CARIBOU, Maine (WAGM) – Professional Roller Derby competitions started in the 1940′s and quickly gained popularity. Fast forward to today and it can be hard to find. A group in Caribou has been keeping the sport alive in the County for 11 years.
“In the roller derby scene you basically have blockers and you have jammers. The jammer is the person who’s going to do the scoring for you but the blockers need to protect that jammer, help them make a hole, and to be able to make laps around to score on the other team,” said the voice of the Aroostook Roller Derby Marcel “Megaphone” Bosse.
To be able to compete in this competitive sport takes individual talent and practice. But the team aspect is crucial.
“Well, wherever you go whenever you see one girl you’re seeing at least two or three more and these ladies, there’s also gentleman who participate in the roller derby, they’re very close knit, they all know each other well and they all have to work together. Any other team such as basketball team or football team or any of those teams. Even NASCAR teams, they all have to work together. One member needs to know what the other member’s going to do so they can work together and get the job done,” said Bosse.
The sport of Roller Derby is very fun but there is some danger to it.
“What we do is rough it is slightly dangerous. A fun fact is we had to have Roller Derby legalized in the state of Maine because we are literally assaulting each other. So we had to go in front of a board and get it legalized. So it’s very important that we all get along. You know, there’s very little pettiness and cattiness amongst us we are considered family on and off skates. We get together off skates as much as we do on skates so it is very important,” said Angela “Barrucuda Barbie” McCarty.
Even though Roller Derby is a physical contact sport. The Aroostook Roller Derby league takes precautions.
“The funnest part is that they’re pushing each other around nobody’s hurting each other they all have safety gear on. It’s a contact sport but not a violent contact sport. They’re not allowed to close a fist or elbow anybody or anything like that. It’s a matter of using the hips and pushing people out of the way, basically a shoulder-to-shoulder type thing. There’s contact but not contact that’s going to hurt anybody that’s what they’re trying to avoid,” said Bosse.
The league isn’t exclusive to anyone. They meet 6-8PM on Tuesdays and 9-11AM on Sundays.
“There’s still people almost 11 years later that are like I didn’t know this was around here I didn’t know it existed. It’s like really? Why don’t you come watch I try to get people just to pop into practice all the time because you are free to show up and check us out when we’re practicing so I really want people to know that yes it’s dangerous but that’s why you wear full gear, that’s why there’s seven refs to a game and that’s why there’s so many rules and there’s legal target zones from here to here there’s no hitting in the back. There’s a lot of safety involved,” said McCarty.
Even if you’re worried about the contact, they are in need of referees and other non-skating positions.
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