Radiologic Technologist Angie Woods sheds her scrubs and lead apron at 3 p.m., and Scream Queens team skater Whiskey Behavior emerges to lace up her skates at approximately 7:30 p.m., anywhere from one to four times a week.
Inspired by one of her first jobs as a bartender, the Los Angeles native wanted a fun skate name and number. “You know, when you drink too much whiskey,” she said letting out a giggle, “you start interacting in some risky behavior.” As for her skate number, 647, penal code 647 (f) is the statute that makes public intoxication a crime in the state of California. “I was like oh ok, let’s go there,” she joked.
Roller Derby has been around in various forms since its inception in the 1930s. Although its popularity has fluctuated, the sport has a long history of radical inclusivity.
The 2003 revival of roller derby in Austin, Texas saw the sport lean into the idea of creating a space for feminine tenacity. The tradition of skate names was born during this time, inspired by Austin punk and drag scenes, according to the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Something of a rite of passage in the derby world, skaters often say their skate name chose them rather than the other way around.
Roller Derby has become a way of life for multitudes of women and nonbinary people, a built-in community of skaters working together and competing. The Derby Dolls, one of the few remaining banked track roller derby leagues in the United States, is just that. Based in Los Angeles, skaters from all over have found an oval-shaped oasis within the walls of Dollahalla, the building the league calls home.
One such skater, Sara Fenton, is a documentary film producer, but to the derby world, she is Margaret “Splat” Splatwood. She has been skating with the Derby Dolls since the summer of 2021, when she joined the Derby Por Vida fitness classes.
Not knowing much about the world of Roller Derby but drawn in by the prospect of group fitness on wheels and the ability to be active while staying safe during the COVID-19 lockdowns, she gave classes a try.
After a couple of months of Derby Por Vida, Splat then decided to try out for Fresh Meat, the training program for those that wish to play for one of the four teams in the league.
Once she joined Fresh Meat and began playing at higher speeds and levels of contact, any concern she had was replaced with enjoyment. “I didn’t really know what world I was stepping into,” she continued, “but now that I’m here, I’m like oh, this totally makes sense.” The program follows a substantial ladder of progression, to prepare skaters for the premier league.
Now considered to be Seasoned Meat, the last tier before being able to try out for the substitute pool, Splat is motivated to continue. “I’m only in the beginning steps of what could be a long sort of derby trajectory,” Splat noted after taking a breath from explaining the process. “I was excited to learn that there were players who were in their late 40s or late 60s and I was like oh ok. I don’t have to do this, like, today.”
Having grown up in Toronto, Ontario, where she co-founded shebang!, an all-female break-dancing crew, Splat had always found herself involved in the world of female empowerment through movement and expression. “Derby would’ve found me at some point, it’s just that this is the time that it happened to happen,” she said.
For Splat, both her skate name and number are an homage to her roots in Toronto. Many of the stories written by her favorite author, Margaret Atwood, who just so happens to be Canadian as well, are based in Toronto. “As a Canadian it felt like more of a kind of connection to her and her work,” she declared. As for her skate number, she took the area code of the city, 416.
With the fun outfits, make-up and names that tend to be filled with witty puns and word play, the reality of the sport can’t be ignored.
“I think a lot of people have the misconception that roller derby is almost like WWE-lite, or that there is a bit of theatrics to it, but it is really real,” Breaker Thighs, who is the current team captain of the Varsity Brawlers, urged. “It’s as real as watching football. People are getting knocked around and we’re athletes out there.”
If Splat begins to feel any sort of apprehension about attending practices, the Fresh Meat group chat on Discord is full of skaters ready to encourage each other. “Without the community of other skaters who are going through it just as scared as you and kind of egging each other on, I don’t think I would have stuck with it as long,” Splat confessed. “Because it is a really challenging sport and it’s scary to be on the big track and skate fast and then be asked to knock each other around, you know? But that’s why I love it. It’s exhilarating.”
Another skater, geophysicist and mom Beckie Ullett, is known to the derby world as Breaker Thighs. Most skaters just call her Breaker. Having started in the Derby Por Vida fitness program in her early 30s as a New Year’s resolution and initiating her journey through Fresh Meat a year later, Breaker is coming up on her 13-year anniversary of skating with the Derby Dolls.
After moving to Los Angeles from Calgary, Alberta in 2006 with her husband, she was determined to find things to do and friends to make in the sprawling city of LA. A few years later, her husband brought home a Derby Dolls flyer from an acting seminar. Initially, she thought they would attend a game as spectators. After going to the website and poking around for a bit, she was greeted by Derby Por Vida. “Instead of going to a game, I thought well what the heck, I know how to skate I’m from Canada,” she quipped.
So, she gave it a go. She quickly found the friends she was looking for, and began to form bonds with the skaters, trainers and coaches. “It was this wonderful moment of finding your people,” Breaker said with a sigh of relief.
“I was hooked. There was no going back after that. I mean clearly, 13 years and two babies later, I’ve come back after both pregnancies, and I can’t imagine not being a part of this community. It’s amazing,” she said.
Breaker is a huge fan of Ryan Gosling. “I mean how could you not be, he’s attractive and charming and Canadian,” she stated matter-of-factly. So when the time came to pick a derby name, Breaker began what she referred to as “the roller derby name journey,” and found herself falling down the rabbit hole of the Canadian heartthrob’s IMDb page.
She recognized a young Gosling as the main character on “Breaker High,” a TV show about a high school on a cruise ship she watched after school on one of the three channels available on her parents’ TV. “Breaker High” was thus workshopped into “Breaker Thighs,” and the derby journey continued.
As for her skate number, she chose 511. Breaker stands at 5 feet, 11 inches tall.
Not everything in derby comes as easy as creative wordplay, however. “Even now, 13 years later, it’s one of the toughest things I have ever done, but it’s also one of the bravest things I have ever done and there’s a certain level of pride and, you know, I feel kinda cool!” Breaker said with glee.
Roller Derby has become synonymous with freedom of expression and the ability to let loose. “It’s more than just skating that you’re doing when you get into this type of sport,” Breaker said. A reality that no one can truly understand until the skates are strapped to your feet, you feel the rush of adrenaline, “then you run into somebody and have the wind knocked out of you and get stopped in your tracks,” Breaker explained, clearly getting swept into the exhilarating picture she was painting and beginning to feel the wind in her hair.
She began her journey with the sport in her 30s. Now 45 years old and raising her family, “I am so much stronger, so much more independent, so much more fierce, and it’s because of this sport and this community,” Breaker declared earnestly.
