Roller Derby League Calls World Gym its New Home

Beyond the adrenaline rush of competition, beneath the tough-girl nicknames and the feeling of accomplishment after a hard-fought bout, roller derby is about sisterhood.

So say the 31 women who make up the Strong Island Derby Revolution, a women's flat-track roller derby league that now calls World Gym Setauket home.

"Being in the league is being part of a sisterhood. Teammates look out for each other and help each other in need, on and off the track," said Jennifer Fite, a skater from Port Jefferson who goes by the nickname Helluva Fite. "Everyone respects one another, appreciates what each has to bring to the table. And everyone has the same love of the sport, the love of the derby."

The Strong Island Derby Revolution was established in May of 2011 when a skater from West Islip, a former member of the Long Island Roller Rebels who goes by the name Doc Block, decided to indulge the requests she was getting to start a Suffolk-based roller derby league.

Since then, the team has called multiple rinks throughout Suffolk County home, including Inline 1 in Mt. Sinai, where late-night practices were often the norm due to various scheduling conflicts. But with the increasing popularity of kids' deck hockey, Doc Block said, "we got pushed further and further to the fringes" at the other rinks they had been using.

"It is always challenging to find rink time," she said. "There's very little actual rink time on Long Island. We're really fortunate to be moving everything to World Gym. That's huge for us."

At World Gym, arena managers Gail and John Isaacs, who have been there 17 years and also manage the gym's pool, said they were looking to add variety to the gym's athletics scene. A couple of years ago, they said, the Long Island Roller Rebels held some practices and a bout at World Gym, so they were familiar with roller derby – an experience John Issacs described as "awesome."

"Diversity is what we're trying to get. We don't want to be just roller hockey or soccer," he said. "We're all over the map with different sports. ... We'll make it work to get things here."

Roller derby bouts consist of two 30-minute periods in which skaters, five from each team, square off in "jams" – similar to the breakdown of plays in other sports – of up to two minutes in length. The positions have names like "blocker," "pivot blocker," "jammer," and "lead jammer," with the lead jammer able to score the team's points by passing opposing skaters in laps. Blockers attempt to stop the opposing jammer from passing through. Referees skate inside the track and hand out penalties for rule violations. The team with the most points wins.

"It's not a game for someone who doesn't want to get hit or sweat on. Personal space is not an option here," said Kristi Smith of Smithtown, who stands at 4-foot-11 and goes by the nickname BiteSize Brawler.

If you've seen the 2009 film Whip It, starring Ellen Page and Kristin Wiig and directed by Drew Barrymore, you've only seen a glimpse of roller derby – and a not-all-that-accurate glimpse, at that. 

"There's no fighting. There's a lot of rules," Smith said. "The movie was all about fighting."

But there's no denying it, it's a physical game – intimidating, even. That's why passing a basic skills test is mandatory. 

Kelly Herzog, a cadet from Centereach who has yet to take her skills test, said the sport is fun and exciting, and was able to rely on that to get past the initial intimidation she felt.

"It's always intimidating to do something new, but if it's something you want to do you get past that," she said.

The reasons each skater joined the league varies, but Doc Block said there are some common threads.

"It's a big release for a lot of women who have never had that aggressive kind of contact sport in their life," she said.

According to Doc Block, roller derby can appear to be a cult sometimes – but she said it's becoming more mainstream.

That was evident at the team's first bout of the season on April 6, when it defeated the Finger Lakes Lunachicks by a score of 314-57 in front of more than 300 people.

The league works on a pay-to-play basis; skaters pay dues in order for the league to afford rink space for practices and bouts. Doc Block said the league is still developing a long-term plan.

"We've been so focused on training and having a place to skate," she said. "We'd eventually like to have our own place, a warehouse or a hangar."

They may not have a place of their own yet, but the skaters say the league is a home in itself.

"I like the camaraderie, being on a team," said Heather Murphy, a skater from Sound Beach whose nickname is Jaw DropHer. "Everyone's very different, but we all get along. It's a really supportive culture."

Interested in learning more about Strong Island Derby Revolution? Attend an open bootcamp and tryout session set for May 7 at 8 p.m. at World Gym. No skating experience is necessary – though having the right equipment is – and skaters should be at least 21 years old. See the league's website for more details.