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Laura Powers, also know as Vin "The Spin" DaKate, left, makes her way through a group of blockers at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton. Powers is one of the jammers of the Port City Roller Girls. The team is the first one is Stockton. (Whitney Ramirez/News-Sentinel)
Wheel of Fury!
Laura Powers and the Port City Roller Girls are part of the re-emerging sport of roller derby. See how these local women balance work, home and rumbling in the roller rink.
Only minutes ago, the short-skirt wearing, tattoo-clad Laura Powers was kneeling on the floor, holding her son.
Now, she is completely focused on the cement oval rink and the girls she has to knock down and whizz through to win.
She stands one line back from the rest of her team and the people they are blocking. The whistle blows and the group starts off at the pace of the pivot. Another whistle blows and Powers leaps forward in a run on her front breaks before bracing herself on eight wheels. She is fast. And each thrust of her leg is strategic.
This Lodi resident is known on the track as Vin "Spin" Dekate. Her number is the never ending symbol of infinity. The sport she plays is roller derby, where girls on wheels race around a flat track, thrusting hips and shoulders to knock the competition on the ground to the beat of loud punk and classic oldies.
Bleachers in Building1 at San Joaquin County Fairgrounds are filled for The Port City Roller Girl's first roller derby bout against Sac City Roller Girls. In green wigs and skirts, male fear leaders cheer on the team and energize the crowd with "Go P-C-R-G" chants and posterboards that ask Sac City, "How does the floor taste?"
Laura Powers hugs her son before beginning her roller derby match against Sac City. (Whitney Ramirez/News-Sentinel)
The doctor from Galt, the Stockton police evidence technician, the stay-at-home mothers and office workers joined the indie roller derby world nearly one year ago when Powers and Shauna Hernandez (Sue Burbia 2.5) founded the Stockton-based Port City Roller Girls.
Revived from the 1970's, roller derby is making a comeback across the country. This time, it's mainly women who are often rough, tough, pierced, fierce, tattooed and not afraid of black and blue or ankle injuries.
"Another player told me that if you're playing right, you're going to be bruised. You're going to have ankle injuries and knee injuries," said Amanda Enstrom, the Galt mother, researcher, professor and biologist known as Dr. Anna Body 150kD.
They've hung up the inline skates and use quads — what some might call vintage-style skates with four wide wheels and a rubber break at the toe.
In the bleachers, Mike Galvez watches the women skate around the track. A fan of TV roller derby in the 70s, he expected a tilted track and a little bit of the past. He is amused by the edgy girls who fly past him with tattoos poking out from beneath bulky pads and mini skirts.
"It's different all right," he says, watching the Sac City girls lift their skirts to the Stockton crowd before the bout begins.
Two teams of five members line up on the rink. On each team, there are four blockers and one jammer. At the blow of the first whistle, the blocker at the front of the pack (known as the pivot) sets the pace and leads the pack around the oval. The jammers, one from each team, wait for the second whistle before starting out on tip-toes and catching up to the pack. It is the job of the jammers to make their way to the front of the pack and around the rink more times that the other team's jammer.
The Line Up: Each team has five members on the track at one time. There are three types of players, and they line up in the following order: one pivot in front, three blockers in the center and one jammer in the rear.
The Jam: There are three 20-minute periods. Within each period there are unlimited scoring sessions called jams that last a maximum of two minutes. After the first whistle the jam begins. After the second whistle, the jammers take off to get through the pack. Jammers score one point for every legally passed opposing player.
Who to watch: The pivot always wears a striped helmet. She begins in the front and sets pace for the pack. She gives directions to blockers and is the last line of defense.
Blockers wear solid-colored helmets and helps the team jammer get through pack while blocking the opposing jammer.
Jammers wear star helmets. They score points by passing.
• The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
• The track is 88 feet long and 52 feet wide. One lap is about 130 feet.
— Source: Port City Roller Girls
The Jam: There are three 20-minute periods. Within each period there are unlimited scoring sessions called jams that last a maximum of two minutes. After the first whistle the jam begins. After the second whistle, the jammers take off to get through the pack. Jammers score one point for every legally passed opposing player.
Who to watch: The pivot always wears a striped helmet. She begins in the front and sets pace for the pack. She gives directions to blockers and is the last line of defense.
Blockers wear solid-colored helmets and helps the team jammer get through pack while blocking the opposing jammer.
Jammers wear star helmets. They score points by passing.
• The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
• The track is 88 feet long and 52 feet wide. One lap is about 130 feet.
— Source: Port City Roller Girls
Powers starts strong and propels to the inside of the circle before the Sac City blockers can knock her down or out of bounds. In the longer stretch she scoots to the outside of the circle, often using her teammates' shirts as levers to fling herself to the inside around the curves. She zooms in and out, in front of the other teams blockers and through the pack.
As Powers comes out of a turn, a Sac City blocker thrusts her shoulder at Powers, but Powers stands up straight and fends off her opponent with a sharp arch of her stomach and chest. With her opponent now sliding across the floor, Powers pushes on for another lap around the rink.
She is aggressive, the way a derby girl should be.
"It shouldn't be girls fighting," Enstrom said. "There are no elbows (allowed) and you can only hit between the hips and shoulders."
Blocking is encouraged, but grabbing, pulling and tripping will lead to penalties.
Defense is important to any full contact sport. It can work for the team or against it. During the second round, a blocker is pushed down, but her body spreads across the lane, causing members of both teams to topple to the ground with her. At the front of the line, some members pick up speed and then slow, causing yet another backup and stumbling effect.
Throughout the evening, girls from both teams lose balance, fall and slide into the crowd of late spectators sitting on the floor near the bleachers.
Currently in their first season as a team, the Port City Roller Girls look like every other team with their share of dark eye shadow and torn fishnet stockings. But when it comes to the rink, they expect to learn a lot in these first bouts.
With strong defense and blockers who understand the importance of hip and shoulder action, the Sac City Roller Girls take the win.
Still, competing is fun for each of the teammates who thank the indie sport for bringing together such a diverse group of women.
"We are such individuals. Without roller derby, we probably never would have met each other," said Gina Miller, the evidence technician and co-captain known as Forensica.
At the age of 38, Miller is the oldest member of The Port City Roller Girls. Like many of her teammates, she is a mother who splits her time between a day job, family and the roller rink. But with a supportive husband and a son who is put to work at practices, roller derby fits into her life.
"I love the camaraderie. It's great exercise. It's something to do other than work, home and laundry," she said.
Contact Lauren Nelson at laurenn@lodinews.com.
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