There are currently three cities in Indiana that have leagues recognized as members of the WFTDA: Bloomington, Ft. Wayne, and Indianapolis. There are other cities with derbies in the works, including the South Bend Roller Derby and the Cornfed Derby Dames of Muncie.
My interest was first ignited a few years ago. Someone who lived on my dorm floor sophomore year had pictures on facebook of her and the derby team she was a part of. Fast forward to this year and I see pictures of one of my friends back home attending practices for an up and coming derby. I will admit, I was a little jealous. Everything about roller derby appealed to me (except maybe breaking a finger, but I'd live). Then, this past Thursday I was downtown enjoying the monthly First Thursday Gallery Walk when I see these girls on quad skates handing out fliers. The next night I met some of them at the local skating rink and skated for the first time since sophomore year. By the end of the night I was hot, sweaty, and my legs were hurting, but I was definitely back in the groove with skating. I'm attending a meeting tomorrow to get more information. I'm excited to see where this all goes.
I met my friend from back home at a derby bout this weekend and got to see it live!
With being done with classes for the semester, I don't have to feel guilty about sitting around doing non-academic research on the internet. Here are a few links that I found c/o the South Bend Roller Derby facebook page.
Bonnie N. Collide, Nine to Five: A weekly webcomic by Monica Gallagher that combines the superhero side of being a rollergirl with the Clark Kent side of working a day job.
Vegan Derby Girl: She's vegan, does roller derby, and she knits!
