by Dale (Black Dahlia) Rio - Tilted Thunder Rail Birds

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WOMTN'S ROLLEH DERBY MAGAZINE
E 13
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With the scant number of banked track roller derby
leagues in the States, when the first national
banked track tournament was organized, not only
were flat track skaters allowed to compete, they
were encouraged. The first Battle on the Bank,
hosted in Los Angeles, home of the L.A. Derby Dolls,
(see Issue #9 for coverage), not only saw a local
flat track league, (the Orange County Crushers),
compete, but the renowned Team Awesome came
in an astounding second place.
The second Battle, held in Austin, Texas, home to
the Lonestar Rollergirls (Texas Roller Derby), saw
an assortment of banked and flat track leagues,
hybrid leagues, and even a team comprised mainly
of old school skaters. This time around, Team
Legit, a team culled from the ranks of the flat track
36
world, like Team Awesome before them, placed in
the top three.
With flat track skaters getting a taste for the bank
at events like our Blood & Thunder training camps,
and during visits to cities that are home to banked
track leagues, more and more skaters are seeing
the bank as a new challenge in their derby training;
simply a new surface to master. Sometimes
stigmatized because of the misplaced association
with the scripted, "no-rules" style derby of the
past, the bank is shedding those misconceptions
the more flat trackers get exposed to both it and
the women who play contemporary, banked track
derby; for the skaters, by the skates, just on a
surface that happens to have a slight angle to it.
With the growing interest in the bank, I decided to
)
a
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,NDffIT Ellniilftlttrjn Dnnar
Text by Dale "Black Dahlia" Rio
Photos by Dave Bayro, Jules Doyle and
Colin Johnson
not t
alk to members of Team Legit and find out what name, and always having been "a little sad,to.
decided
Carmen
name,"
last
my
play
under
derby
;.
heir motivation was behind coming together for
the players would use their real names and play i
he Batle on the Bank IL
{at city,s carmen Getsome, (a.k.a. Lacy Evans), as Team Legit, with the added bonus of a built-in i't,
irst skated the bank at the 2OOg B&T camp in skate out song; Too Legit to Quit' skated with
i
in the camp all-star The two appioached players they'd
ian Diego, and after skating
*dying
to get back on a and against, and what came together was a perfect l,
;crimma-ge bout, she was
players.
tanked track." So when leaguemate Rebel Belle, blend of jammers, blockers, and utility
-. t
of the_Jet
Hanley),
(a.k.a.
Cecilia
a,k,a. Robyn Magda), told hel about the upcoming Re-AnimateHer,
3atile, carmen immejiately sent in the registration city Roller Girls in Everett, washingtol,.uld Yuq
banked i:'
ee and started recruiting. Belle had been looking Lay, (a.k.a. Chelsea Shepherd), of Seattle's
,or'.newwaystogetexcitedaboutderby,"andwhile track start-up league, Tilted'Thunder Rail Birds, I
camp. ,For t
;he found litile interest within her home'team, (the had also been introduced to the bank at
banked i,,
at
the
getting
a
crack
jockit Wenches), in taking part in the Battle, she Mae Lay, especially,
caree.r:
point
derby
in
her
pivotal
track wis a
."I ,
'ound a very willing accomplice in Carmen.
l,',
ti:
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i': 5:::::-:::::,:::,::1,.:::-:::T::::::::-:::::::'-:,,::,,1-::
:"::,:::,
1
banked track. After skating on a banked track, I
have a hard time accepting flat track roller derby
as my only roller derby option," And as a member
of a fledgling banked track league, she "jumped
at the chance to actually play in a banked track
tournament!"
Another Rat City skater, Sara Problem, (a'k'a'
Megan Twibell), had had her first banked track
expirience eaily on in her derby career, literally
days after being picked up by Rat City' A twoweek business frip had taken her to Los Angeles
in November 2O06, and, like most skaters, she
contacted a local derby league, which happened
to be the banked track L.A' Derby Dolls' As fate
would have it, one of Rat City's home teams, the
Throttle Rockets, were in town playing relative L'A'
newcomers, the flat track Angel City Derby Girls' So
when Sara attended an LADD practice, she found
38
herself among familiar faces; her new leaguemates
who had also been invited to practice by the Dolls'
And although she was a rookie skater, she found
the Dolls to ne excellent hosts who gave tons of
advice and encouragement'
For several other members of Team Legit, (including
Rebel Belle and her sister Jinx Ia.k.a' ]ulie Barohl),
the Battle was their first introduction to the bank'
Luckily, Lonestar arranged a practice session for
each team, as well as scrimmages' on Friday night'
For some, it was a crash course in banked track
skating
Most skaters admit there was a period of adjustment
when they first rolled around the banked track'
Rebel Belle sites her fear of the rail as something she
had to get past. Her sister shared that trepidation,
as well as the fear of being flung out the side of the
track, due to her diminutive stature. Sara was a bit
!
translation was simple, and G force and angle
were just variables," Mae Lay had the opposite
experience: "Everything pretty much translates
from flatto banked. Afterall, rollerderby started on
a banked track. Flat trackers had to transition the
moves, the track, and the rules to accommodate
flat surface. Skating on a banked track actually
the
game
the
came
to
itself
period was over, the
more natural to me. The bank pushes you
feels
had
rail
that
the
iorefront, Rebel Belle found that
you need to go, and you don't spend the
where
a
her
ally
as
previously intimidated her became
you're skating fighting to stay inside
time
entire
while
earlier,
blocker. Sara Problem had realized
tracK'
track'"
tne
the
prevlous
previous
now
how
navlng
having
battle,
Battle,
the
watching video of tne
a physicil track boundary, (in the form of the rail), Some of the skaters found that the main differences
would effect the game drastically. linx discovered didn't have to do with skate skills, but were more
that "after a few hours you forget you're on a Tilt- strategic. Re-AnimateHer noticed that, "In banked
o-Whirl and think solely abouf the game." And track it is difficult to rely on one or two (rock star)
whereas she found: "G forces were very awkward skaters, It was necessary to work as a group while
for me. But I quickly realized it was a mental on the track to be effective, It was key to play
unnerved at first, but felt her positive experience
in L.A. years before had given her the confidence
she needed to push through. Some skaters, like
Re-AnimateHer welcomed the challenge. And Mae
Lay had taken an immediate liking to the bank.
gui they all agreed that once that initial adjustment
l:
'{,
l',
'L:,
jams, the jammers really had to constantly know
where the other jammer was." Carmen felt that
the packs tended to be more offense-minded, and
that the faster speed of the bank caused timing to
be different. Mae Lay commented on the difference
the increased speed made, as well: "Since the pack
moves faster, it doesn't stay as tight' This makes
blocking an entirely new experience' Holding a wall
is a veiy different experience on a banked track!
Also, a jammer's path of least resistance is on the
outside-on the banked track, not the inside' Playing
a one-minute jam makes everything go by so fast!
And jamming is all about getting points and calling
it ofi versus being greedy and going after more
and more points." Jinx observed that the team
loved the fact that penalties were called after the
end of the jam instead of during.
As far as limilarities go, Re-AnimateHer pointed
40
out that "the team that controls the pack usually
wins... I feel that is the same with flat'" And Jinx
said that after trying a "banked" track strategy, the
team found that wasn't working for them, and they
reverted to a more defensive "flat track" strategy
that suited them better. Overall, the skaters found
that their flat track experience gave them the
knowledge and flexibility to translate their abilities
to the bank fairlY easilY.
Other than one meeting and a smattering of
emails, Team Legit hadn't actually skated together
as a team prior to Friday night's practice' For
some, watching banked track videos was their
only previous experience with the bank' But Mae
Lay feels that this may have actually worked in
their favor: "There was more pressure on us to
communicate as a team, since most of us had never
played together before. That actually worked to our
advantage, because I think a lot of teams that skate
together become intuitive of one another's moves
and begin to verbally and physically communicate
less. When new players come along, they are sort
of left behind because they have not yet developed
that sense of intuition about their teammates'
Since we were all new together, we communicated
a lot on and off the track."
After such a positive experience at the Battle on
the Bank, most Team Legit members are looking
forward to another opportunity to give the bank
a whirl. Rebel Belle foresees more of a crossover
and a stronger camaraderie between the two derby
worlds, and as a veteran of the sport with nearly
six years under her belt, although she is first and
foremost a flat track player, her experience with
Team Legit has "brought back that spark for derby,"
She sees the biggest hurdle to banked track derby
as the expense of making (or procuring) and
housing the track. Nevertheless, Mae Lay predicts
an increase in banked track leagues: "I definitely
anticipate more banked track leagues appearing in
the not-so-distant future. After skating a banked
track, most of the flat track derby girls I have
spoken with fall in love with the bank' It takes
the game they already love to the next level." In
fact, Tilted Thunder should be getting ready to
roll around on their own banked track right about
now!
So, keep an eye out forTeam Legit in the future, and
if you're a flat track skater who's curious about the
bank, don't hesitate to contact one of the existing
banked track leagues. You'll find they'll be more
than happy to share their banked track knowledge
with you! {F
41