Featured Skaters

March Featured Skater: Slamwise Gamgee

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Slamwise Gamgee's headshot. She is wearing a black HKRD jersey and is in front of a colorful brick wall background. Her hands are framing her face in a cute way, and she is smiling widely.

Name: Slamwise Gamgee

Number: 406

Travel Team: Brawlers 

Home Team: Lolitas

Years skating: 2

She may be sweet in real life, but she’s always looking to give a big hit out there on the track. Hard Knox wouldn’t have got far without Slam! Get to know March’s skater of the month: Slamwise Gamgee!

You were nominated by Sinister Siren, who has a two-part question for you: other than your ankle kind of giving you trouble throughout your first year, what was the biggest hurdle that you got over? 

Slam jumping over cones at practice.

Myself, my mind. I’m really big into thinking that I can’t do things, so when I started doing things, it was a hurdle to A: stop thinking I can’t do it, and then B: having imposter syndrome when I did start to do all of the things.

And also what was your biggest wow moment from your first year?

I mean, I guess same thing. I started doing things correctly, and then I was like, noticed for doing them correctly, and I’m very big on always—I talk myself up a lot, and it’s mostly because I don’t really believe it, so maybe if I talk it, I’m going to manifest it. Sometimes it can kind of seem like I’m coming off cocky or whatever, or like I’m just talking about myself a lot, but really it’s just because I don’t really believe it. So then when I started getting MVP every game, I was like, “What is happening?”

I am definitely a big believer in “Fake It Til You Make It.”

I mean, 100% of that was my whole rookie year, so I guess it works!

Speaking of your MVP Blockers, you did get a lot of those awards last year. Do any of them stick out in your mind as a favorite?

The first one is always going to be my favorite because it was so—”what is happening, I cannot believe that someone actually believed in me enough”. People have different opinions about them, but I’m like, wow, I made such a presence, People remembered me. And I just remember looking over to my husband and I was like “What is happening?” Because they said 406 and okay, great!

A collage of five MVP Blocker awards. Some of them have Slam and the MVP Jammer holding her award, while others are just the award.

So what brought you to roller derby in the first place?

So my husband and his twin sister and his little sister are huge presences in the rugby community in Knoxville, and everybody was always like, “Why don’t you play rugby?” And I’m like, ew, no contact sports, I’m a band geek, no thank you.

Selfie of Slam, wearing her helmet and mouthguard, and her husband, Ray. Both are smiling widely.

And then my rugby wife/best friend, Autumn, bought a pair of roller skates and we were just gonna skate around at the tennis court while our husbands were practicing, and I absolutely refused to stand up on skates. And then once I did stand up, I was like, you know, I’m gonna go for this roller derby thing. And then literally the next day after I decided to stand up on skates, I saw it was the meet and greet. So I was like, “Okay, eff it, let’s do it.”

So then did that lead into Goose Poop Island?

Yeah, exactly. It was literally two days after I stood up on skates, I saw the meet and greet at Goose Poop Island was just the following Sunday. Then that’s when I showed up and met Randy and everything just kind of—I’m the kind of person to where if I see something or I’m like in a situation, I just know it’s mine or it’s for me (I say it’s a Pisces thing). My husband hates it because he knows once I got that feeling, it’s done for- it’s what’s happening. It happened with him, it happened with our dog, it happened with our house, and it happened with roller derby. I just knew it was my thing.

How did you select your skater name and number?

A drawing of Slamwise Gamgee as Samwise Gamgee. She is on skates, holding Sting and the Phial of Galadriel

My skater name is the real hero of The Lord of the Rings, Samwise Gamgee. I want to portray him at all costs. I want to be the unsaid hero and the supporter of his friends, and the one who will do it no matter what. If anybody knows me, you know I love The Lord of the Rings. Everybody who knows anything about me knows I love The Lord of the Rings.

And then 406 is actually Samwise’s birthday. I may change it coming up when I have to get a new jersey. I may change it to 3, for different reasons. One being it was his mailbox number, the other being it’s my husband’s rugby number sometimes. So maybe? But either way, it’s because of him.

It’s going to be Samwise-related, no matter what.

Exactly, no matter what.

Slam showing off her Narsil tattoo with a smile.

Well, speaking of Lord of the Rings, you recently added to your tattoos and it was Lord of the Rings related. Care to share the story behind that one, or any other tattoo?

Well, I only have four at the moment—no, I only have three at the moment, I’m getting my fourth one in two weeks. My Lord of the Rings tattoo (my first Lord of the Rings tattoo, because I will be getting my left side of my body Lord of the Rings themed) is Narsil, which is the sword that Aragorn will use to take over Gondor basically.

And I don’t know, I just—A: it’s a cool looking tattoo, honestly, and B: I mean, the cheesy symbolism that you think of is something that broken can be fixed again, and used to take over the world. So just cheesy symbolism for me.

Continuing with cheesy symbolism, what’s something that you've gained from your roller derby experience that you maybe didn’t expect?

Honestly, confidence in my ability to do things that I never thought I could (if you know me you know skating does not go with Stormy at all). Also I’m not the smallest person, so confidence also that not being small is still useful. Also, I have gotten lots of muscles, not only from roller derby but because I’ve been working out more to get better at roller derby,. Being strong and bigger isn’t always necessarily the wrong thing, and I think roller derby has given me that confidence.

The thing that also surprised me is the friendships I have gotten through roller derby. I have always considered myself a closed-knit kind of person—I have really only had one best friend for over 18 years, and another in the past 4—but the people I have met on this team are the most sincere, genuine people who are a huge reason I believe in my myself on the track (which will make my husband so mad, because he always believed in me and hates when I finally believe it because someone else said it). If you were to ever tell me I would have a derby wife (maybe some mistresses as well), and a BFF who is the female version of the love of my life and that I am getting a matching tattoo with in 2 weeks, I would never have believed it.

Yeah, it’s really cool that there’s really no best size or type for a roller derby player. Like there are advantages and disadvantages to all of them.

Right. Everyone is gonna have some type of hating their body, but in roller derby they say, “Hey, literally whatever your body type, you have a place here, and there’s a purpose for what you have.”

Slam, seen from the back, is blocking a jammer with her hips.

Absolutely! How would you describe your derby playing style?

Aggressive, which is very surprising to me. My husband would say that I am a sweet person. That’s also very weird— I’m very girly. His nickname for me sometimes is Princess, and that’s because I kind of am. Then once I’m on the track, I’m like, “I’m gonna hit you…hard.” Literally, my goal for every game is to make the crowd go, “Oooh,” at least two or three times. I don’t want to hurt or injure anyone, but I do want you to get out of my and my jammer’s way.

Is that at all comparable to your husband when he’s playing rugby?

Ray playing rugby.

Oh my gosh, yes. Everybody knows that watching him. That is why that’s my goal, because I love it when he hits the other team. They always try to go for him, because they know he’s gonna hit like that, and I love it when I hear the crowd go “Oooh,” and I’m like, “Yeah, he’s mine, thank you.”

What is a song that always gets you out on the dance floor?

No—I do not dance. If I were to move my shoulders, it’s probably gonna be some type of Broadway or Disney, but I don’t dance.

What about karaoke?

Again, Disney or Broadway musicals. I actually can sing. but I do not like to sing in front of people. My husband hates it— “That’s actually something you can do, like why don’t you show it off?” But yeah, Disney music or Broadway musicals, or any soundtrack like Pokemon or whatever.

Do you have any goals for this season?

I wanna get rostered for at least one actual game. I’m going tomorrow to an All-Star scrimmage, but it’s kind of a mixed scrimmage, so I want to get rostered for at least one actual All-Star game. I know I’m a Brawler in my soul, but that’s one of my goals. Also, you know, MVP’s always a goal, just for my own mentality, not for anything else.

Roller Bear, Mental, Saki, and Slam smiling in front of a practice court at night.

Do you have any other favorite achievements on the track?

I mean, it’s kind of crazy to me when I’m actually a team player. When I get with my favorite walls— like Mental, Bear or Ruby (my blocking partner) whenever we actually stop a jammer and it’s halfway through the two minutes and we’re still two feet away from the jam line, that’s a favorite, and we’ve done it multiple times. Sometimes we’ve even taken the jammer back past the jam line, and they never even got the initial pass. That’s always my favorite achievement, when we utilize our teamwork like that.

Also being slightly comfortable on my toe stops. Because if anybody who remembers me at Goose Poop Island and before even, like my friend Autumn—I tried to run on my toe stops once and she says it was the most traumatic thing she’s ever seen in her life when I fell. So now I’m slightly comfortable on toe stops, so that’s also one of my major achievements in my head.

A snapchat of weights in a gym. Text reads: Ray upped my max bench press... 155 it is, then.

How do you find a balance between roller derby and real life?

I don’t think I have yet! Derby has consumed my heart and soul. Luckily my job is amazing and it’s just a 9 to 5. I do what is needed, and I put my whole effort into that, and then I can clock out and go focus on the next things. So I try to make it to where Sundays and Wednesdays are 100% derby. If I have a game on Saturday, I’m going to, especially this year, try not to do anything on Sundays—devote it to my family, my husband. Then Mondays and Fridays, me and Ray try to go to the gym together, and then Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’ll try to go work out at Hero Athletics with Shamir (I say “try” because sometimes it doesn’t work out) while he is at rugby. It’s a lot. It’s hard to have every single day devoted, but sometimes in order to live a balanced life, you have to do it like that. And then there’s no plan, it kind of falls apart, but that’s the goal.

What advice would you give people who want to play roller derby?

Just do it, honestly. Channeling my inner Shia LaBeouf here, but literally just do it. If you’re thinking about it and saying “I don’t know, it’s not for me,” just try because you could be like me where you have a princess mentality and think that all you’ll ever be is a band geek, and then put on skates and then start doing crazy things!

Who do you want to nominate for next month, and what do you want to ask them?

Magically Malicious. How is it different being on the team now, post-COVID, as it was pre-COVID? What are some pros and cons?

Thanks for such a fun conversation, Slam! You can catch HKRD at the Mardi Growl parade this Saturday, March 4, in Old City and downtown Knoxville! Until then, be like Slam and fake it til you make it because the “making it” will happen sooner than you think :)

-smalls-

February Featured Skater: Sinister Siren

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Sinister Siren in full mermaid makeup and a black Hard Knox jersey. She is posing in front of a mural with her hands grasped in front of her.

Name: Sinister Siren



Number: 11


Travel Team: All Stars


Home Team: Moonshine Moxies

Years skating: 6

She makes quite a splash on the track, both from her fabulous makeup and her bold offensive moves. Get to know February’s Skater of the Month—Sinister Siren!

You were nominated by Shine-Her, who knows you’ve had an interesting career with COVID kind of smack in the middle of her derby experience, so she wants to know how you feel like derby is now that you’ve transitioned into more of a vet role.

Well, first of all, I want to thank Shine for nominating me—she’s my little sister and I’m so proud of her! Literally, I feel like she’s leaps above where I was when I was at the level that she’s playing, so she’s incredible, and I’m really proud of Shine.

Siren blocking with Sin City Rebel against a red male jammer.

But back to the question: honestly, I think it’s been a bit of a whirlwind, but I think you can probably relate because I feel like we were kind of thrown into a vet role. Like in a normal sport, you kind of grow slowly over time and become a vet, but after COVID and us losing so much of our team, I feel like those “vets” really were just the skaters who kept skating from the “original” team (or from the “old” team I should say.) So it’s been difficult. I love teaching and helping, so I’ve loved being in a role where I feel confident to help the newer skaters, but when it comes to performing at an A team level with the other A team skaters, I think it’s been challenging. I took an 18-month hiatus for COVID like everybody else, and I didn’t really skate at all during that time, so when we came back in I just kind of wanted to get back under my feet. But then we were thrown into a vet role, and also teaching and helping. Then starting with bouts, like our first bout was that Mayhem bout against males and I hadn’t bouted in two years! It wasn’t intimidating being a vet so abruptly, but I am grateful that I was able to help the newer skaters because I love the fresh league that we gained last year, and it’s been great to be able to help them.

Siren and Kreep on skates at a skating rink. They are wearing matching sunflower pants and are both smiling.

So you and I did start at the same time! How would you describe your experience of that first year?

Honestly, I think half of it I blacked out and I don’t really remember! I had never roller skated before that first day of fresh meat, and I was like a baby deer out there. Meanwhile, the old Hard Knox team was a lot of A players, and they’re jumping over cones, doing these intense things—like the turn-around toe stops seemed so far away from where I was—and I didn’t know if I was going to survive just that one night. But overall, the experience was great. I mean obviously, I’m still here, and I loved it. It was very overwhelming and intimidating, but our circle of fresh meat was really great, and I made some lifelong friends from that core circle. Although you’re the only one that’s skating with me, so thank goodness we stuck around!

Siren and a group of Hard Knox skaters, all wearing black jerseys.

So then if you had never done skating before, what drew you to roller derby?

I played sports my whole life. I did soccer for like four years, basketball, I swam all through college on the club team and my high school team, and so I’ve just always been competitive. But later when I was in my early twenties, I missed sports so I did some jiu-jitsu and krav maga, and I realized how much I loved the contact part of sports. I missed having a team and being competitive and there was only this—like I was never gonna compete in wrestling, that’s not me—but I do love being physical and feeling strong, and I also love a good challenge, and I love learning new things. So I actually just saw someone driving around Knoxville (this was probably six or eight years ago) with chalk paint on their car saying, “Hard Knox is recruiting” or something. I just then Googled “Hard Knox” and I got in touch with Katie Queen, who was the head of marketing, and the rest is history!

Your name, Sinister Siren, really becomes an entire persona on the track. How did you develop that?

Siren wearing a black Hard Knox jersey, psoing with an MVP Blocker award, a green belt.

I would say that was probably the most natural part of playing roller derby for me. I am a mermaid, I love to swim, I’ve always loved the water, and I wanted to be Siren. My dad actually helped me come up with “Sinister” because I wanted it to be something fun to go with “Siren,” and I like the two S’s. I thought about being a scary mermaid with more black, like a traditional siren is honestly pretty scary, but I’m very colorful and I love Halloween and costumes. So I just knew that first time we bouted—and it actually wasn’t even a bout bout, it was our home team scrimmage, back in 2018—I just wanted to do fun colored scales on my face, and since then, I’ve never done an official scrimmage or a bout without the getup. I feel like it’s almost like my alter ego, and I don’t think I could bout without having scales on. Even when we have away games, I’ve done scales six hours earlier and then sat in a two-hour car ride with the scales, then bouted wherever we are. I just don't feel like I’m Siren if I don’t have the whole costume.

Siren wearing skates, posing by the beach.

How much overlap would you say there is between Siren and Ellery?

I feel like there is a good amount of overlap. Obviously I am like a mermaid, but I feel like I’m more of a happy, sweet mermaid, and obviously sirens are not sweet. In derby, I’m very competitive. In life, I feel much more like an empath, and I’m much more patient, but when I’m playing a competitive sport, I’m there to win and I’m there to do my best and encourage my team. I want to win, I’m competitive. So I feel like that would be the difference between Siren and Ellery. Like in real life, winning is relative, but when I’m playing a sport, I want to perform, I want my whole team to perform and be confident and work well together, and I want to win.

How did you decide on your number?

Siren smiling sweetly in a white Hard Knox jersey.

Eleven has been my lucky number forever. It was always my number in soccer and basketball. My birthday is 11, but then it’s 29 and 92, and it all adds up to 11. I graduated in 2011. Eleven is just all around my life. I see it on the clock, it’s one of those weird things that’s just always around, so it’s just by far my favorite number.

How would you describe your derby playing style?

I would say, I mean, competitive. I do think I’m pretty level-headed. Even if I’m frustrated or flustered, I don’t feel like I let that get to me because I have an athletic background. I always know that the end goal is to compete and hopefully win, so even if we’re down in points, I don't feel like I get discouraged or let that get to me. Or if there’s an opponent we’re playing that’s not exactly friendly, I don’t let that get in my head and take it personally. I just try to keep a level head. I also think I communicate well with my teammates. So I think those would be two style categories I would kind of fall under.

Siren bracing a wall of Hard Knox blockers against a jammer with a green panty.

What’s your favorite position to play?

So definitely a blocker. Jamming is going to be the death of me one day. My goal last season was to become a confident pivot, but then I had so many injuries that I had to kind of not make that my focus. But I do want to be a confident pivot so I can relieve the star jammers. I don’t really ever have a goal of being a star jammer. I love blocking. I also really love offense. That’s probably become one of my favorite things, especially last year, kind of getting back into it, and I say that you (Smalls) could say the same thing. It’s just so rewarding to do an offensive move and then help your jammer succeed. I think that’s probably my favorite part, but just blocking in general is my favorite.

Siren wearing a black Hard Knox jersey, psoing with an MVP Blocker award, a black puzzle piece with several items glued to it, including a golden wheel, a golden bearing, and a rubik's cube.

I feel like you’re reading my mind because I was just wondering if you had any favorite achievements on the track! Does anything else stick out at you?

I think my favorite moments are really just playing bouts. I love practice and I love the team bonding and being a part of this community, but I love the sport because I love to be competitive and I like to do all my makeup and really get into the spirit of things. It would be hard to pick a favorite moment. I won a handful of blocker MVPs, and that’s always a nice moment. You feel like you did something right, and at the beginning you don’t have that thought very often because there’s so much chaos. You don’t know what’s going on, and then you get a reward at the end or the trophy! Those are some sweet moments, but I still think just in general, just competing in a bout is always my favorite moment. I just love the sport and I love playing the game.

Do you have any derby heroes that you look up to?

Siren in a group photo of Marble City Mayhem skaters.

Yes—honestly, Bush is the first one that comes to mind. She’s such an amazing blocker. There are all these incredible jammers and they always get so much attention, like all the famous ones, but I can’t say that I really follow a lot of derby outside of Knoxville and the teams we play, so my heroes would all be from the team. Of course, Unsweet T would be a hero of mine, because she’s an amazing jammer, but she’s also such an amazing blocker. She’s more petite, but spreads out like a daddy long leg and just covers so much of the track- one-on-one against T is impossible. So I remember first starting off, Bush and T were both heroes of mine, and still are, for sure.

How do you find a balance between roller derby and real life?

To me, it’s just a non-negotiable six hours a week that I have to dedicate to myself. It’s almost like self-care for me. It’s obviously a workout, but it’s also therapeutic to go and have that contact sport, and also be with friends you genuinely love and care about. So, of course life is crazy and sometimes it comes time to practice and I realize I have ten things to do, and should I really go to practice? Even on those days, I know I’m gonna be happier after practice if I go, and so to me, it’s just, again, like a non-negotiable. It’s just a part of the week, and especially when it’s active season, there’s just not really another option. I just have to be there, not only for myself but also for my team, especially when it gets to be bouting time because I feel like I’m a letdown to the team if I’m not there. So you just have to find that balance if you care enough to win the game, and so competitively, I just make it a priority.

Siren standing up in a group of Hard Knox skaters, all wearing white, skating around during skater introductions.

What is something that roller derby has taught you about yourself?

I would say it’s taught me more patience, especially with adults. I love children and I feel like I’m a super patient person when it comes to children, but sometimes being patient with adults can be a little more difficult. With this group, there’s so many different personalities and so many different ages and so many different parts of the country that we’re from, that I do feel like it helped me be more patient and just kind of roll with the punches of things. So many personalities can sometimes not mesh and get heated, but I always just try to take a deep breath and kind of observe before I react, so I think the social aspect has been good for me.

Siren standing on a rock next to a river with a peaceful smile.

What is a hobby that you would like to get into?

I feel like I already have so many active hobbies that I love, there’s not really any new ones I’m actively trying to gain. I do want to travel more, so I really wanna go to every national park. That’s probably my biggest goal on my United States bucket list for travel. I’ve been to probably thirty states in the country. In my family, we didn’t camp and do stuff like that, so national parks were never a part of our destination. I don’t know if that’s exactly a hobby, but kind of like traveling and hiking. So that would probably be a goal of mine that I want to do.

Other than that, I would say art—I’ve always been artistic and I love trying new mediums, so if I were to try a new hobby, I would say it would be a new form of art that I haven’t kind of played with yet. I would love to do ceramics or woodworking. I love working with my hands, and so I think that would be fun.

What is a piece of advice that someone gave you that has stuck with you?

Siren and her sister next to the track. Siren is in full gear and a black Hard Knox jersey. Both are wearing mermaid makeup.

Oh Smalls, I don’t even know! Let me think—I don’t know if I really have a specific piece of advice. I mean, it’s so basic, but my aunt always used to remind me—again, the super basic one of—treat others like you want to be treated. I use that every day I would say. We never know what other people are going through, so I really always try to value other people’s perspectives and all the unknown things that they could be dealing with, and just try to be patient and give them empathy and love and kindness. So I think just as cliché as it is, just treating others how you want to be treated can go a long way.

If you wanted to give someone advice who maybe was thinking about playing roller derby, what would you say?

Honestly, if I can do it, you can do it. That’s probably what I would say because, again, I had never done it, I didn’t even know how to skate in a simple circle. I’ve had some friends be hesitant, that are thinking about it, and that is what I tell them. Even my derby wife has told people, “If Ellery can do it, you can do it!” So I think that would be my first piece of advice, but also just come try because you’re not gonna know unless you show up and give it a try. I think the fresh meat bootcamp is a great way to give it a try. It’s super affordable and it gives you a little hint into the whole world of derby, but you have guidance and everyone’s really patient, and then you can decide after that point if it is for you, or if it’s not, that’s okay too. I feel like you don’t know if you don’t try, so just come on!

Siren in a black Hard Knox jersey from behind.

Who would you like to nominate for next month, and what do you want to ask?

Slamwise Gamgee. Other than her ankle kind of giving her trouble throughout her first year, what was her biggest hurdle that she got over? And also what was her biggest wow moment?

Thank you for a great conversation Siren! It won’t be very long until you can see her out on the track—our 2023 season schedule is out, so make sure you carve out space in your calendar! Until next time, be like Siren and carve out some time in your week just for you and your self-care.

-smalls-

October Featured Skater: Mad Dawg

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Headshot of Mad Dawg in her black Hard Knox Roller Derby jersey. Her hands are on her hips. Her blond hair cascades over her shoulders. Her expression is serious. The background is a colorful brick wall.

Name: Mad Dawg



Number: 55



Travel Teams: All Stars and Marble City Mayhem



Home Team: Moonshine Moxies

Years skating: 8

She was new to our league, but not new to derby in East Tennessee! Get to know this month’s featured skater: the fierce jammer, Mad Dawg!

A young Mad Dawg blocks with several other skaters. She is wearing an 80s style outfit, with colorful tights and socks.

You were nominated by Trace of Death, who’s interested in hearing about your journey from junior derby to now being on the All Stars.

Well I started junior derby back in 2010 I think? I was fourteen and I was a sophomore in high school, and the movie Whip It came out. I saw it and became obsessed, and I told my mom, “I need to do this, I don’t know where we have it but I need to do it now.” Johnson City actually had a team, so it was like a twenty minute drive from my house, so I started going.

I had no idea how to skate, like at all, so they actually put me on the carpet at the skate rink. Everybody else was over on the track, doing stuff, and they were like, “Okay, we’re going to start you over here!” They had a girl holding my hand and pulling me along on the carpet. So I did that, and they actually called me Speed Bump for a while because I would fall. I fell so many times, which is still a problem!

Let’s see, I did that for two seasons, and then I started getting more involved with marching band, in college and everything, so I had to stop. And then I moved to Knoxville, didn’t play derby at all through undergrad.

In 2018 I moved back home to Johnson City to go to ETSU to get my second degree, and I just reached out, reconnected with some people that I knew from Little City from back in the day, and they were like, “Oh yeah, we’re having a boot camp! Come on, try out!”

A young Mad Dawg is sitting on the ground, looking up at the camera with a serious expression. She is in full gear and her face has been painted to look like a dog.

So I started doing that again, played with them for about three years, until COVID ruined everything. And then, I had actually moved back to Knoxville to move in with my now husband, Devon, and I forget what year that was, 2020? Yes, right before everything hit the fan. We moved in together, and then two months later, lockdown happened. I was still with Little City, but we kind of stopped doing everything because of the pandemic.

I was actually treasurer at the time—I said once my tenure runs out as treasurer, I’m going to go play for Knoxville. Because I was driving two, two and a half hours to practice, and it was just taking way too much time, and you know I’d drive up there and we’d have practice for an hour, and then I’d have to turn right back around and come back to Knoxville, so I was like, you know what? Imma go to Knoxville. So now I’m here, and I love it so much. It was the best decision I ever made!

And we’re glad that you made that decision, very selfishly! So had you played sports as a kid?

I had. I played soccer when I was little, and then in middle school I tried basketball. Didn’t work out because as it turns out, I was too short. And then I switched to softball for a while, really enjoyed softball, played that for three or four years.

Then once I got into high school, I started in the marching band, so that quickly took over everything, and I did that for about eight years, in high school and in college.

Mad Dawg is in her Pride of the Southland uniform and smiling with Smokey, who is in a Vols suit.

Do you feel like you learned anything in [marching band] that translates to derby?

Oh yeah, I definitely learned the team dynamic, you know, working with other people. Especially—you don’t think about having to work with other people in marching band, you know, you kind of like, “Oh I play my part and march my spot”—but especially at UT when we do pregame and we do Circle Drill, everything is so intricate and you have to work with the people next to you, otherwise you’re going to get smacked with a trombone in the face. So that definitely translated to derby, just knowing how to work with a team, knowing how to work with other people, and just that family dynamic too—that really translates to derby. Marching band is kind of like derby in that we’re all the outsiders, we’re the people that don’t fit anywhere else, so that definitely has bled over to derby too. I actually find a lot of marching band people kind of gravitate to derby too.

Really? That’s interesting!

Yeah, there’s a few people on our team who are band nerds too.

We always find our people! So you are not Speed Bump any more. 

No!

Mad Dawg is jamming. She is wearing a black Mayhem jersey and her back is turned to show her number, 55.

How did you choose your current skater name and number?

My full name’s Madison, obviously, but I’ve been called “Mad Dawg” my whole life, so when I was in juniors, my name was “Mad Dawg Wolfe,” which was a play on Twilight, which I was obsessed with. So whenever I left juniors and went to Little City, I changed it to “Mad Hatter” because I wanted something different: “Oh I’m in the adult league now, I need a tougher name!” They called me “Mad” then, and then when I moved back to Knoxville, I was like, you know what, forget it, I’m going by Mad Dawg.

And then 55: my number used to be 87, which was my birthday, August 7, but then I switched it to 55, which is my mom’s birthday, May 5.

How would you describe your derby playing style?

Mad Dawg is jamming in a black Mayhem jersey. She is jumping over and around an opponent in white, who is falling to the ground.

Bulldozer in a china shop, kind of? [Laughs] Really I just try to be as aggressive as I can, which doesn’t always work out sometimes, especially as a jammer. I was a blocker, I’ve always been a blocker until like a year or two ago at Little City, I started training as a jammer, found out I love it, so then switched to full-time jamming. I think I definitely still jam with that blocker mindset of trying to be as strong as I can, as powerful as I can, so I think I definitely fall into that Earth jammer kind of mindset, of just push-push-push-push-push.

What are some of your favorite achievements on the track?

When we played in Atlanta (Mayhem played against the men’s team and then Hard Knox played against the regular team) that was my first MVP, anything, ever. So that was the best game I think I have ever had. I don’t know, I just felt really good that game. I don’t know if it was that I had just played, that was my second game of the day so I’d gotten rid of all the jitters, all the pre-game nerves, but I just felt really good that game and I felt validated that I had made the right choice in coming to Knoxville and sticking with derby. That MVP will always mean everything to me, so that’s probably my favorite.

Mad Dawg is jamming in a black Mayhem jersey, outrunning an opponent in red.

And those were two very hard games!

Yes, that men’s game—I love Atlanta’s men’s team, they’re awesome. Gosh they are difficult!

Do you have any bout day rituals to help you get into the right mindset?

Devon and I have started going to Waffle House before. I get a waffle, a side of toast, and a side of bacon, and then he eats my hashbrowns. And then sometimes we’ll go to Dunkin’ and get coffee. That’s kind of our little ritual in the morning. And then the night before I will watch tv, clean my bearings, clean my wheels, take everything out of my bag, and then make sure I have everything and put everything back in my bag because if I don’t have everything, I will go crazy. Ever since leaving one skate back home for the away game, I always have to double check that I have everything!

Devon actually joined our coaching staff this year—what has that been like, to have your husband part of this derby journey as well?

It’s been fun. I always enjoy having him there anyway, so him falling into the coaching role kind of just made sense because he was there all the time anyway, and he wanted to find ways to help the team as much as he could, whether that be doing scoreboard or running the timer or whatever. It’s been interesting, trying to get used to the dynamic of he’s my coach, he’s not my husband when we’re at practice or we’re at the games, so that’s been kind of hard. But we’re getting used to it, and it’s mostly because I’m such a smartass and a brat in our relationship, anytime he tries to tell me to do something, I’m like, “No, I’m not gonna do it, just because you told me to do it, no I’m not gonna do it!” So trying to get that out of my head has been hard, but I really do enjoy having him there. I mean, he’s my best friend, always has been, so it’s nice to have him there and have his encouragement through practice and games.

Mad Dawg, in full gear, smiling in the crowd at a home game.

Though it’s funny, at practice we’re not married. Like he goes one way and I go the other way, and we barely talk to each other while we’re at practice, so we’re able to keep that professional mindset with it, and then we get in the car, and we just talk-talk-talk-talk the whole way home about it, so I like it.

How do you like to spend your time outside of roller derby?

Well, in the fall and winter I’m obsessed with football. Anything college, anything NFL, all things Tennessee Vols. We’ve also really gotten into Ice Bears hockey recently. This past season we got season tickets, and this season we got them again, so we’ll be going to all the games. I have out with my pupper, [currently] asleep on the couch, and the cats who are under the desk here.

And I play a lot of Stardew Valley. That one’s my weakness. I started playing Cult of the Lamb recently, which sounds weird, but is actually really cute, really Stardew Valley-esque kind of game, so I like it.

A waist-up picture of Mad Dawg. She is facing away from the camera with her face angled towards the camera. Her arms in the "strongarm pose," and her helmet is on her left bicep, showing off her "f*ck cancer" sticker.

Did you have any goals for yourself this season?

Really at the beginning of the season it was, I just wanted to find my place in Knoxville, whether it be as a blocker, whether it be as a jammer (was hoping it was going to be as a jammer) so I feel like I’ve definitely achieved that. I wanted to grow more as a skater because I have never been thought of as an A team skater by any means, so I definitely wanted to reach that goal, wanted to be a part of the All Stars team. And now my goal is finding my place within that team as well, and just coming into my own as a jammer, so I feel like I’ve achieved most of those.

What is something that roller derby has taught you about yourself?

I think it’s taught me that I’m more of a leader than I think I am, and that I’m a lot stronger than I thought I was, both physically and mentally. Derby really saved my—I mean, we all say it, you know, derby saved our soul—but mine really did. When my mom passed, derby was what pulled me out. So it’s taught me that I’m just a lot mentally and emotionally stronger than I thought I was, that a bad game’s not gonna break me. That’s the best way I can put it.

A closeup of Mad Dawg and her mom, both smiling.

Who would you like to nominate for next month, and what do you want to ask them?

Let’s do Gnarly—how different is it playing derby up North versus playing derby down in the South?

Thank you for a great conversation, Mad Dawg! You absolutely said it best when you said that derby is a place where the outsiders find a family, and we’re glad to have you as part of the HKRD family! Readers, if you’re interested in joining this group of outsiders, our fresh meat boot camp starts up on Wednesday, November 2!

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