If Liz “Brüzer von Hammerstein” Hammer had to describe the members of the Athens Ohio Roller Derby league, she would “think of the fight club thing.”
“There’s like artists and stay-at-home moms and bartenders, psychiatrists and professors, home health aids,” Hammer, the president of the league, said. “There’s all kinds of people … all kinds of crazy professions.”
For the past four years, members of the league have not been able to play home bouts in Athens. Previously, the league had held their practices in Bird Arena, but had to stop due to the current state of the building, she said.
“The biggest problem is … we haven’t been able to find a place to play here,” Hammer said. “There are gymnasiums, but because the pads that we use are hardshell, they could potentially scuff the floor.”
This season, the Appalachian Hell Betties, the official team under the league, are hoping to bring roller derby back to Athens by organizing a fundraiser on generosity to purchase a portable track surface to use at the Athens Community Center.
“We’ve already raised a thousand dollars from (Tony’s Tavern) ... so we’re at 20 percent of our goal already,” Hammer said. “We’re really excited.”
Unlike most sports, roller derby has “a broader sense of what an athlete looks like,” Babz “Birdie Blakhart” Jewell, a graduate student studying sociology and anthropology, said, as other sports require players to purchase sports equipment or to be able to afford proper training programs and diets.
“There isn’t an ideal size, age, shape or gender,” she said. “It’s a sport that offers empowerment in a way that I’ve never felt in another sport community.”
Jewell believes the inclusivity in roller derby has allowed individuals from “non-standard” backgrounds to feel welcomed and included in the sport.
“I think we realize that we all really needed each other,” Jewell said. “Our community steps in as a bit like a surrogate family for some people … I really feel like these women have become part of my family.”
Jaymie “Public Speaking” Strecker said they agree with Jewell. For Strecker, who uses they/them pronouns, the sense of family is particularly symbolized during a team exercise in which members of the league are required to skate laps repeatedly.
“If you get tired, then somebody else will give you a push so you can pick up your speed, or they’ll get behind you and they’ll push and push and push,” Strecker said. “They don’t want you to get left behind.”
Despite being unable to participate due to a broken leg, Strecker said they were excited to watch the members during the team’s first event of the year in Gallipolis. New members will be participating in a “fresh meat scrimmage” Saturday with an opposing team for the first time.
Although the league will be having bouts outside of Athens for the time being, Hammer hopes to schedule home bouts as soon as they reach the fundraising goal.
“(It) would be the first time we’ve had a home bout in Athens in maybe four years,” Hammer said. “We all live (in Athens). This is our community and we love it here.”
Correction: A previous version of the photo caption incorrectly spelled Birdie Blakhart's name. The caption has been updated to show the most accurate information.
