Area roller derby team looking for 'fresh meat' at practices next week

The Cape Girardeau Roller Girls are looking for a few good women -- and some men, too.

The group organized in early spring and has spent the summer learning the details, rules and skills involved in flat track roller derby. The roller girls will be holding "fresh meat" practices from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday and Wednesday at the Arena Building to introduce anyone 18 and older to the sport. The two evenings will have scrimmages, question-and-answer sessions, lessons on how to fall properly and basic skill drills.

Morgan Miller, chairwoman of the recruitment committee, said the team isn't just looking for players -- it needs referees and non-skating officials, and there is no minimum level of skill needed to attend. Fresh meat practices are common among roller derby leagues.

"Fresh meat in roller derby is meant to let people get a taste" of the sport, she said. "Over half of the team couldn't skate when we first got together."

Miller said the hardest problem recruiting new members is the notion that roller derby isn't a sport.

"It was glamorized in the '70s as a game without rules," Miller said, but the Women's Flat Track Derby Association "has put in place a lot of rules."

The sport today looks more like a relay race and less like the staged events of the past. Bouts have two 30-minute periods made up of two-minute jams. During a jam, five skaters from each team are on the track.

There are three blockers, one pivot and one jammer for each team. Jammers start behind the pack and try to work their way through to get ahead of the pack. Once the jammer makes a lap and catches up, she earns a point for each opposing pack member she then passes. Pivots can become jammers if a jammer decides to pass on the duty.

The pack attempts to block the opposition's jammer while at the same time creating holes for their jammer to weave through. The first jammer to break out of the pack becomes the lead jammer, and has the option of calling the jam off or letting time run out.

Ron Ruppel, interim head coach, is training to be a referee. He has been with the team since its first practice and said he has seen some people drop out because they didn't realize how much work goes into the sport. He said they think, "this is going to be awesome. I'm going to look cute in fishnets but then they realize 'this is hard.'"

Derby is a full-contact sport, he said. "It's almost like football on skates."

Marcia Herring, a founding member of the team, said it is the only sport that has caught her interest.

"I went to a bout in Southern Illinois, and it was incredible," she said. "I wanted to bring it here because having to go to Marion or St. Louis is too far."

The team practices in the Arena Building, but Herring said they have run into trouble finding facilities for practice space. They have talked about finding an empty warehouse or a business with a large, flat basement to use as a supplemental practice space.

"I think as we become more popular we will bring people into town to see us," Herring said. "People will see we are an asset to the community."

Pertinent address:

410 Kiwanis Drive, Cape Girardeau MO