Steve Jurkovic
Dairyland Dolls (in blue) in a recent match against Houston.
If, like me, your exposure to roller derby doesn’t extend much past what you saw on TV growing up in the ’70s — a theatrical “sport” in which mean-looking women skated around an oval, followed scripted storylines and staged fake fights — Emily Mills has a surprise for you.
“As the PR manager of the Mad Rollin’ Dolls league, that’s the No. 1 misperception I have to deal with,” Mills says. “Modern roller derby is a very real contact sport that is athletic, intense and strategic.”
Perhaps the website for the Mad Rollin’ Dolls, a grassroots league with four area teams plus an all-star squad, offers the best description: “[Roller derby] combines adrenaline and estrogen, mascara and mayhem, sass and strength.”
Flat-track roller derby, in which two teams of five skaters score points by passing members of the opposing team in an oval, has picked up speed since 2001.
Ten of the best teams in the world — including Helsinki Roller Derby from Finland — roll into Madison this weekend for the Division 1 Women’s Flat Track Derby Association’s International Playoffs at the Alliant Energy Center Coliseum. The 10th-seeded Dairyland Dolls, the Mad Rollin’ Dolls’ all-star team, will compete against the No Coast Derby Girls from Lincoln, Nebraska, on Friday at noon. If you miss that one, the Dolls will play at least two more games during the weekend.
Weekend passes, single-day passes and headliner game tickets are available at wftda.ticketleap.com/madison.
Three other North American cities also hosted D1 playoffs this month, which feature the top 40 teams from WFTDA’s 400 or so member leagues. The top three teams from each playoff advance to November’s championships in Portland, Oregon, to compete for the sport’s highest honor.
The Mad Rollin’ Dolls have been trying to bring the playoffs to Madison for years, says Mills, who began skating four years ago at age 30. But travel arrangements and facility rental proved cost-prohibitive. She credits the Madison Area Sports Commission with assistance in securing grants and discounts to make the event more affordable for the WFTDA and its teams.
“What appeals to me about roller derby — and I could talk about this for hours — is the supportive, inclusive community and the way it makes me push myself,” Mills says. “Roller skates are the great equalizer. You strap skates to your feet and slam into other people. That’s incredibly cathartic. I have never wanted to work as hard at a sport as I do with roller derby.”
