Por Wendy Moncada

wmoncada@reflejos.com

Jams, blockers, whips and pivots are just a few of the terms associated with modern derby, a sport played on skates that has recently risen to popularity among some suburban women in the area.

Roller derby is played by teams of twenty skaters each that compete during hourlong games called bouts. Each team's object is to accumulate the most points during a bout by helping their "jammer" (lead skater) pass up the other team. Players use almost every body part admissible to block each other's jammer, all-the-while skating laps around a flat track.

"I started shaking at first," said Julie Torres, a 29-year-old medical credentials coordinator from Carpentersville, remembering her first experience skating on the flat track during an all-women's roller derby team competition. "Once you get out there, you're so in the moment you don't care about getting hurt."

Torres, 29, was searching to get involved in a team sport when a friend turned her on to the idea of joining a women's roller derby team. Although there are a few well-known leagues in Chicago, she says she decided to join the Rockford Rage Women's Roller Derby League (Rage) because they do not hold tryouts.

Instead, new teammates like Torres, who they refer to as "fresh meat," are introduced to the sport through a training program where they form part of an exhibition team called "Ragdolls." Once the new member's have acquired the skills to play competitively, they are transitioned into the Rage's league.

"He was scared at first but he saw I had fun and liked it," said Julie referring to her husband Marco who held their one-year-old daughter in his arms as she cheered and high-fived her teammates announced to the track by the night's announcer.

The large rambunctious crowd in attendance at the Rockford Rage vs. Como Derby Dames bout - who was as diverse as the women on the team - sat and stood all around the track at the Rockford Indoor Sports Center to cheer the women on with applause, catcalls and even the odd clanking sound of a cowbell or two among them throughout the night.

"I'm always afraid she will break an ankle or something. This sport is a different environment than what where used to but it's exciting to watch," said Marco, one of many sideline relatives who are endearingly referred to as, "Derby Husbands" for their time spent caring for children and homes so their wives can practice and play derby.

According to the Women's Flat Track Derby Association, the sport is no longer played on a banked or inclined track like it was when it was first invented in Austin, Texas and televised in the 60s and 70s.

Roller derby used to have the theatrical and cutthroat connotation that pro wrestling has today for being a spectacle of tough and rough women rather than a competitive sport. Modern derby now employs a flat track, rules and regulations and the technique and strategy common to most nationally sanctioned sports.

"There's girls that didn't even know how to skate that are now on the team," said Veronica Ortiz, one of the newest members of the league and a friend of Torres from their days as students at Elgin High School. The self-proclaimed housewife from Puerto Rico is happy to have found a new hobby.

"This is something I can do for myself," said Ortiz adding that her husband now wants to get in shape to volunteer as a referee for the sport and that she is teaching her 2-year-old daughter how to skate.

Aside from the required helmet, skates, pads and other protective gear, almost anything goes as far as "boutwear," explained Ortiz. Their outfits can range from sleeveless tees and fishnet tights to hot-pink spandex booty shorts and knee-length zebra patterned socks.

Ortiz is still deciding on what she will choose as her official team nickname. Names on the team can be as tame as Torres' who goes by "MariOuchie," or more risqué like "Chelsea Manhandler," the name veteran Rage player Bianca Rivera chose when first joining the team.

"What I think is great about roller derby is that everyone has a place," said Eve Almind, the Rage's vice president. "This sport is looking for diverse people without placing any type requirement on where they come from."

The Rage, established in 2006, was the first female flat-track roller derby formed in Northern Illinois and has supported the communities of the region through benefits, fundraisers and volunteerwork over the years.

"I mean, don't get me wrong! Skating fast, bumpin', hittin' and all of that is a blast, but without a purpose, it's just another sport," Almind.

To learn more about women's roller derby visit wftda.com For info about how to join the Rockford Rage visit rockfordrage.com