Was it Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut with 2009’s Whip It that evoked the substantial increase in roller derby interest on an international scale? Probably, said Nyree Costello, otherwise known as Kiki Von Carnage.
“[It’s] one of the reasons I started doing it, even though it’s nothing like that movie,” said Costello, the external communications director for the Ottawa Roller Derby recreational league.
Previously a theatrical event with predetermined winners in the ‘70s, the sport gathered a grass-roots revival in the early ‘90s, with a punk-third-wave-feminist aesthetic.
The sport even had its very first annual Roller Derby World Cup this past year in Toronto. As part of the surge in interest, Carleton’s Norm Fenn Gymnasium hosted a bout between Rochester, N.Y.’s Roc Stars and the Rideau Valley Vixens of the Rideau Valley Roller Girls Jan. 21 in front of filled stands.
“Over the past year, the interest in Ottawa and across Canada has exploded,” Costello said.
A roller derby game is comprised of two 30-minute periods, with a 15-minute halftime in between. It begins with five players from each team on the track, including one pivot for each team at the front, a position which entails maintaining the pace of the pack.
Behind the two pivots are the three blockers from each team, who prevent the two jammers, one from each team, from skating through the pack. The jammer from each team is situated about six behind the pack, and the jammers have to fight and pry through the pack, acting as “human pinballs,” as Costello calls them.
“My job [as a blocker] is to make a hole to get my jammer through,” Costello explained. “I’m going to check them out of bounds, I’m going to block them, and make sure they get out of that pack.”
Members of the Carleton community had a chance to see the game first-hand. The sense of camaraderie and warmth was forthcoming, as the Vixens and Roc Stars both high-fived each other before the bout.
The Vixens were in control throughout the game, leading 63-39 at halftime, and finishing with a 128-99 win.
“It started getting a little dicey in the second period when we were getting penalties, but we worked that back out and still stayed ahead the whole time,” said Vixens head coach Adam Tasanko. “I wouldn’t complain. It was great.”
