Name: Death Starr
Number: 501
Travel Team: Chaos & Team Zebra
Home Team: Lolitas
Years skating: 2
She’s made her mark on HKRD, both on the track and for our viewers at home. Get to know June’s Skater of the Month: Death Starr!
You were nominated by The Count, who wants to know: What got you started in roller derby? What made you show up?
The first time I ever actually really heard of roller derby was 2013 in Austin, Texas. We were doing a team bonding event at my job, so we took our whole team to the Texas Rollergirls, and we watched a bout. In 2013 it was still very showy, they actually had lights and sounds, and of course lots of music and really great announcers. It was such a production, and I remember watching, thinking, “Oh my god, I love this, I want to do that!” And I actually spent the last three years at that job trying to get a shift that would allow me to go to their practices, but I never managed it.
Fast forward to last year, 2024, and I’d kind of forgotten about it until I just happened to run across a Hard Knox Roller Girls youtube clip while scrolling through my feed. It was a very old one, I don’t remember who was in it or when, but I thought, “I wonder if they still exist?” So I looked up Hard Knox, found the website, and clicked join! Sent the email to the fresh meat, and yeah, that’s how I got into it. Kind of on a whim, but also an old dream come to life because I just happened to have the right kind of schedule where I could make practices.
It’s like the universe was putting some things together for you!
It was, and I love it!
Had you done sports before?
I played tennis in high school. I also did track, and that’s about it. I was the third Starr kid to come up in that middle and high school, and every team wanted me that had my brother and sister. So I tried out for cheerleading because the cheerleading coach wanted me to, did track because the track coach wanted me to. And I didn’t even get on the cheerleading team, and track—I’m not a runner, I hate running. But I got into tennis just on a whim, kind of like roller derby, and I was really good at it, so I played tennis in high school and had a lot of fun with that.
Where did you grow up?
Oregon. I mostly grew up in The Dalles, which is on the Columbia River Gorge, and that was kind of a terrible time, but when we moved to Florida in my junior year, things really picked up. I basically got to leave behind the, “Oh, another Starr kid” feeling that kind of hovered over me, and I was able to sort of make my own my way, and I was able to make a lot of new friends, was in a lot of clubs, did drama, choir, I didn’t do tennis up there, but I did do band. I played clarinet and I was a soprano.
How does Tennessee compare to other places that you’ve lived?
It’s not the worst! Nature-wise, it’s actually semi similar to Oregon with shorter mountains. And then culture-wise, Knoxville is a little bit similar to Austin because of the college town vibe, and it’s more progressive than the surrounding areas, which was very much how Austin is. I’ve also lived in California and that was a world all its own, so no comparison there.
So the universe dropped that Hard Knox Roller Girls clip in your life and then brought you to fresh meat. What was your fresh meat experience like?
The fresh meat experience was pretty good. Kilty was very uplifting and encouraging, and our whole group was just, you know, helping each other. I had actually, more or less, never roller skated in my life prior to August before fresh meat. So I’d only been skating for about three months when I joined. So the fact that I even barely passed safety skills is an absolute miracle, and I have Kilty to thank for that, because he tried real hard to get all of us to pass.
What are some of your favorite achievements in roller derby so far?
I would say that going from no skating to passing fresh meat in the course of four months is probably the most impressive thing that I’ve done so far. I did manage to start this season a lot more stable than I was last year. I very much struggled with stability and being upright and just not very strong on my skates. When we started practice for this year, I felt better, but then I had people telling me left and right, “You have gotten so much better,” “You have gotten so much more stable,” “Wow! You really stood up to that hit!” And it made me happy because it did feel like progress. So not so much achievements as just continuing to progress and get better. I’m happy about that, I’m proud of that.
And I’m hearing you agree with the validation that outsiders are giving you, because it can be hard to see it inside yourself.
Sometimes I don’t, but that was one that I actually felt. I felt like, “You’re right, because I feel like you’re right, and I see what you’ve seen.” It’s always hard to see what other people see in you, but I just had that feeling, and part of it was coming back and saying, “This is my year!” and then it’s not. But that’s okay.
The universe helps and then the universe has other plans sometimes.
It giveth and it taketh.
It sure does! Well as far as roller derby is concerned, what is your favorite position to play as far as if we’re doing a drill or anything like that?
I’m gonna say I don’t have one because I’ve—the way the universe has giveth and taketh—I’ve been pigeonholed into a blocker position, which is not terrible, you know. Blockers are the meat of the derby, but I came in knowing I wanna be a jammer, and I still want to be a jammer, but my speed and endurance are terrible, so I have to work on those, and that’s just gonna take time.
So I’m gonna say I don’t have a favorite position as of right now. Plus I’ve only played half a season, so I feel like it’s too early for me to make a decision. Maybe I will eventually like blocker, maybe I’ll decide pivot’s the way to go. Don’t know yet! But I have a dream that I’m still following.
And what is it about jamming that speaks to you?
I like the idea of being sneaky. I’m not very sneaky, but I like the idea of it. The jukey jammers are my jam (literal and figurative, that was completely by accident!). Because I am so impressed by their twinkle toes and their moves and their speed, and I wanna be that, you know? I wanna be a twinkle toes because I feel like it fits me. I don’t feel like a big bruiser, get-in-your-way-and-stop-you kind of person. I feel like a catch-me-if-you-can kind of person, even though I’m slow.
But it’s a thing to build up to.
It’s the thing to build up to, exactly.
As a blocker, it is so much more demoralizing to have a jammer just skate on by you without you realizing they’re there.
And that happens to me a lot!
Because it’s like, if they hit you, it’s like, okay, I know they’re going to hit me, I know it’s going to be a big hit, but when they sneak on by you…
Oh my god, I just thought of an achievement that I really liked! I don’t remember, it was either my first or second home bout that I got to play in. We were in a pack, the jammer was really squeezing their way through, somehow we all got separated, and I somehow managed to get in front of the jammer and chest block them—twice in a row! On the same jam! I remember thinking, “Gotta block them,” and I just turned around even though we’re told never give them your front, and I caught her and I blocked her for a few seconds. I think she stumbled or somebody else had gotten up and pushed her. I rolled backwards, she got up, and I caught her one more time. And she still got around me, but it felt so good to actually do the thing that I was taught to do: chest block, delay the jammer. I was impressed with myself for that one jam.
Because it was in you to do that: you weren’t thinking about it, you just did it.
I just did it, I was like, “Oh, jammer! Get in the way!”
Do you have any derby heroes or people that you look up to in roller derby?
Yes! Boogie. I remember the first time I saw Boogie, she was still doing rec league, and she came in and she was just casually rolling around to warm up because she was a little bit late. And then she got in, and she just started being amazing, just being herself, and her skating is so smooth and it looks so second nature, natural. She’s strong, she’s fast, she’s jukey, she’s everything I wanna be as a skater. Someone asked me if she was my derby crush and I would have to say yes!
A crush and a hero! So you’ve been helping out the team with reffing at practice. What has that experience been like for you?
Chaos! I’m a details person; even when it’s more important to look at the bigger picture, I can’t help but focus on some details. So reffing has been a really good opportunity to see something happen, not quite understand why a call was made or wasn’t made, and have the time and opportunity to ask the head ref, “What? What just happened?” And actually get the explanation on why it happened the way it did, why that call was made. It gives me a lot more of an understanding on—things are way more technical than we know as skaters. Like as skaters, of course we know there’s rules we have to follow, things get technical, things get confusing and complicated, but when you see the other side of it, you really gain a huge respect for the refs, you know, even if you do want to boo them sometimes.
Is there a certain position in reffing that you’ve enjoyed more than others?
I don’t mind any of them. I think jam reffing is more interesting because you’re moving more, so it just feels more like you’re part of the action, but it also makes it more difficult to try and watch for penalties because you’re trying to pay attention to points, whether the scorekeeper got the points, trying to remember if your arm should be pointing or not: all the little technical things that say you’re the jam ref and this is what you do. Whereas if you’re inside pack ref or outside pack ref, you can really focus on the pack where most things are happening, but then again, I have a hard time seeing penalties even in that space, so jam reffing is “easier” also because I can kind of say, “Oh, I’m just counting points so I can’t call a penalty!” I am not going to see them!
The times that I have jam reffed at practice, I have straight up said, “I am looking for points and that is all I can do.” Because good Lord, it’s enough to remember like, they’ve passed this hip and now they’ve gotten hit out, so they still have that point. And then penalties on top of it: the ones that they commit and the ones committed against them!
It’s too much! I can see cut tracks, that’s about the only penalty I can really call a jammer on when I’m jam reffing, is a cut track. Or anyone really, but mostly the jammers.
What is the story behind your skater name and number?
Well, my last name is Starr, and Star Wars was always kind of a big thing in my family, we just always loved the Star Wars movies, so it kind of was just, that’s what it was. And I remember telling an old supervisor that, “Oh, you know, if I ever joined a roller derby team, I would want to be Death Starr,” and they flipped their lid over it and started imagining all kinds of fantastic stickers and sequined shorts with a Death Star on them, and just weird stuff. But they thought it was absolutely fantastic, and I was like, well, I guess that is going to be my name. 501 is the legion for Order 66.
If I were to give you a minute of an open mic, nerd out on anything Star Wars that you want, what would you say?
That the fight between the light side and the dark side is absolutely ridiculous, because you know you can’t have light without dark, or dark without light, and that the gray Jedis don’t get enough credit. They’re the ones that have the true balance of the Force because they can pull from both sides, and also they’re normal people as far as the whole “Jedi shouldn’t have attachments” thing. That’s why Darth Vader happened in the first place! He would have been fine if you just let him get married! He would’ve still been a Jedi if you had just not been jerks to him.
He’s out saving everybody, and yet he’s still not made a master, like what’s going on with that?
I know! I mean, he was a ridiculous person, and his sand thing was just [laughs], but yeah, he got a bad hand dealt to him, poor kid.
What have been some of your favorite derby moments in general?
Well, the aforementioned chest block of the jammer. I really enjoy the home team recruiting parties. Those are always fun to see who gets chosen where and watch them get excited about which team that they’re on, which home team.
That goes with another question: we’re both Lolitas, so what are some of your favorite things about being a Lolita, or what’s your most Lolita trait?
I think my most Lolita trait is that I’m weird! When I first joined the league and we were doing the home team secret recruiting and everybody was asking questions, I wasn’t aware of who was on which home team because we hadn’t really worn the colors and I didn’t know people very well. I just had no real concept of what the home teams were like. Now a year later, it’s very clear what each home team is like and the personalities that they recruit, and it makes total sense. I absolutely being on the Lolitas because we have the wackiest, funnest group in my opinion, with the weirdest ideas and we’re not afraid to just let loose and sing Reading Rainbow anywhere we go. It makes me feel less like, not less weird, but weird in the right way.
You’ve been helping us out with our livestreams, both at the home bouts and with different events like our skate-a-thon. Is that something that comes from your work, or is that a hobby thing? How did you gain this knowledge that’s been very helpful to us?
It’s a hobby thing. Previous to this, I was a Twitch streamer and I just streamed video games (mostly Phasmophobia and Minecraft) so I just learned a lot about livestreaming through that because I have to make things as good as I can. I don’t like to settle for good enough if I don’t have to. Prior to joining the league, when I was helping with one of the home bouts as a volunteer, I saw that we were streaming on Facebook Live with an ipad; nothing wrong with that by any means! But my mind immediately went to, “We could do more than that.” Especially because we, as a league, try to put on such an entire show, sort of like the Austin team. Once upon a time, roller derby was entertainment as much as sport, and when you look around, it’s way more sport now, but we try to provide that extra bit. So why not try to provide that extra clear, extra crisp footage for our families and friends that are out of state, or even people that just are scrolling Twitch and saying, “What’s that?” And then suddenly we have a roller derby fan that we didn’t have before.
Do you have any goals for the livestream, like any improvements you want to make, any new things you want to do with it?
So this year, we started a two camera setup, where we can switch between slightly closer views. On our next bout, our second home bout, I’m actually going to up it to three cameras. I found myself getting a little bit tired on the second game, and I was forgetting to switch cameras, so I want to sort of fool-proof it a little bit, and get a single, full-track wide view, so that if I feel like I’m tired or if my Twitch jockey junior decides that they need to step away (once I get back on the track) you can just put up the whole track so we don’t miss any of the action, it just might not be up close. So crossing our fingers, I think I can do it though.
Who would you like to nominate for next month, and what do you want to ask them?
Panic Attack. How many more years of derby do you think you have in you?
Thanks for a fun conversation Death Starr! Readers, your next chance to see her and the rest of the Hard Knox crew is July 26, so don’t miss it! Until next time, be like Death Starr and just roll with the plans the universe gives you.
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