It’s after hours at Skate South, but some of the city’s most competitive skaters are just getting started.
Members of the Wicked City Roller Derby are warming up for practice at the south Wichita skating rink, as they do two nights a week.
“I get to play with my team; we get to improve together. But they also push me to be the best version of me that I can be,” said team member Hannah Martin, known on the track as “Fleetwood Smack.”
“And that's what I really look for when I come out here.”
Martin is a jammer for Wicked City, which means it’s her job to break past the opposing team to score points, almost like a running back in football.
A big Fleetwood Mac fan, as you might guess, Martin got her start playing roller derby in California. She started competing with Wichita’s team when she moved here about two years ago.
“One of the first things that I did was look up roller derby teams in Wichita cause I was trying to figure out if I could live out here,” she said. “I said, ‘OK, well, if they have a roller derby team, it increases my likelihood of moving out here.’ ”
While you might know about roller derby from movies like “Rollerball” and “Whip It,” Martin says it’s really not that violent.
“You don't get to clothesline people, you don't get to punch people, that's not allowed anymore,” she said.
And you can really see it when you’re at an event.
Despite all the hip-checking and shoving, players on opposing teams are smiling, helping one another off the ground – and even acknowledging when they take a good hit, said team director Delaney Smith, a.k.a. Eva Knievel.
“I mean, everybody just wants everyone to succeed,” she said. “Like, if I get hit really well, during a game, I always make sure to tell that person like, ‘God, that was really good. You about knocked me out.’ ”
A big part of roller derby is your derby name. It’s your alter ego, your in-game persona.
“The Mikanic,” known off the track as Mandy Berkley, got her derby name because she’s a masseuse who uses her professional skills to help the team.
“Because of what I do, I try to teach everybody how to use their muscles properly and better, and how to strengthen those muscles so that we can all stay healthy on the track while we're playing,” she said.
Wicked City Roller Derby was founded in 2006 as “ICT Roller Girls” and later became “ICT Roller Derby.” The team was inactive for about three years due to the pandemic but is making a comeback under the new name.
Right now, the team is looking for women in both the youth and adult leagues.
Berkley said people who don’t think they have the skills for the sport should feel encouraged to try it anyway.
“We have a lot of people that have never put skates on before. And that's why we have newbie classes,” she said.
Berkley said the people she’s met playing roller derby are a big piece of why she’s still competing.
“And we've got, I mean, moms, and swim coaches, and all sorts of different people,” she said. “And I would not have met any of these amazing women if we weren't all here for this one thing.”
Wicked City Roller Derby has three events scheduled at The Cotillion next year on June 29, Aug. 3 and Oct. 5. Visit the team’s Facebook page for more information.
