. It prohibits the exclusion -- based on gender -- "...of any person the benefits of participation in any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance," including athletics. While the vast majority of colleges and universities have struggled to attract a sufficient number of women to equal the number of men involved in school athletic programs, the increased opportunities on a collegiate level spurred an increase in athletic opportunities for young women in the nation's high schools and middle schools, from soccer and volleyball to, more recently, women's rugby.

To say there is an appetite for full-contact sports among women would be an understatement. While roller derby has not yet made it as a team athletic offering on either a high school or collegiate level, the expanding participation in girls and women's rugby speaks to the increasing appeal of physical contact sports among women in American society.

USA Rugby, the sport's governing body for both men and women in the United States, reports that 6,000 girls nationwide are participating in Girls' High School Club Rugby (up from just 50 in 2002) and that there are more than 11,000 women playing collegiate rugby on almost 400 campus-based women's rugby clubs. In fact, the NCAA recognizes women's rugby as an "emerging sport" in Divisions I, II, and III and provides that any institution offering a full varsity collegiate progam can use the women's rugby program's costs and athlete participation to count towards gender equity requirements mandated by Title IX.

Similar Evolution

The modern incarnation of roller derby is starting out much the same way that women's rugby did in the early 1970s.  While initially organized as more socially-focused clubs, an increasing number of the participating women are demanding that the sport emphasize the athletic experience of the activity and less of the sexually exploitive theatrics.

Appalachian Rollergirls team captain Carmody, who owns Black Cat Burrito in downtown Boone, told Blowing Rock News on Monday that most of the cheap theatrical elements which, in years gone by, made roller derby more on a par with women's mud wrestling are giving way to a real women's team sport experience. "There is very little in the way of bare skin," she explained in Monday's interview. "When you play the sport for real, get knocked down and go sliding across the track, you don't want bare skin because it can get ripped up.  There is nothing staged about these competitions. Roller derby is catching on not because of the exploitive, theatrical elements that used to characterize the sport, but because it encourages female athleticism.  Other than softball and, maybe, some soccer leagues, it's hard for adult women to find serious team sport activities, and there are a lot of us out there who crave the opportunity. We like full-contact team sports just as much as the guys do.  Ultimately, that is what this is about."

Brief History

Roller derby traces its origins back to the mid-1880s, to the USA's growing fascination with roller skating and the formation of organized, multi-day endurance races for cash prizes. By 1939, the endurance races had evolved into a contact sport with two five-person teams skating in the same direction, just like today. They scored points as they lapped members of the opposing side. A New York City sportswriter is credited with persuading National Roller Derby League (NRDL) founder Leo Seltzer to change the rules to increase skater contact, in both men's and women's versions of the competitions.

The sport debuted on television in 1948, long before TV viewership was widespread.  However, the broadcasts served to increase the number of spectators attending the live bouts. During the 1949-50 season, Madison Square Garden in New York City was sold out for the week of the NRDL season playoffs, according to historical records. The promoters developed scripted story lines and changed the rules to improve television appeal, but eventually the derby's popularity wore thin, and attendance started dropping.

After the roller derby's decline in popularity in the later 1960s and 1970s, the sport lay mostly dormant until the early 2000s, when it experienced a revival as an all-female, woman-organized amateur sport.  According to a New York Times article penned by Michael Brick in 2008, the revival began with the formation of a league in Austin, Texas (perhaps it was fitting that "Whip It!" was set there), but by 2006 there were more than 135 similar, city-based leagues around the USA.  Leagues outside the U.S. started forming in 2006 and, according to Roller Derby Worldwide's website, there are now more than 1,000 leagues around the world -- on every inhabited continent -- in countries as diverse as Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Colombia, New Zealand, Italy, Peru, Brazil, Israel, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Portugal, Sweden, Chile, Argentina, Austria, Guam, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Singapore, Denmark, Japan, Norway, and South Africa, among many others.

Logistics and Rules: How the Game is Played

The vast majority of leagues play the same brand of "flat track" roller derby as Appalachian Rollergirls.

A modern-day, "regulation" roller derby track is contained inside a 40-foot wide by 80-foot long oval, with the track itself being 13-feet across. At any one time, there are five skaters from each team on the track surface, including one "jammer" and four blockers.  Play is divided into two, 30-minute periods, then sub-divided into micro-periods: "jams" of often frenetic activity that can last up to two minutes each.

During the jams, "jammers" (one from each team), race around the oval to catch up with the pack. Jammers score points by passing the other team's skaters (one point for each skater passed). Whichever team's jammer gets around first is the "lead jammer" and controls when the jam is over (by putting both hands on her hips as a signal to the referee). If she is free, the trailing jammer cn also score points for her team, so the lead jammer's objective is to get as many points for herself while limiting the opportunity to score for her opposing jammer. But if the trailing jammer is tied up by an opponent's blockers, the lead jammer may choose to race another time around the track and try to get a rare "five" for passing all five opponents.

While the jammers get a lot of the glory for their speed and point-scoring, the various strategies and skills among the blockers in the pack are crucial to a team's success in scoring points.  Said Carmody, smiling, "The jammers get a lot of the accolades, but they are also the ones targeted by the other team's blockers for what are sometimes vicious hits, trying to prevent the them from scoring. I would rather be a blocker."

The Canyons Benefit

Appalachian Rollergirls are just the latest area organization to benefit from Canyons' Wednesday night programs benefiting non-profit agencies.  Owner Bart Conway explained to Blowing Rock News on Tuesday, "This is a win-win opportunity. Of course it's great for helping drive business to our restaurant in the off-season and for enhancing our goodwill in the community, but it is a great way for the organizations to raise some funds either for a special purchase, like the Rollergirls are doing with their track (approximately $25,000), or for their operational budgets and charitable endeavors. Last week we hosted Blue Ridge Conservancy.  This week it is Appalachian Rollergirls, and we are excited to have them.  They have the potential to attract a lot of people to our restaurant to support their cause.  Depending on how successful the evening is, we give the promised 10%, but usually even more. For our customers, it is a great way to enjoy an evening out while knowing that you are supporting some good causes. Just mention to our serving staff that you are here in support of the Rollergirls."

2012 Season

The Rollergirls open their season on February 25 in Charlotte. Their full schedule:

• Feb. 25 -- AWAY -- Charlotte Speed Demons
• Mar. 31 -- AWAY -- River City (VA)
• Apr. 7 -- AWAY -- Blue Ridge (Asheville)
• Apr. 28 -- HOME -- Charlotte
• Jun. 23 -- HOME -- Chattanooga
• Jul. 12 -- AWAY -- Savannah, SC
• Aug. 4 -- HOME -- Carolina (Raleigh)
• Aug. 25 -- AWAY -- Nashville, TN
• Nov. 17 -- AWAY -- Gate City (Greensboro)

The Appalachian Rollergirls' publicity chairperson, Jennele Vaquera, owner of the Lucky Penny apparel shop in downtown Boone, told Blowing Rock News during Monday's interview, "Whether playing or watching, roller derby is great fun. We  invite anyone with an interest in participating or supporting us to come to Canyons Wednesday night to get more information. And if you are unable to make it tonight, be sure to visit us at www.appalachianrollergirls.com, or send me an email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ."

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