'Full contact.' 'Women.' 'Adult.' 'Sport.'
These are the terms that Lady Diesel, an athletic trainer and Sports Medicine teacher at St. Augustine High School, typed into Google three years ago when she needed a way to eliminate the stress in her life.
"I wanted to feel like I belonged to a team," she said. "Pretty much rugby and roller derby were the only things that came up. I figured derby was my best bet."
For casual fans the competitive world of roller derby has remained dormant for the past 30 years. But thanks in large part to the 2009 movie "Whip It," people are beginning to take notice again.
"We didn't have a big surge of girls joining after the movie came out," said Diesel, captain of the San Diego Roller Derby Starlettes. "But it made people look us up and become more aware of what we were doing. They realized how rad it really is."
Following their January season opener, the Starlettes have had 20 women come out and try their luck on the flat track.
To become a Starlette, a skater must be at least 18. Prior experience is not necessary and the women on the team will teach those who want to learn the fundamentals needed to be successful in a game.
"What makes us unique is we may not know the strategies," said Diesel. "But we do know fundamentals."
Two separate practices are simultaneously held at Skateworld in Linda Vista. Hopefuls learn how to properly stop, stride and turn during the beginner's practice. More advanced players practice with Brett Stank, the head coach. He helps the women focus on derby-specific skills. They practice blocking, whipping (a technique where one player grabs the skate of another player to gain momentum) and work on building team chemistry.
Women who wish to transition on to the team must pass a test on their skating abilities and a written rules exam.
Once a skater passes the test, they are bestowed with the greatest honor this sport has to offer-a derby name.
Derby names are chosen by the specific individual, Wicked Angel, a Chula Vista resident, said when it came to choosing her name she hit a few bumps.
"Well, I wanted something that involved 'angel' because my name is Angela," said Wicked Angel, Angela Ficarra. "Originally it was going to be Dark Angel, but that was already taken."
Derby names must be screened through the national registry. In the entire world, no two derby dolls share the same name.
For Lady Diesel, aka Sarah Lang, the choice stems from a childhood nickname.
"My dad was a truck driver," she said. "So whenever I would talk on the CB radio, my handle would be 'Little Diesel.' Obviously, as I got older I didn't want to keep 'little,' so it became 'lady.'"
Some other derby names are a bit more out there. Juno EscareMe, Marcy Slayground, Wonder Whoop'em, Icepax, showcase each woman's individuality while telling their story.
Wicked Angel joined the team three months ago on a fluke.
"I was taking my daughter skating and I saw the sign that the rink has hanging up," she explained. "After two weeks of the fundamental training, I took the test and passed."
Like Lady Diesel, this mother of three, uses roller derby as a chance to escape.
"It's like a getaway for me," said Angel. "I can do this for myself, not to mention it's great exercise!"
Unlike the complex women that play, once you peel your eyes away from the nicknames, the attitudes and the outfits that the women proudly sport, roller derby is easy to catch on to as a spectator.
There are 10 women on the track at a time, two pivots (one from each team), six blockers (three from each team) and two jammers (one from each team).
When the first whistle blows, the jam starts. The pack (pivots and blockers) take off skating in a counter-clockwise direction. Two short whistles blow and the jammers take off. This is when the action starts.
Whichever jammer passes the entire pack first becomes the lead jammer and is able to score points for each additional player she passes.
It is the job of the women in the pack to make sure the lead jammer can pass as many of the opposing players as possible.
Jammers must be a fast and finesse skater who are able to maneuver around women whose job is to knock her to the ground.
To make sure all is fair in a jam, referees are assigned positions as well. Four referees skate around the center of the track. A head referee, oversees everything. A front of the pack referee, a back of the pack referee and a jammer referee.
Sir Nemesis, aka Mike Sirot, a tattoo artist at Above All Tattoo in Pacific Beach, passed the exam to be a referee on March 7 and is loving every minute of it.
"I tattoo a few of the women on the team," he said. "They invited me to the season opener and I fell in love. I wanted to be involved immediately."
Sir Nemesis functions as the jammer referee, which is arguably the most important one. He must skate fast and keep his eyes on the jammer.
"Before the game we are assigned a reffing position," he said. "We wear colored bracelets and are assigned a girl, she may or may not be on the team we are associated with. It's completely fair and impartial."
Stank is a driving force behind these women, ever since he could walk his dad, the owner of Skateworld, had him on skates.
"As soon as you get your first hit," he instructed. "I want you to be planning your second one. Then your third one."
During practice, the rowdy group of women cheered loudly when a teammate knocked their coach to the floor. They encourage one another to hit hard and hit fast.
"I think we are different because there's no drama with us," said Wicked Angel. "We welcome everyone and we don't have cliques within the team."
What may have started as an escape from a day job, a stress reliever or a curious inquiry, quickly morphed into a lifestyle for the women of the San Diego Roller Derby Starlettes.
Spandex and attitude sold separately.
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