February Featured Skater: Sinister Siren

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!

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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.

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.

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!

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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!

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?

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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.

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January Featured Skater: Shine-Her

Name: Shine-Her

Number: 937

Travel Team: All Stars

Home Team: Moonshine Moxies

Years skating: 1

She moved from rookie to All Star in just a few months, and there’s no stopping her in her second year with HKRD! Get to know this month’s featured skater: Shine-Her!

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You were nominated by Gnarly Davidslam, who wants to know how joining derby has changed your life.

Yes, I mean derby has super changed my life! I’ve been playing for just over a year now, which feels like a small amount of time, but in practice, felt very, very long. I feel like I have a whole new family, which Kilty tells us that when we first start, but you don’t really believe it until you’re a year in and you’re like, “Oh wait, these are my people now!” I think it’s definitely helped me find my spot here in Knoxville too because I had moved to Knoxville really shortly before I joined derby, so it definitely helped me find my footing here, and just find friends, and confidence, and a little bit of humility because how many other sports are you able to fall on your face a thousand times and have people cheer for you because you fell down nicely? So yeah, I think it’s a bunch of little things that create one big happy derby feeling.

What brought you to Knoxville?

So I actually moved here for my boyfriend. He was in grad school at the time at UT, so we made the jump over from Asheville. We’ve been here for about a year and a half now.

How does Knoxville compare to Asheville?

Very different! We’re definitely finding our better spots in Knoxville now, but it was a little bit of a hard transition coming from a super small, artsy, little community, stuck in the mountains, to a little bit more suburban living. But we’re liking it, we’re finding our spots, we like our apartment. It’s a good spot now.

Had you played sports as a kid?

Absolutely! I played a lot of team sports growing up, from soccer and softball in the summers to basketball. My biggest sport was volleyball. I played varsity all throughout high school. So lots of team sports.

What volleyball position did you play?

I was an outside hitter.

I keep the books for the middle school volleyball, so (I never played it) but it’s a lot of fun to watch.

It is! When I was in middle school, I started as a middle hitter, but then I stopped growing and everyone else kept growing, so I became an outside hitter.

I mean, you’re not short, by any means!

I am not! But for a volleyball player, I’m short!

Is there anything from volleyball that you can feel translates to derby?

I mean, definitely the teamwork, because in volleyball and in derby there’s a lot of team last-ditch efforts. There’s a lot of Hail Mary plays that are made in volleyball: you have to dive, hope you catch the ball. In derby, you have to run and chase the jammer, and hope you get her, and you hope your team goes with you. So it’s a lot of that, and a lot of trust goes with that. A lot of teamwork in general.

So then how did you discover derby?

Derby’s always been one of those things that was in the back of my mind. Like everybody else, I watched Whip It in high school and said, “Oh, that’s the coolest thing ever!” Not really thinking about it until I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, after I graduated college, and they had a team and I was kind of always thinking, “Oh, maybe one day I can join, maybe one day, that would be so fun, I think I’d be good at that.” But I was working every weekend, so I knew it probably wasn’t the best time to do that. When we moved to Knoxville, I just happened to see on Facebook that oh, there is in fact a derby team, and oh, by the way, we’re doing open call/come-and-meet-us events. My boyfriend was like, “You have to go—you have to go!” Because I had mentioned it so many times. So that’s kind of the long story of, it’s been a slow burn that I finally just bit the bullet and did it.

You usually play as a blocker. What do you enjoy about blocking?

I like being a blocker a lot. I like feeling strong. I feel like a blocker is a great position: when a jammer hits you and you don’t move, you feel so powerful, so I love that. And I like the team effort too, where it’s, you know, three or four on one. You’re really working with your other players to stop someone as a common goal, which is, I think, always fun too, because then when you do something well, everyone’s excited with you. Plus it’s just fun knocking people over!

What have been some of your favorite derby moments?

My first one was probably just the very, very first bout of the year when we were in Columbia [South Carolina]. I had only been playing for a few months, and I was about to have my first bout, and it was the most terrifying experience, but I got to do it with a couple other people who were also completely brand new, and all of us together just kind of looking at us together like, “We’re officially derby players—this is it, we did it, we’re officially derby players!” That was the highlight.

And then another one was my first Brawlers bout. I got MVP Blocker, so that just felt really really good, that all my hard work was starting to pay off. Those are probably my two best.

How did you decide on your skater name and number?

So mine was pretty easy, I don’t have a very fun story. It’s my last name, basically, just spelled a little differently. Spelled correctly, some might say. I knew I wanted to play something with the name Shine, I didn’t really know what, so I turned to my team and was like, “Hey, what would be fun?” And they said, “Ooh, Shinner’s kind of cool, and we could make it Shine-Her because it’s derby and that’s what we do.” So it kind of just became Shine-Her! And my number, 937, is my area code from where I grew up in Dayton, Ohio.

Do you have any goals for this upcoming 2023 season?

Yeah, so I want to become a better pivot. I think that’s something that I definitely have in my wheelhouse that I want to get better at. I think that’d be great, especially as a brace, I feel like I’m usually in the position to be a pivot, so I want to get better at that, which basically just comes down to getting a little bit better at jamming, which is so hard, but I know I can do it.

What is your biggest struggle that you’d like to overcome with jamming this season?

I mean, endurance is always hard. That’s why it’s nice being a pivot, because you don’t have to endure quite as long most of the time, but I think my biggest struggle is the agility that comes with quick, super quick movements. I’m definitely, when I do jam and when I block, I’m definitely a heavy-footed, ‘push push push’ type skater. Sometimes [it] works perfectly when you’re trying to jam, other times it is a complete failure, and I haven’t fully figured out how to get the agility to be able to scoot around people.

What is something that most people wouldn’t guess about you?

I can always go back to my favorite fun fact (which I actually put on the Facebook page this year for derby) was that I was a dancer all through my childhood. I was a dancer and I actually originally went to school for theater, which is nowhere near where I ended up! I feel like that’s one of my super fun facts, that I originally thought I was going to be an actress.

So what do you do now? What is your job?

Now I am a live event producer. So I travel all over the country and put on beer festivals, and music festivals, and food festivals, and wine festivals, and all of these different kinds of one or two day festivals. Lots of travel, but it’s a lot of fun.

What’s been a favorite festival that you’ve gotten to put on or help with?

Ooh…I love doing wine festivals. I got to do one of those last May, which was really fun. That was actually my first festival back at this company after COVID, so it was both a trial by fire, had to kind of throw myself back in it, but it was really enjoyable to be able to pick all of the different wines we got to drink, and all that fun stuff.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I love hiking, that’s one of my favorite things. Love to explore the mountains. I have two cats I like to spend lots of time with. My boyfriend and I are big binge watching people, so we always have some sort of show on in the background, love doing that. I also love to read.

What advice do you have for people who want to play roller derby?

To just give it a shot! I feel like that’s been the hardest thing, is just going for it. And I think that’s more than just starting it, it’s every single practice, there’s definitely a time in my head where I have to tell myself: just try, just do it, you never know, it might look impossible when somebody who’s been playing for ten years does something, but I’m never going to know until I try it. So just getting out I think is the best advice you can give anybody.

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

I would like to nominate my big derby sis, Sinister Siren. I know she’s had an interesting career with COVID kind of smack in the middle of her derby experience, so I kind of want to know what derby’s like now that she’s transitioned into more of a vet role.

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Thank you for a great conversation, Shine-Her! We are so glad that life brought you to Knoxville and that you have become a part of the Hard Knox Roller Derby family! Until next time readers, be like Shine-Her and just give some challenge in your life a shot—no matter how tough it is, you are tougher!

December Featured Skater: Gnarly Davidslam

Name: Gnarly Davidslam

Number: 883

Travel Teams: All Stars, Brawlers, & Marble City Mayhem

Home Team: Lolitas

Years skating: 8

Hard Knox fans had double the chances to see December’s skater of the month out on the track this past season. She skates with both the Allstars and the Brawlers, and there’s a lot you may not know about Gnarly Davidslam!

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You were nominated by Mad Dawg, who wants to know how different is it playing roller derby up North versus playing derby down in the South?

I think a lot of the difference just comes from when I started derby, because I started in 2014 and there were some different rules. The last time I played derby would have been 2017, so the rules [have] changed even since then. I think back home—where I first started—there was less travel. We had leagues that we played that were closer to us, and I think it was just because we were a smaller area, smaller town. But really as far as derby itself goes, there’s not a whole lot of difference. 

I will say: in this area, I feel like people from other teams tend to know each other, like there’s a lot of connection more so than there was back up North. I like that because I can go somewhere and be like, “Hey I’ve played with that person!” or “Hey I added them on Facebook, I know who they are, I watched them play before!” So that’s kind of the cool part about being down here that I’ve found so far.

So how did you discover roller derby?

So, April of 2014, my best friend was killed in a motorcycle accident, like very best friend since—we went to Germany together in middle school, so really since middle school—was killed in a motorcycle accident. Just people being stupid and not being patient; somebody turned in front of him, and killed both him and his passenger. And I was not really coping well with it. I was just going to work and sleeping and school and just kind of going through the motions. I think it would have been about July came around and my parents were like, “Okay, you need to do something. This is not healthy.” And they said we’re going to get you into therapy, but you need to find something else to do outside of the house. 

So I had just watched Whip It for some random reason, and I was like, “I doubt there’s anything like this around here.” So I googled “roller derby central Wisconsin” and up popped Mid-state Sisters of Skate, which is the league I started with. Went to watch one practice and they were like, “Yeah just come check it out, see what you think.” Watched a practice, literally was like, “Yep, let me know when I need to be here, what I need to do to sign up.” Did fresh meat.

By September—so I started mid-July—by September I was buying my own gear and everything like that (they had loaner gear that they let fresh meat use because our fresh meat classes were so small). In September I bought my first pair of skates. I was on the, we called the “Bambis,” that was our B team. 

I just needed a sport, I needed an outlet. I’ve always played sports, but needed something that was active and you know, just being a motorcycle person, derby kind of was a non-traditional sport. I liked that, I liked that it was an empowering sport for women. I liked that it was kind of a rough and tough sport. I had never really played a full contact sport before. That was new for me. I always wanted to play football, but my dad wouldn’t let me. I got asked to play football in middle school, and my dad was like, “No, you’re a girl, you’re not playing football.” Well, probably made a mistake there because I probably would’ve gotten it out of my system then. But no, I joined derby and it was just kind of one of those things.

You know, the community of it, and just the support and the physical and mental challenge of it, but also it’s very good mental health wise for me. It just kind of—and I know, everyone says it, but it saved my life. When I joined here, I was also in a pretty tough spot in my life. When I joined the team here, it was at one of my lowest points since I’ve moved here, and it just kind of helped me realize, “Hey, you’ve got a community here with something you love, there’s a reason to be here,” and it’s just, again, I always find derby when it’s tough times in my life. I’ve gone away from it and it saves my life once again.

Oh man, that’s really incredible that derby could help you in both of those times and in such sincere ways! So what brought you to Tennessee?

I’ve always wanted to live in Tennessee. I grew up in Wisconsin, went to every state except for Hawaii, so Tennessee’s always been in my top three states. At the time I moved here, I was dating somebody who had lived here previously, but lived back home in Wisconsin. He said he wanted to be here, live here again. His company’s based here, but he can kind of be wherever, so he said, “Well, let’s move to Tennessee.” Made it happen.

We love motorcycle riding, so it was longer riding season, better weather, no snow in November like they’ve got back home. You know, there were a lot of reasons, and for me it was just, you know, being able to kind of start fresh and just kind of be, see what it was like to move 800 miles away from your family, which has its, you know, positives and negatives, like the fact that I can’t see them this weekend for Thanksgiving, but it’s also forced me to grow and become more independent from my family.

You’ve mentioned motorcycles a couple of times, and I know that’s connected with your name. Has that always been your skater name and number?

Yes. So my mom had a daycare in our house when I was younger, and we became really close with the parents of the first kids she took care of, and then those kids as they grew up. One of them, her name was Kathy, and she had seen derby before I even talked about it, and when she found out I was in derby, she was like, “Oh my gosh, that’s so cool, that’s perfect, I love it!” And I was fresh meat, trying to come up with a name, and couldn’t come up with anything cool, and she was like, “What about Gnarly Davidslam? It is kind of a play on words off of Harley Davidson,” and I was like yeah that’s cool. 

And then at the time the motorcycle I had was a Harley Iron 883, so it was 883 cubic inches, so that’s where the 883 came from. So since then I’ve upgraded bikes, but obviously wasn’t worth changing my number on everything. But I do really love that it wasn’t something I came up with, it was kind of chosen for me in a weird way.

It goes back to your community again.

Yes, right.

So this past season you’ve played on both the Allstars and captained with the Brawlers. What has that been like, navigating between two different teams?

It had its challenges. Most people would think the idea of having to play two games in one day was the worst part of it, but that really wasn’t. For me, the hardest part was when we were at practices and they would split the two teams off to separate sides, and I was torn between which one I should be practicing with. Especially being the captain of the Brawlers team, I felt like I should be there for that team, I should be there as leadership for them, but also in that, I knew that the Allstars team, I had a purpose on that team as well. I think in a way it kind of added, or hopefully gave people a reason to have a little bit more respect for me as a captain, and I was completely shocked when I got nominated as captain and then got chosen to be the captain, but I was very happy to fulfill that role. 

We went through a lot, the Brawlers team, we had a lot of rough patches this season, but you know just being kind of looked to as leadership from my peers and just being able to—I think a lot of the stuff I would’ve done anyways, but I felt like it was more necessary, checking in with my team before, everyone who was rostered before the game, the week of the game, I would always check in with everyone to see you know any questions, any concerns. Between Wednesday and Sunday, would always reach out to everybody individually and just check in to make sure that everybody was good, they felt good about the communication on the track, kind of how everybody was feeling with everyone on the track. And that was something—I’ve always kind of been a natural leader and I’ve always been told by people I work with and school counselors and things that that’s something of a strong point for me, so to be able to do that and given that role in something I love to do and enjoy was kind of a double bonus for me.

So when you’re out there on the track, what positions do you most enjoy skating?

When I started derby I was a jammer. The team I played rec league for in grad school started transitioning me to blocker. When I got here, within a couple of weeks, Kilty was like, “Yeah, we need you as a blocker.” I personally love being a pivot because I have the opportunity to do both.

My favorite spot in the wall is to be the brace. I love bracing just because it helps me. I feel like, generally speaking, I’m a strong communicator and I can see more of it and I feel that’s where I’m more effective. But definitely have learned to love blocking. I still love jamming, but I learned that right now, that’s not my strongest position. So pivoting, definitely because I get to enjoy both.

Do you have any goals for yourself for our upcoming 2023 season?

I want to successfully complete an apex jump in gameplay, whether that’s scrimmage or actual gameplay. Definitely wasn’t able to do that this year because I didn’t jam that much, but it would be cool just to be able to do that. Last season I had my first fouling out of a game, which actually ended up being incorrect, but maybe this season have a legit one where I actually do foul out of a game, but to have the penalties that I get be more purposeful because I’ve been heavy on penalties. I’ve kind of worked on that, but just to kind of figure out how I can make them useful penalties (because we all know there is such a thing in derby). I guess otherwise I just want to keep developing skills and be the best that I can be for the team.

Yeah! How would you describe your derby playing style?

Ooh, that’s a good question. Jamming, I’m definitely more of like an Earth jammer. I’m not very jukey. I will push and push and push. As far as blocking, I would say kind of aggressive? My favorite thing to do actually is—probably something as part of my goals for next year—is to really chase the jammer out of the pack, like to the edge of the engagement zone, and get to a point where I can execute hits successfully. I know that’s something that people have kind of noticed that I do, like even if I know I’m not gonna get that jammer, I’m still practicing that muscle memory of chasing them out. I would like to be more aggressive, but I think, you know, I’ve learned this year to have some pretty intense hits. I mean, I don’t really know that I have, how I would describe my style overall, like I have a jamming style but I don’t think, blocking styles I don’t really know.

I think blocking is so much—it’s in the moment, whatever’s needed.

Yeah, and for me, I have places I prefer to start on the line, at the beginning of the jam, but I will literally go wherever I need to be as things become chaotic.

What have been some of your favorite roller derby moments?

Let’s see, my first autograph when I was with my first league. The woman who actually came up with my derby name, she brought her middle son to watch me play, and he asked me for an autograph at the end of the game. I think he recognized who I was, but didn’t like put it all together, so it was just really cool to have that kind of superstar type thing in somebody’s eyes. Like to have them look up to me, that’s something I love about derby is having little kids or even people who don’t play, adults who don’t play derby and don’t think they can or haven’t tried it come up and say, “Wow, that’s really cool, like it’s so cool that you do that,” and you know just have that recognition.

One of my other favorite moments was when I got my first MVP jammer award. It was at a scrimmage in Little City this year, but I’ve never had an MVP award, and then to get the Seltzer award at the end of the season was really cool too.

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

I spend a lot of my time with my dog, who is currently trying to eat my feet. I spend a lot of time with her. I like to explore breweries and restaurants in the area. Obviously ride motorcycles. I like to be outside, not necessarily like hiking or doing anything like that, but just being outside. Used to do a lot of fishing when I lived back home, but not able to do that as much because my dad’s up there and I’m here.

Nothing too crazy, just motorcycles, my dog, breweries, derby. My friends all think I’m crazy because of how much time I spend on derby—we all know that’s a lifestyle.

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

Let’s do Shine-Her, she’s really excelled this year. How has joining derby changed your life?

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Thanks for a fantastic conversation, Gnarly! Watching you balance multiple teams with grace was an inspiration to your teammates, and I know I’m not the only one who feels that way! Until next time readers, give a shout out to a derby player in your life who inspires you!

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October Featured Skater: Mad Dawg

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!

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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!”

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.

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!

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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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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