Rolling Rebels

Some skate with wildly-colored hair, others have tattoos and visible body piercing - but no common feature links them all.

While some huff for air, others skate with grim determination, looking for their next opponent to pancake. Whistles blow and shouts of "Again!" and "That's not good enough!" fill the air as the women finally take a much-deserved water break.

These are the women of the Ohio Roller Girls, a brand-new, all-female roller derby league that is set to begin its inaugural season at the Wow Family Fun Center on 4900 Evanswood Drive, in Columbus, this spring. Even though roller derby is new to the area, they are just one of many roller derby leagues popping up across the nation.

Melissa Wallace, founder of the Ohio Roller Girls said, "I saw there was a big resurgence in Texas. In Austin, Texas they started a league. They've been playing for about three years. So about a year or so ago, I found out about it and started doing some research."

The group is made up of over two dozen women, according to the players' profiles. Although their backgrounds differ, they seem to lead normal lives with regular day jobs - but on Sunday and Tuesday nights, the ladies strap up their skates and take on a new identity. Each skater selects a nickname and uses it to identify themselves within the team, said Wallace.

"In my normal day-life, I'm Melissa Wallace … When I'm out here on the track, I'm Scarlette Fury," Wallace said. "Just kind of a different persona comes out and some girls kind of take that on. And it makes it a little more fun because you get to have a fun name."

The words "roller derby" may trigger flash backs to the old television programs with the bad acting and lame story lines. With this in mind, and knowing the Roller Girls skate around using alter egos, at first glance, it might not be hard to blame critics.

But a further look into their league might turn critics into fans.

"It's a new movement and it is influenced by the derby in the '70s," Wallace said. "But we're just taking a new spin on it. We're focusing more on the athleticism of it and not so much the (World Wrestling Entertainment) antics."

As with any sport, injuries such as pulled muscles, bruises and aches and pains are common. Despite roller derby's nonviolent nature, more serious injuries can also take place.

"Last June, a couple of us went up and saw the Windy City Rollers in Chicago - their first game," Wallace said. "And one of the girls fractured her leg. Her bone was sticking out. It was scary."

To combat injury and promote fitness, each skater must go through a rigorous schedule of drills and exercises to stay sharp, said Lisa Carter, who goes by the name Missfire. Potential members must attend at least 75 percent of all team functions, including practices, scrimmages, games and open skates, according to www.ohiorollergirls.com.

"They don't really start participating in bouts until they've been through three months of high-intense cardio and falling drills - to learn how to fall properly. We practice twice a week. We scrimmage once a week" Carter said.

Beyond their physical hardwork, their behind-the-scenes work appears to be just as great.

"We are D.I.Y. It's all women owned and operated," Carter said. "There is no corporate entity involved with it. We all pay dues. We all try to get money from sponsors to support the team. All the money goes back into the team. We're not making anything. It's just us doing what we love."

The Ohio Roller Girls are also actively involved in the community. Carter said that a percentage of the proceeds from each event will be donated to a non-profit organization. She said that at the team's exhibition game on Dec. 10, they collected toy donations for St. Vincent Family Center. The squad also donated to the Hurricane Katrina relief fund, she said.

The first season for roller derby in Columbus is slated to begin April 23 at Battelle Hall of the Greater Columbus Convention Center, according to their Web site. The season will carry six games, including the postseason, and game days will consist of two matches, divided among four teams. Each bout will last 40 minutes and a live band will entertain fans between games, Carter said.

"It is a sport that is not being played in this state in an organized fashion," said coach Ryan Caesar. "So it's something new, interesting, fresh and unique."