Fists clenched.
Shoulders flying.
Fa-thud.
Another player hits the hard floor.
Such is the life of a rough-and-tumble roller derby girl in Akron.
It’s hard to tell it is just a practice before Saturday night’s big home opener — dubbed the Battle for Northeast Ohio — against the Burning River Roller Derby team from Cleveland given the, well, spirited action on the practice rink on a chilly February night, on an upper floor of a warehouse tucked inside the Canal Place complex just off downtown Akron.
It will be a historic night at the John S. Knight Center as it will be the debut match for the new Akron Roller Derby team.
They’ve hung up the jerseys of the NEO Roller Derby and the Rubber City Rollergirls to form one unified team.
And so far, coach Bob “Dad Bob” Simmons said, the merger is working out great.
Since the two teams often shared players in the past just to be able to field a team at some matches, Simmons said, the merger was not that big of an adjustment as many of the women have skated together in the past.
“We are going to be strong this year,” he said. “We really have the best of both teams.”
Although the fan bases for both teams were pretty healthy, team spokeswoman Jacquie “Jane Ire” Kralovic, said the city just wasn’t big enough to financially support and field two.
To pay its respects to the fans, the Akron Roller Derby squad will split its six home matches this season between the John S. Knight Center and the Arena at the Summit County Fairgrounds in Tallmadge where the two teams formerly played.
“We just thought we’d be stronger together,” Kralovic said. “We won’t have to struggle to fill a roster now.”
The merger meant some players skated on, but Simmons said for the most part the core of both teams stayed on to give the merged squad a chance.
“We have some rowdy players and we have some quieter ones and we have some who are looking to have fun,” he said. “We have all walks of life.”
And he’s not kidding.
There’s a former competitive ice skater now on roller skates, a college professor and a baker and a homemaker or two mixed in.
Some have prominent tattoos and others are ink-free.
They are tall and small.
But when it comes time to hit the rink they all share the same powder-blue uniform with an iconic blimp soaring over the Akron skyline.
“For them all to get along is quite amazing,” Simmons said.
This bond shared by the skaters who come from diverse backgrounds doesn’t surprise a self-described old timer like Brandy “Dita Von Bitch” Alderson.
She’s been skating for 11 years, starting out on the Burning River squad before packing up her gear and joining the Akron team.
She turned to the sport shortly after moving to Northeast Ohio from Michigan to work as a chemist.
“It is just such a tight sisterhood and family,” she said. “This is my Ohio family.”
They hope the merger will make Akron more competitive on the national and international stage, said Melissa “Mae B. Hazardous” Longfellow, and possibly let the city land a tournament.
Longfellow got the bug to compete when she watched some skaters showing off their stuff during a festival downtown while she took a break from her job at the Akron Water Department.
“This is a real sport,” she said. “This is not just about throwing elbows.”
Unlike the raucous days in the 1970s when skaters competed on a slanted rink and fists were a-flying, Kralovic said, the competition is more closely regulated and strategy as much as muscles shape how a skater (called a jammer) gets ahead of the pack to score points.
“We like to say this is not your grandmother’s roller derby,” she said.
But that’s not to say there won’t be some bumps and bruises along the way.
One of the squad’s newest recruits is Manderin “Kiwi K.O.” Faris, a caseworker for Summit County, who was hooked after taking in a match last year with her husband and kids.
“I’ve learned how to fall right the hard way.”
Craig Webb, who is far too wimpy to skate with the Akron Roller Derby players, can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.