Roller Derby is Coming to Town

Dimes jammer, Lezzie Arnaz, leaps through an opening made by pivot, Michelle O’Bomb Ya. Photo courtesy of Derby With Recess

As part of their Year of the Wonder Women, the Manchester Ladies Society is bringing roller derby to Manchester! Washtenaw’s own Ann Arbor Derby Dimes will be demonstrating their skills at The Roller Derby Skills Exhibition being held in the Ackerson Gym at 410 City Road on July 11th at 2:30pm. It is a FREE community event for all ages, and sure to be a lot of fun!

Celebrating their 5th year as an organization, the Derby Dimes are a great of example of women coming together and succeeding at a common cause. Ladies Society member Amelia Herron recently attended a Dimes’ home bout and commented on her experience, “it was really fun! It was fairly easy to understand and really easy to get into. I went in completely blind as to what roller derby was and I still had a really good time.”

Most weekday evenings, Dimes can be found in their practice space: a converted mechanic’s bay of an old dealership, lovingly called “the Mint”. Skaters spend 2-3 hours a night, 2-4 days a week in the Mint practicing. The space smells strongly of sweat and lingering motor oil. Grunts of exertion as skaters run drills echo off cinderblock walls and mix with teammates’ cheers of encouragement as well as the hard voices of trainers urging everyone to push themselves. Depending on the night, the makeshift concrete rink might be filled with new skaters awkwardly learning to fall and get up safely, or with expert athletes who have already put in 10+ hours of training that week. They crash together, separate, juke and execute complex strategy with the fierce beauty of a river raging around the rink.

Being a skater for the Dimes takes sacrifice. 38% are mothers, 71% work full-time, and 19% are students. Skating means staying up late into the night after practice to study, catch up on laundry, or finish a project. According to the smiles that spread across any skaters’ face when roller derby is mentioned, it is clear that the women of the Derby Dimes find the sacrifice is worth it.

Ann Arbor Derby Dimes is made of up four teams and is a member of the Woman’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). The WFTDA is a worldwide organization with 350+ member leagues. Within just 4 years of competitive play, BRAWLSTARS, the Dime’s A-team, has risen to be the 63rd WFTDA ranked team in the world. Unique in Michigan, the Dimes are the only fully women led and coached team. A board of women volunteers keep the league functioning, skaters and non-skater volunteers run all public events, and a group of women trainers coach all 4 of the league’s teams.

Women working together for a common goal is the strategy that has propelled the league to such prominence within the roller derby community. Women building each other up is core from the very moment a new skater wobbles onto the rink. Many skaters have never taken part in a competitive team sport, and even more haven’t put on skates since childhood. It takes a lot of building, both physically and mentally, to create a ‘derby girl’. The Dimes put all new skaters through a three month boot camp to first learn the basics of skating and safety. These skills are necessary in order to participate in a full contact sport where everyone wears 5 lbs of hard rubber and metal on their feet. But even when boot camp is finished, and skaters are placed into teams, every women is a unique athlete. No two ‘derby girls’ look the same, and all are valued.

Always through the hard training, competitive bouts, and extra volunteer work, the Dimes hold to their mission of “facilitating goodwill and fellowship, and inspiring personal growth and development . . .” Women from diverse walks of life, with unique pasts and current challenges come together every evening and work on building up their athletic skill, as well as each other mentally and emotionally. It is a formula which has paid off for them.

“Roller derby is any woman sport. It promotes healthy, individual self image and body capability. I loved Chicago roller derby and can’t wait to see it here in our new hometown.” says Manchester resident Melissa Andersen. Roller derby is an entertaining sport and the Ann Arbor Derby Dimes embody a great message that The Manchester Ladies Society wants to share with the community.

The Ann Arbor Derby Dimes can also be seen July 18th for a home bout at Buhr Park, Ann Arbor. For more information on the league, 2015 schedule, and ticket sales visit their website.

2015 Ann Arbor Derby Dimes League photo. Photo courtesy of Andrew Potter Photo

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by Danielle Muntz

Danielle lives in Manchester Township and has many interests which she takes part in with varying degrees of success. She can be reached at Danielle.Does.Stuff@gmail.com.