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Sep 15, 2023

While the ice is away, the Roaring Fork Roller Derby will play

Reporter Jammers "Tonka" and "Zen" go toe-to-toe in Thursday's scrimmage of the Roaring Fork Roller Derby at the Glenwood Springs Recreation Center. Organizers Diane Chapin and Michelle Smith joked

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Jammers "Tonka" and "Zen" go toe-to-toe in Thursday's scrimmage of the Roaring Fork Roller Derby at the Glenwood Springs Recreation Center. Organizers Diane Chapin and Michelle Smith joked they don't know the full names of many of the participants, only their nicknames.

In its heyday, the Roaring Fork Roller Derby was a globally-ranked flat track squad in conjunction with 10th Mountain Roller Dolls out of Eagle.

These days, the club isn’t affiliated with the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, the governing body for competition, but locals are still lacing up the skates, coming up with mononyms and throwing themselves around a de facto oval on the dried-up rink at the Glenwood Springs Recreation Center in a rec-league format.

“We have such a diverse group,” said Michelle Smith, known simply as “Chelle” around the rink. “She’s a raft guide, she’s a business owner, she’s a nurse, she’s a baker. It really doesn’t matter your background, your size, your age, your physical abilities.”

Smith and Diane Chapin, along with Rosyln “Kitty” Bernstein, have been with the team since its inception, but jokingly consider themselves retired now. The team still has competitive bouts — as they did with Salida’s Ark Valley High Rollers, a WFTDA-sanctioned program, in mid-June — but don’t have to deal with the paperwork, financials and traveling like they used to.

They said that COVID-19 took its toll on the roller derby landscape, as it did for many social programs, with some competitions to this day still having limitations like mask requirements. But after the peak of the pandemic, the group is finding its place as a recreational outlet.

On Thursday, the team held a scrimmage at the rec center, themed “Barbies vs. Bratz” in homage to the release of the new “Barbie” movie the following day. One team wore all black while the other sported pink skirts and tutus as they slung themselves around the oval track, accruing bumps and bruises along the way.

“The three of us can only do so much,” Chapin said. “(This scrimmage) is easy for us to do. We can invite friends and family. We can just do a scrimmage like a normal one, but we make it fun, do a theme.”

Chapin and Smith joked that they don’t know the real names of many of the participants, only the nicknames sported on the back of their jerseys. Chapin’s is “Die,” others include “Swedish Heft” (though she said that she actually uses Tonka more), “Zen,” “Intoxiskate,” “Clutch,” “Pink” and others. They expanded by saying that many of the athletes whose names they do know come from interactions with the group’s social media.

A group of 20-30 fans lined the sport cones denoting the edge of the track in lawn chairs, lining up at the event's conclusion for a high-five line with the competitors.

As it stands, Chapin and Smith are content with where the league stands today, at least competitively. It’s become an outlet for some locals in the community and a springboard for some. They highlighted Tonka as someone who joined the league last year and now plays competitively in Denver and Salida.

They did express some desire to see more awareness and support from the community, saying they’ve been in the Glenwood Springs Fourth of July Parade for several years in a row, each time hearing from people who didn’t know it existed.

Now they’re just looking to get people involved, pass on their knowledge of the sport and even just roller skating in general: On Thursday night, several people just learning to skate took to the side of the course, practicing.

They want it to be as inclusive as possible, and at times they invite men to a practice.

“Just show up,” Chapin said. “That’s the hardest thing, it’s the most intimidating because people just don’t know about derby. But we try to help because we want you here.”

The roller derby and roller skate league meets every Monday and Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at the Glenwood Springs Recreation Center. While there is no official gear-rental system, they try to assist with providing skates, helmets and pads.

As for the bout schedule for the remainder of the year, the league is planning one more themed scrimmage in August and is looking to host a team for its season finale in mid-September. Dates aren’t finalized but will be made available at Roaring Fork Roller Derby on Facebook and Roaring Fork Roller Skate on Instagram.

“For me, it’s the best thing I ever did in my life, hands down,” Smith said.

“It’s a great outlet and we’ve made friends for a lifetime,” Chapin added.

For now, the organizers are set with a rec league. But they wouldn’t be opposed to seeing growth in interest and competition and one day “handing off” the program to invested people to restore it to what it once was.

Rich Allen is a sports reporter for the Aspen Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected].

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