Fun With Skates!

So today I had the pleasure of watching something I had never seen before. A roller derby bout. It was put on by the Chattanooga Roller Girls and I have to say, it was amazing. I did not know what to expect as I entered the Chattanooga Trade Center, and I was really surprised at how much fun I had watching these women compete at a sport I can now say is completely underrated.

For those of you who are not familiar with the rules you can read up on them here. Now, I only went to the bout because a close friend of mine is on the Chattanooga team (Go Violet Heartbreaker!!!) and she had been giving me so much hell for not making it to any of her events. So this time, I decided I would be a good friend and actually show up. I will confess that I was not too excited about seeing a bunch of women skate in a circle for two hours. Little did I know it was so much more than that.

If you re anything like me you probably think that girls skating can be pretty freaking boring. I was wrong on that assumption as well. These women skate with a grace that is hard to explain. They seem more natural on 4 wheels than they do on their feet. The speed and control they master is really something special to see.

The scoring can be hard to follow as it involves passing other players in the pack. But even if you get lost, just know these women move like sexy short shorts wearing ninjas to get them. The way the Jammers would move through the pack, twisting and turning their bodies, dodging hips and arms while trying to skate faster than the other Jammer was really impressive.

The Rollergirls killed Savannah’s team tonight by almost 200 points.  For those of you who missed it, you really missed a treat that Chattanooga offers for family fun of all ages. I really believe the Roller Derby may be one of Chattanooga’s best kept secrets. For those of you who did attend the match, I am sure we can all agree, we will be doing better next match so long as we can keep Llama Trauma out of the penalty box!