ROLLER Derby girls are up there with people you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. A Youtube search brings up videos of women in zombie face paint, fishnet stockings and   roller skates smashing into each other, pigtails flying, surrounded by screaming fans. Like players in many sports, their devotion is almost cult-like; they say Roller Derby, which is “like a moshpit on wheels”, is “worth getting a broken leg for”.
That kind of injury isn’t commonplace in the Wellington Richter City roller derby league, but it has happened.
“We had a player break her leg in a couple of spots during training. Unfortunately it wasn’t even the result of a spectacular fall or block, she just fell on her leg wrong and had the type of bones that are likely to snap in a couple of places rather than one,” says Fran Gray aka Ma Whero Mischief, captain of the Comic Slams team.
During a game, there are five players from each team on the track. Points are scored when the ‘jammer’ (identified by the star on her helmet) manages to get past the other team’s blockers, with the help of their own blockers.
Miss Mischief is in a good mood – Comic Slams is the newest team in the league, and they won 120-98 against Smash Malice last week. If they win their next game, against last season’s champions Brutal Pageant, they’re through to the intra-league finals. They’re partway though the ‘Home Season’ – and come August, teams will be reshuffled into the Allstars (“A”) and Convicts (“B”), who will play teams from Northland to Tauranga, Napier to Levin and Christchurch to Dunedin.
While roller derby involves a certain amount of aggression, precautions are taken to make sure players are kept safe. Players must pass a skills test before they can play a game, and must pass the same test again every year. They train three times a week, and those who don’t train, don’t play.
“We work to keep each other as safe as possible. You’re never allowed to be in a position where you might hurt someone else,” says Mischief.
Although high levels of fitness are required for the hour-long games, Mischief says roller derby is open to any woman.  
“It’s a sport for people who don’t play sports, and there’s a place for every personality type … from the shy type you barely hear boo out of … to the ones who like to dress up to the extreme, and take showmanship to another level.”
And while winning is the aim, roller derby’s more than that.
“It’s all about a strong bunch of women getting together and coordinating something fun and competitive… It’s about doing things for yourself, about aiming high and getting there,” says Mischief.
Those interested in playing can register interest at a ‘Freshmeat & Greet’, held on the last Wednesday of every month at the Southern Cross.
Comic Slams vs. Brutal Pageant, TSB Bank Arena, June 25.