Made it out to catch Charleston's very own roller derby team, the Lowcountry Highrollers in a match against the Greenville Derby Dames this afternoon.
It was my first roller derby experience, and it didn't disappoint. The action wasn't quite as continuous as I expected, but was still fun to watch and pretty fast paced. Plenty of shoving and take-downs. Before the match started they did a slow speed demonstration to show the rules to the audience (very helpful for newbies like me). It still took me a little bit before I really figured out what was going on and what to watch for.
The crowd that showed up to watch was larger than I expected, which I suppose is a good thing. What's up with all the little kids sporting mohawks though?
I picked a spot up front in what's known as the "suicide seats", named because apparently there's a good chance you might end up with a roller derby girl wiping out or sliding into those seats and who ever is in them. No such luck this evening though.
The derby track
Getting ready to start off a roundjam
Zooming around the bend
Score card girls
In the penalty box
Not quite sure why these guys were dressed like this.
The final score
Post match congratulations
See the rest of my roller derby photos here.
until Canada Day
Great photos. Perhaps the guys in the skirts were hoping to get into the action(?). Anyway, for some further inspiration, check out the roller derby-related videos at ahamoment.com, including this one -- ahamoment.com/pg/moments/view/5312 -- about the "aha moment" of a young woman who credits roller derby for saving her soul.
Thanks -- jack@ahamoment.com