sports feature story 2 fuqua-smith

8/2/2019 Sports Feature Story 2 Fuqua-Smith

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February 6

A

F-S

Staff Writer

On a cold,aturday night in a small cen-

ral Michigan town, two ambu-ances sit outside the Skateland

Arena, motors running, just inase. Inside fans cheer as 30women dressed in fishnets,

ooty shorts, ripped-up tankops, tattoos, dyed hair andaudy makeup are sporting theools essential to their tradeuad roller skates and elbowads. They skate onto the flat

rack.More than 100 fans begin to

heer, A2D2! A2D2!As part of a pre-bout warm-

p routine, a woman in a jerseyhat reads, Big Banger, yells,Keep your butt low and skate

to a stop. As all come to a stop,she yells, And skate.

Their wheels take them ona sprint. There goes QueenMcLighting, Hermione Gank-Ya, Courtnasty, General Strikeand Whiskey Drifter fierceand proud women of roller der-

by or, as they call themselves,derby girls.Among them is Amy Collete

RL Jammage Fredell. With akid-in-a-candy-store smile, sheleans over and whispers, Thisbout is going to be intense.

Which is exactly what thecrowd expects, especially thosewho strategically positionedthemselves near a sign on thetrack that reads: Suicide seat-ing, 18 and older allowed.

These are the Ann ArborDerby Dimes. Or A2D2 forshort.

Danielle CranberryMuntz, 27, of Ypsilanti, a graph-ic design major at WashtenawCommunity College, revels inthe glory of being a derby girl.Straight out of the 12-weekfresh meat boot camp train-ing program, Muntz passed thedicult qualifying test on her

first try, a rarity on the circuit.The skills test is all of the

information that you need toknow before you get in, and itsvery challenging, Muntz said.You have to learn how to skateand skate fast, fall small (tum-ble without getting injured), get

through the pack and not getpenalized. Its tough and a lotof information to memorize.

In January, Muntz wasdrafted to one of the twohome teams, the Tree TownThrashers.

The Ann Arbor Derby Dimesis comprised of two hometeams, the Thrashers andthe Huron River Rollers. Topplayers from both teams makeup the Brawlstars, A2D2s trav-el team.

Ann Arbor Derby

Dimes get down

and dirtyand loo

good doing it

JARED ANGLE THE WASHTENAW VOICE

ead Jammer Kortney Roofs on Fire Roof forces her way past a member of the Mid Michigan Derby Girls.

JARED ANGLE THE WASHTENAW VOICE

ayleigh Queen McLightning Cyrus talks with teammates during halftime athe Jan. 28 bout.

JARED ANGLE THE WASHTEN

The jammer from the Mid Michigan Derby Girls falls to the floor during a jam.

HOTWHEELS

Roller derby basics

Bouts last one hour and are broken up into two 30-mute periods. Each period contains two-minute jamsthere are 30-second intervals between jams to allowa new line-up of skaters.

The bout contains 10 women on the rink, five for eteam. A bout consists of two positions throughout: jmer (one for each team), the player who scores pointsbreaks through the pack.

The next is the blocker, the women who protect tjammers and try to keep the opposing jammer from cing through the pack.

Once the jammer makes it through the pack the time legally is when they start scoring points for eperson they pass. Each opposing team member is woone point.

A2 DERBY DIMES CONTINUED B5

Ill even joke withthe other girlswhen we get topractice and Illsay Girl, I justgot to hit a bitch

right now.

Kayleigh Queen

McLightning Cyrus

FINGER-PICKIN GOOD:Folk and bluegrass on hand as the Roots RocRevival hits The Voice.

Pages B5 and


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February 6, 2012he Washtenaw Voice Culture Sync


A referee watches the action from the sidelines.JARED ANGLE THE WASHTENAW VOICE

he jammer from the Mid Michigan Derby Girls races toward the Brawlstar blockers to score points.

Kayleigh Queen McLight-ing Cyrus, 24, of Ypsilanti,

s a technical writing major atWashtenaw. She is mother to

-year-old Audrey Grace, and

olds a full-time job as a hair-tylist. Roller derby is morehan a hobby or pastime for

Cyrus, who describes it as theoundation to everything elsen her life.

When my child grows upnd is able to understand der-y, I want her to be able to say,

Thats my mom and she isough and that is so cool. How

many of my friends motherso that? she said.

For Cyrus, derby is anotherway for her to channel her natu-

al aggression.Ill even joke with the other

irls when we get to practicend Ill say, Girl, I just got toit a bitch right now, she said.

Sometimes after a drill or two,f we didnt feel like we got itut, well keep hitting each oth-r until we feel better.

For Cyrus and Muntz, derbyakes away from studies, time

with their daughters and timeway from their families.

But is it worth it?Hell yes, Cyrus said,

nflinching.Altho ugh the adrenal ine

ush is addictive and the timeommitment challenging, most

women find derby for the cama-aderie it brings to their lives.

I have never had 105 bestriends and no one can sayhat, Cyrus said. If I need aabysitter, a friend or a shoul-

er, those 105 friends are al-ways there no matter what.

A2D2 founder Kellee Cha-Cha Chingona Gallarel, 34,

f Saline seconds that notionnd credits the fellowship oferby for getting her througher divorce.

You post something onacebook about having a baday, youve got 20 people com-

menting on it for encourage-ment, she said. Its a force

eld to be reckoned with.

Cyrus lay on the flat-trackrink injured while other derbywomen tended to her. Whileeveryone takes a knee to showrespect, theyre all hoping andpraying their fallen friend willget back up and skate again.

Injuries frequently happen atthe bouts, and sometimes theirweekly practices.

While derby is a serious con-tact sport with a concrete com-petitive disposition and majorpotential for injury, the womenare also expected to carry theirown health plans along with the

USA Roller Sports insurance(). While doesntcover major injuries like bro-ken bones, it does cover spec-tators sitting in suicide seatingat the bouts.

John Coach Slyde Miller,50, of Ann Arbor is no strangerto roller derby and how notto get hurt.

When one of the girls gets

hurt, they all take a knee justlike in any sport, he said. Andthats my No. 1 goal when coach-ing: Teach them how to fallsmall and how not to get hurtso they can return day-after-day to play this sport.

A veteran to coaching hock-ey with his son, Miller startedskating at Riverside Roller Rinkin Livonia and got a chanceat a little fame when DrewBarrymore came to town toproduce the derby girl-themedfilm Whip It.

A lot of derby girls fromDetroit started showing up andI started teaching them how toskate, he said. And then themovie, Whip It came to town,

forcing roller derbys explosionin Michigan.

With injuries, comes equip-ment and getting the best thatone can aord.

The knees are the most vul-nerable in this sport, he said.We do exercises at practiceto strengthen and to avoid asmuch injury as possible, and Ialways tell the women to buythe best pads they can. It willonly save their body in thelong-run.

The seed was planted in May2010 when Gallarel stepped outof her house and said, Letsform a derby team.

The next month, A2D2 start-ed scouting for practice spaceunsuccessfully in Ann Arbor.

The closest flat-track roller rinkhappened to be in Bellevilleabout 20 minutes from Ann

Arbor.Closed due to lack of busi-

ness at the time, A2D2 ap-proached the owner of RollersSkate Park asking for him toreopen so A2D2 could have aplace to call home.

There was no carpet thereand no paint, but we were ableto use the floor, said AmberGeneral Strike Cooper, 31, of

Whitmore Lake. The owneroriginally opened just so wecould practice but eventuallyhe opened it back up for openskating and its been great eversense.

While A2D2 calls RollersSkate Park their home for now,the long road that lies aheadis eventually to become ali-ated with the Womens FlatTrack Derby Associationanetwork of other leagues tohelp facilitate developmentof athletic ability, sportsman-ship and good will among mem-ber leagues. is also theguideline that A2D2 uses fortraining, testing and bouting.

Gallarel marvels at what hastranspired in such a short time.

My gosh, seeing these wom-en and the way theyre compet-ing brings tears to my eyes, shesaid. Of course, I love how fartheyve come but I didnt think

that in just a year and a half, wewould have three teams com-peting at a level like this.

Cant wait to see A2Din action? Heres thechance to attend theifirst home bout of theyear.

: Brawlstarsvs. Killamazoo KillaCrew and Tree TownThrashers vs. HuronRiver Rollers: Feb. 11, 7 p.m: Total SportsComplex 46039 GranRiver Avenue. Novi,48374: $10

: http:a2derbydimes.org

Mother andstudent by day,

derby girl by night

Rink rash andinjuries

For the skater, bythe skaterThe

birth of A2D2

A2 DERBY DIMES FROM B1


Kayleigh Queen McLighning Cyrus hugs a friend after the Brawlstars 13989 win.Follow this QR code to go to the Derby Dimes

web site, http://a2derbydimes.org

PRZEMEK OZOG CONTRIBUTOR

Kayleigh Queen McLightning Cyrus waits on the sidelines as the next jam isabout to start.


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2012 Michigan Community College Press Association Judging Form

Place of award:

First Place Second Place Third Place Honorable Mention

Category: Sports feature

Headline/title of entry: Hot wheels: Ann Arbor Derby Dimes get down and dirty and

look good doing it

Contestants name:Anna Fuqua-Smith

College name: Washtenaw Community College

Judges comments: Not your traditional sports story, which is one of the things I likedmost about this story. You captured the atmosphere nicely, with references to the

players names, how they were dressed and the Suicide seating sign, and you found acouple of Washtenaw CC students your readers could relate to at least a little bit. I wouldhave liked to have seen a little more information about the bout itself not so much froma win/loss standpoint, but from a this is what it s like to watch roller derby standpoint.If I go to a bout, what can I expect to see? I also would have liked to see some quotesfrom the spectators why are they attending roller derby bouts?

This was fun to read, though, and it made me want to go watch some roller derby.

pcm

sports feature story 2 fuqua-smith

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