Featured Skaters

June Featured Skater: Madam Bomb

in
Headshot of Madam Bomb. Her long dark hair is down and cascades over her shoulder on the front. She is wearing a "That's my jam" HKRG tank top. Her hands are on her hips and she is smiling widely. Green text reads "#94 Madam Bomb"

Name: Madam Bomb

Number: 94

Travel Team: Allstars & Brawlers

Home Team: Bombshell Bettys

Years skating: 14

She always rocks an amazing boutfit that is matched only by her fierce playing style! Get to know June’s skater of the month: Madam Bomb!

Madam Bomb at a home bout. Her boutfit is perfect for the Pride theme: a rainbow tie dye HKRD shirt, a rainbow tutu, a rainbow pom pom headband, and rainbow makeup.

You were nominated by Sin City Rebel, who wants to know two questions that may or may not be connected. First, how do you get ready for a bout, and how do you always keep your hair looking so magnificent all of the time?

A lot of my bout preparation, especially if it’s a home (different if it’s home or away), but if it’s home, I’m thinking a lot about the theme and my boutfit. That really gets me amped up. I get to run the door, so I get to say hi to everybody coming to watch us—that gets me excited for being out there. Beyond that, just on a personal level, there’s a lot of times where I have my eyes closed and I’m just breathing, and I like to remind myself this is a cool-ass thing that we get to do. I play derby—you know, not everybody can say that. There’s really so few people that can say that, and it’s just so cool to be part of that community, so I just breathe it in, say: I get to play derby, and I get to do it with the people that—you know, it’s the one day when we’re all on the same team (unless we’re doing home teams!) we’re all on the same team. So everything that makes Bush a heavy hitter, and you [smalls] annoying because you can get at my ribs in a way that absolutely no one else can, or Bear and blocking—I mean I could name something for everybody—and Sin’s calm.

A selfie of Madam Bomb. She has theatrical black and green makeup and lipstick, and a confident smile. Text reads "IT'S TIME!!!!"

So just being able to be a part of their team, too. We’re all the same. So just thinking of that, breathing it in, and just thinking this is just the coolest thing that I get to do, like wow. That’s how I get ready!

Sounds like a good mindset! And do you want to share any of your hair secrets with us?

Oh, hair secrets! I mean, there’s certain products, but a little known fact: in Grease, there’s the “Beauty School Dropout” song. I technically am a beauty school dropout because I too, as a junior, went to cosmetology vocation my junior year, and then I dropped out in my senior year, but always had a love of hair. I get a little help from what I do to my hair, but that, to me, is fun, you know? It’s like wearing wigs or wearing hair pieces and stuff like that. It’s a different persona.

I think we all kind of take on a different persona when we’re out in derby, you know? It’s a part of who we are, but that’s a different persona that we get to play during that time too, so the hair makes that more fun, and I don’t have a job that tells me I can’t! So yeah, I have a couple of products that I’ve used for ten, twelve years, and they’re my favorite, and they’re from Sally Beauty because they’re cheap. I just bought a sticker yesterday from Dollywood that says, “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.” Which I think is funny.

So how did you come up with the persona of Madam Bomb? Like how did you decide on that name?

Madam Bomb with her first team. She is wearing a t-shirt green jersey and a sparkly black tutu, has her arms crossed, and is wearing an intense expression. 94 is written on her arm in sharpie.

When it came time to make up names, since I started derby in ‘09 (us playing in ‘09, ‘10, and ‘11) at that time, you had to go to Two Evils to look up your name, and you couldn’t have it very close to anybody else’s. So I was looking at a lot of those names, and I actually started looking at Garbage Pail Kids cards because they had some fun, quirky names. And I think it was Adam Bomb, so the male version, and I was like, “That is cool, and I can make that Madam Bomb.” So that’s where it came from, it came from the Garbage Pail Kids card, and I was like, that’s cool. And then as I started looking it up, I found out that 94 (being a sciency kid, people don’t know that I am) so on the periodic table of elements, that is Plutonium, so that is why, one of the reasons I’m 94. The other reason is because I graduated in that year. So I was like yeah, that makes absolute sense, so we’re gonna be 94 Madam Bomb. That’s where that came from!

I didn’t know that—that’s so cool! So you’ve been a part of derby since ‘09. How did you discover it?

My husband and I, I don’t know if we were out riding motorcycles or whatever we were doing in Toledo, Ohio, but we were at a bar and grill, and it was quite packed from what I remember it usually is, but it looked like they had a band or something going on. But as I got closer, I was like, “No, this is a lot of women in roller skates and tutus and what is going on?” And here, the Glass City Rollers were doing a community event, just being out in the community, promoting their team and letting people know they’re here and we have bouts coming up, and we’re about to start our season and all of this stuff. So I got to meet a couple of the skaters at the time, and one was, of course with her skates because I didn’t have skates on, she was tall already, but with her skates, was just massive, and she was just beautiful and I was like, “How fun!” And growing up, I grew up in roller rinks, and I remember being five and I remember when I finally got to be twelve and got to go by myself, and they’d just drop me off at the front, so I loved roller skating, and I was like heck yeah. And it didn’t include a ball, it was a sport that didn’t include a ball. So I was like this is great, no hand-eye coordination, I think I can do this.

Selfie of Madam Bomb. She is wearing her skating gear and a pink tank top that says "I'D BE HAPPY TO DEMONSTRATE WHAT "HITS LIKE A GIRL" REALLY MEANS"

They told me that they weren’t going to be playing their home bout for a few weeks, but they were going to be out of state. And I thought, yeah, I’m gonna make a trip. So I went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; I watched this team that I’d never seen. They played on a sport court in a hockey place, and I was like, “Yes, I have to do this.” Just the whole team and their camaraderie, it was just like I’d found my tribe, you know? This is where I wanted to be.

So we came back, I was like yes, I am right there, fresh meat, what all do I need? And I got cheap skates (thinking of it now makes my feet cringe). But yeah, and I started, it was a terrazzo floor in this little skate rink, actually in Swanton, Ohio, it’s just outside of Toledo, we bouted in Toledo, and yeah, I played for them. And so started fresh meat I guess in ‘09, I was bouting mostly in ‘10 I think, one of them carried over into ‘11 that I did, and then we moved in ‘11, so that’s why I stopped doing that. They were even the largest table at my wedding when I got married in ‘10, all of my derby girls. So that’s where it started, but then there’s some years off.

Madam Bomb and a group of HKRD skaters ready for a trail skate.

I was going to say—is Knoxville the only other team that you’ve played for?

Screenshot of a tiktok. Madam Bomb is falling dramatically to the ground. Text reads "rethinking my entire life after escaping the pack only to be chased down and knocked down and right back in the thick of it four seconds later"

Yes, so when I moved down here in ‘11, I was like, “Heck yeah, I wanna play, I wanna play with Hard Knox, they have a team, great!” Well I came down, we watched a few of their bouts, and I was like, “Ooh, okay, you guys are legit ranked.” So I was a little scared, a little intimidated, new people, new hitters, all of that stuff. I went down after a bout where they were playing where the Ice Bears play, I was talking to a few of the skaters, and found out they practiced in Oak Ridge. At that time where we were living, that would have been like an hour and fifteen minutes for me to get to practice, and I wanted to do it so bad, like I wanted to do it so bad, but I knew I probably couldn’t commit that to the team. It wouldn’t be fair, I wouldn’t be able to commit three hours of driving time a day to be able to do the practices and that wasn’t fair to the team. So, didn’t do that, and just went and watched them, and wished I could.

Goodness gracious, fast forward and I guess it got to be COVID times. I knew they weren’t practicing, like I was still following, and then I saw a post come up. I wanna say it was September of 2021, and they said, “Ahh we just had our first practice at the Change Center!” And something told me, I was like, “Wait a minute, that seems different.” I looked it up and found out it was downtown Knoxville, and I was like, “Oh yeah, yeah yeah yeah.” I immediately sent a message (I now know it went to Kilty, but it was just messenger, so I didn’t know who it went to) and I was like, “Hey, so I used to skate like ten years ago. Interested, how do I come back?” They said something like, “Do you have gear?” And I was like, “Yeah, yeah, I have actually not gotten rid of my gear,” and I went and checked, and I even had my mouth guard from ten years ago (that’s gotten thrown away since). But yeah, I had everything, I put it in there, and went back. I wanna say it was, it ended up being around September 28 or October 28, one of those—it wasn’t soon after I was there, and the rest is HKRD history! Been there ever since!

What was the emotion as you came back to skating for the first time after ten years?

Madam Bomb, Sinister Siren, and the two other skaters who received MVP awards at the first home bout of 2022 are smiling widely with their awards.

[nodding] Cause I’d had my skates on a couple of times when we went to roller rinks, never my pads, but to put that stuff back on: it’s a little bit of a gazelle, you know? Getting used to it again. I remember taking, I took some pictures that first day, just so I could remember the feeling, and I was like, *gasp* “I’m back! Like I’m back!” And I also felt so grateful, I was so nervous because I was gonna be awful at it, that was my thing. I was like, I’m gonna struggle, I know I’m gonna struggle. I just kept telling myself, “Don’t give up, just don’t give up, don’t give up.” When I got there, I was so grateful that there were so many people who were new to derby, wanted to try this out, give it a thing. The people I had seen there, later come to know that they were very very new. They had been Goose Poop [Island], like I couldn’t believe their skill level at that point when they were like, “Yeah, I had really never skated a month ago.” What! I couldn’t believe the determination, and I also felt…good, so me getting some skills back—I can do this in a group that feels super safe, it’s not something I’m gonna feel so far behind.

And I felt like there were plenty (not plenty, there were a few) of veterans that came back, so there was a whole lot of people that I could be like, “Yes, I want those skills that they have.” Then there was other people that I felt like I could almost like, “Hey, yeah, plow stops, they got me too, I’m working on them too, this is helping me, is it helping you, what helps you get it because you’re just learning it and maybe it’s something I was never really any good at.” They would help with me, so it was just such a good mix of not being pressured too much to be already at this certain elite level, but then also I felt like I could be helpful to those who were just learning to skate too, with the couple things that I remembered or helped me. Plus I had to learn a whole new derby because of course the rules set was not quite the same, not quite as fast, there was a lot.

A pack of HKRD skaters right before a jam start during a scrimmage at the Change Center. Most skaters, including Madam Bomb, are turned away from the camera. She is bracing in the #2 lane.

Well, just sticking with it is an incredible achievement because it can be really overwhelming to come back like that. But are there any other achievements that you’ve had since you’ve come back that you’ve been especially proud of?

Well, little known fact, I played a #2 blocker, which is the inside line blocker. We didn’t, we kind of lined up in four [lanes]. There wasn’t the whole brace sort of thing. The 1 was the pivot, and they kind of could do anywhere, but I was holding the inside line. That was my job, I was a blocker. I have a picture of when they put me in as a jammer, and I was shaking so bad I didn’t even know if I was gonna make it around the track! I never jammed, and I only jammed that time because we were ahead by like a hundred or so, so it was put everybody in, let ‘em get a try. So when I was then going to be a jammer, I was like, “Um, wait, what? I’m gonna do what? I’m gonna stay a jammer?” I was going back and forth between those. But just being able to be a jammer, to get that mindset, cause it’s a little lonely sometimes, you know? You don’t have as much of that team mentality. You try to look for your teammates, but yeah it’s different, and when you mess up, it’s a lot more obvious. When you end up in the box, there’s a lot more at stake for it, mentally. So just getting to do that and still showing up to be like, yep, I’m still gonna do this, and I still think there’s hope for me to be a good jammer, but yeah, sticking with the jamming when I just, I came from such a blocking mentality.

What is your most common penalty, and does that say anything about your personality or derby playing style?

So previous to this year, I would’ve said that’s the cut track; as a jammer, cause when you get knocked out and your brain gets a little scrambled, you remember this person, but you don’t remember where anybody else really was at the time sometimes, but you think you’re in the good, you hop back on, and you get a little discombobulated basically when you’re trying to get back in. And we won’t even talk about Atlanta [2022 bout], because Atlanta, for some reason, I forgot the rules. And I was getting in and I was going back behind everybody, but I was doing it on the track instead of off, and I just didn’t understand until Inga told me what was happening, and I looked at her, and I remember thinking, “I did what? No, like, I went behind everybody!” And she said, “Yeah, but you did it on the track.” I was like what! Why would I do that? So it was cut track. 

Madam Bomb, her husband, her daughter, and her dog smile at the Mardi Growl parade. They are all wearing HKRD gear.

We’ve done a couple of bouts this year, and I wanna say, I’ve not been cutting track! I think I got a directional, which that feels really weird for a jammer, because typically you’re going that way, and then a back block. But what it says about me now, what I learned about just the most recent ones, is I gotta be a little more strategic and a lot less forceful, because I think that’s what’s happening with the back block: I am just trying to be an Earth jammer, and just plow through, a little bit of Fire too, and I think that’s getting me in trouble with where I’m knocking into people as I’m trying to move through.

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

How do I think one should find a balance between roller derby and real life, or how does it work in real life? [laughing]

However you wanna answer that question!

Derby is exciting, and derby is a tribe, and derby lights me up in a way that is just, it’s hard to replicate. I mean, the endorphins, this is our drug, right? And we’re allowed to do it, you know? It’s not harmful in the addiction sort of way, of course we’re bruised and beaten, but you know, we’re sadomasochists, we like it. The balance in between, it is tricky. I like to bring [family] with whenever I can, like bringing to the bouts, and I need to prep for this thing or hiding Easter eggs, drive me around to hide Easter eggs, just trying to involve everybody in the process.

Madam Bomb and her daughter pose at a home bout. Bomb is wearing rainbow face makeup. Her daughter is wearing a colorful outfit. Both are showing off their arm muscles.

Having a daughter—I also think this is a good sport for her. We are more positive for women, but we are also uplifting for any gender, any expression of that gender, very open, so I think that makes that easy; sharing derby is helpful and finding that balance is just really sharing that because there’s so many positives about it and about the community, about what we stand for, what we don’t stand for, cause I don’t understand that also. My husband’s just become accustomed to it, which makes me happy, that’s good for him too.

But the balance can be hard because there’s so many things that I want to do with the team sometimes, and I have to back off and say, “Nope, I need to take a moment and do something non-derby, you know?” But the good thing is, derby’s understanding of that also, and when we need a minute, when we need a minute at practice. I had to leave practice once, Maddie was having some struggle at home, and I just needed to be there. I let practice know, this is what’s going on, and you don’t hear any grief about it. If anything, you get checked in, like, “Hey, you never leave practice early, is everything okay, you don’t have to tell me a whole lot.” So that’s why it’s easy to find balance because I think it gives us so much that helps balance the other parts of our lives and can contribute to so many other parts of life. And our breaks are nice too, but yeah, it’s easy to balance…it’s not easy to balance, but it is. It makes it so it’s easy to balance, cause we’re all here to have fun, right? We don’t get paid for this. It’s our own time and you have a supportive community that’s supportive of exactly what you can give to the team, because when we say we give 100% to the team, that doesn’t mean 100% of my time, of my energy, of everything—that means 100% of what I have to give. Derby makes it easy.

Madam Bomb and other HKRD skaters at a community event.

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

925 Jersey Cyclone. What are you most proud of in something you have overcome with derby? Because we all have to overcome something—what are you most proud of? And sometimes she’s so quiet, and I really want to know that! Because I see things, I see how she’s grown.

Yes! Like every time she’s tiptoeing on the side, I’m like, “Ahh, it’s so fun to watch!”

Yeah, and she just won’t give up. Definitely wanna know that, what she’s overcome, and I wonder if she tells people that she does derby, and I wonder their response.

Thanks for a fabulous conversation, Madam Bomb! Readers, you can catch her in both of our home bouts this Saturday, June 3, against The World and Greenville Roller Derby. Our fans had quite the presence at our first home bout, so you don’t want to miss out on your chance to be a part of the crowd! Until next time, be like Madam Bomb and don’t give up on something you really want.

-smalls-

March Featured Skater: Slamwise Gamgee

in
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

in
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-