Konnichiha! It is I, the Scarlet Slamurai (#87) - The Dark River Derby Coalition's hired gun/roving bard. Welcome to the first of what I hope to be an anthology chronicling the life and times of Quincy's very first flat track roller derby league and its quad-donned dames.
Let's leap head-long into the fray, shall we? . . .
A field trip of sorts came to be on Sunday January 16th Iowa City's own Old Capital City Roller Girls hosted a Black and White open scrimmage on their home turf, and we were lucky enough to get an invite from the team. This was not an event that was open to the public so it was quite kind of our sisters in Iowa to give us the nod. So, as not to squander a VIP derby viewing opportunity Felony O'Connor, Bruise Burymore, El Heff- A, and I took to the road like a faction of war-worn mercenaries: sleepy-eyed and weary but armed to the hilt and teeming with anticipation.
The drive itself, though marred by a frozen and rather boring landscape, was pleasant and filled with chatter about all things derby-Dark River and otherwise: “What would it be like? How many women would be there? Would they need us to do anything to help?” etc, etc, etc . . . I could only imagine it was especially electric for Bruise who would be witnessing live play for the first time, and we all shared in her fervor. After every possible idea and question was seemingly exhausted we arrived in the land of the Hawkeyes . . . and they certainly don't let you forget that fact! We took a little time to familiarize ourselves with our final destination, got lost for a bit looking for a closed Thai restaurant, and happened upon a tasty little Indian joint before returning once more to the Coralville Marriott where the Old Capital City girls practice and bout. I even had time to impress the group with my incredible parallel parking prowess. What can I say, I'm a ninja . . .
We knew we were in the right place as we entered the doors and saw several ladies milling about in tights and knee socks of all colors, creeds, and denominations. Ladies standing tall and proud speaking in boisterous tones and laughing with the kind of reckless abandon you would imagine only a derby girl to have. The mood of the place was vibrant and alive - the buzz of activity, the hum of quads on polished concrete: intoxicating. Everyone there was just there for a good time: zebras (refs) of all walks of life, ladies from teams near and far, NSOs (non-skating officials) flitting to and fro making sure everything was just right. We were almost instantly recognized as outsiders but certainly were not treated as such: the organizers were kind enough to waive our entrance fee and branded us as NSOs and simply instructed us to have a good time. Tracks were being taped on the floor, girls were gearing up and stretching, and we just soaked it all in - trying to commit every subtle nuance to memory. “Those are the skates I want. Those must be those Atom Poison wheels. What brand pads are they wearing? That's a new stretch I haven't seen before! SOMEDAY WE WILL BE ABLE TO DO THIS!! “
Since there seemed to be a good number of much more experienced NSOs we and they were just fine with us pulling up a piece of (cold!) concrete and watching while El Heff -A manned the mini-cam. The format was pretty simple: each skater brought with her 1 white and 1 black "uniform" shirt. Each shirt had the skater's name and number on the back, and they were all evenly divided into teams: Black v. White. Of course, everyone wanted to wear black, and there was a guttural din as some were forced to shed their preferred blacks for the more vestal whites. Since it was a scrimmage everything was uncharacteristically casual. The zebras (who were all thematically and awesomely wearing underoos on their helmets) were pretty lax when it came to calling penalties, and the skaters, though pointedly competing, were obviously just enjoying the camaraderie and having a great time. This is not to say that there wasn't a little drama and unsportsmanlike conduct, but it was from a very small cell and short-lived. I'm not sure how many jams were skated or even which "team" won - girls were hopping back and forth from black to white and vice versa the entire time so I'm compelled to think it didn't really matter. In the grand scheme of things the point was just to get skaters together to do what they do best: play Roller Derby!
After chatting with some new contacts from both the Iowa City and the Cedar Rapids teams (guess who wants to practice, scrimmage, and bout with us?!) we thanked our gracious hosts and bid them a fond adieu. Parting is, in fact, such sweet sorrow . . .
All in all, a good time was had by all. The excitement of live derby breathed new life into this girl, and I'm sure the promise of scrimmages, practices, and bouts to come have this coalition bursting at the seams!
Scarlet Slamurai
