On the roller derby track, the play can be painful. A body check by a blocker or a shoulder to the thigh will hurt. But when the bout is over and the skates come off, the women who make up Assassination City Roller Derby are all friends.
"We are not just a sports league—we're family," player Amanda Warner said. "We are an amazing group of encouraging and supportive women who have found common ground in this sport."
The player-owned-and-operated league recently relocated from Mesquite to Plano in February and has high hopes of attracting more fans to the sport.
"This is a bigger venue and an opportunity for a new fan base," player Ursula Evering said.
The league uses the Thunderbird Roller Rink in Plano as the base for its practices and monthly bouts. So far the new location has treated the league well. ACRD had a nearly sold-out crowd for the season opener in February, Warner said. Once spectators see the teams in action, it is hard not to be attracted to their energy and passion, she added.
"You gotta love it to do it," Evering said.
The league has roughly 70 players who make a strong commitment when they become part of the league, Warner said. Some of them travel from as far away as two hours to play, but games aren't the only commitment players make. Since the league is player-owned and operated, the players aren't paid; in fact, they pay to play.
In addition to dues, the women also do their own marketing, pass out their own fliers and even serve as the janitors after the monthly bouts. There are nine different committees and each player joins one to help keep the organization going.
"It's good to share the responsibility," Warner said.
Four teams and a travel team make up the ACRD, which holds tryouts three times a year. Since it is a full-contact sport, there are several criteria a hopeful must meet before being drafted by a team including passing a rules test, Warner said. Like all women's roller derby leagues, the league is governed by the Women's Flat Track Derby Association. The rules are tweaked each year, and players must be familiar with them. Players must also pass a physical test.
ACRD was started in 2005 by a group of women who wanted to revive the derby scene in Dallas. Throughout the years the league has moved locations and changed leadership several times, but the mission has stayed the same.
Deadly Kennedy player Greta X 10 goes in for a hit against Ruby's Revenge jammer Angel de Muerte.[/caption]"The women in our league inspire each other to become a stronger, more confident and better person every day," Warner said. "Not only on skates, but we support each other off skates as well."
Once a player is drafted to the team there is the excitement of picking a derby name, and each player has a story as to why she chose her name, Warner said.
"I had a running list of names written on masking tape and stuck on my wall," said Warner, who goes by the name Cannibal Cupcakes. "I would put a different name on my helmet at practice to get people to call me that to see if I like it."
Roller derby is harder than it seems, Warner and fellow player Estella French said. It took a year before either player was drafted by a team. Those not drafted in their first year of eligibility are still allowed to practice with teams, said French, whose derby name is A Street Car Named Destruction.
"As long as you want to be here, you can be here," she said.
