Garcia is president of the Sacred City Derby Girls of Sacramento, California and marketing officer of the World Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), an organization that promotes and fosters the sport of women’s flat track roller derby. While 80 member leagues and 15 apprentice leagues belong to the WFTDA, there’s no official count on how many moms play.
Modern Roller derby was revived in 2001 by a group of women in Austin, Texas. They used a flat track instead of a banked one, making the sport cheaper and more portable. An estimated 400 roller derby leagues now exist around the world.
“It feels great to knock people over, survive tough hits on a scoring pass, and wall up to shut down another team’s jammer,” says Margaret Fackler, 29, a mother of two who plays on the Texecutioners, a nationally ranked travel team in Austin.
“Once you start, you really get into it,” says Fackler, who practices five times a week with conditioning workouts on the side, in addition to being a high school math and physics teacher. (Fackler’s derby name: “Olivia Shootin’ John.”)
For Sarah “Socra-Tease” Deveau, a 31-year-old mom of three from Airdrie, Alberta, who owns a children’s clothing and equipment consignment store, roller derby is “really different and cool and not mom-ish.”
“I look like your typical mom, I’m wearing GAP jeans and a t-shirt right now…roller derby is something that’s so fun and exciting.”
Deveau loved skating as a kid and started playing roller derby after the birth of her second child as a way to get back into shape. Less than two weeks after the birth of her third daughter, Deveau says she’s already looking forward to lacing up her skates again.
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While many roller derby mamas admit to a careful balancing act between family, work and roller derby, it’s a commitment they think is worth it.
“Having a team you do not want to let down definitely helps you justify taking the time out of family duties to meet your fitness needs,” says Fackler, who calls her supportive, derby-loving husband a lifesaver.
“Roller derby was the first consistent, regular exercise I stuck with after having kids,” says Salome, whose six-year-old daughter and three-and-a-half year old son cheer her, while her orthodontist husband makes mouth guards for the team.
“It’s incredibly fun and great exercise without feeling at all like you are ‘working out’. It is also a wonderful stress reliever. Hitting each other on the track, legally of course, is such an excellent way to work out the frustrations that build up.”
Salome first got involved after hearing how much fun several neighbors who played on the Austin Roller Moms were having. The league even provides on-site babysitting.
Salome describes the league as an intensely supportive and nurturing group of women, adding that one skater is a grandmother while another has five kids. “You never know who you will end up on the track with. The 18-year-olds are cheering on the 38-year-olds who are cheering on the single mom who is cheering on the 46-year-old.”
Deveau, currently on maternity leave from the Calgary Roller Derby League, can’t wait to get back on the track.
“It’s nice to be into something that really breaks the mold,”
Cailynn Klingbeil
Curvy moms who prefer flat tracks
Garcia is president of the Sacred City Derby Girls of Sacramento, California and marketing officer of the World Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), an organization that promotes and fosters the sport of women’s flat track roller derby. While 80 member leagues and 15 apprentice leagues belong to the WFTDA, there’s no official count on how many moms play.
Modern Roller derby was revived in 2001 by a group of women in Austin, Texas. They used a flat track instead of a banked one, making the sport cheaper and more portable. An estimated 400 roller derby leagues now exist around the world.
“It feels great to knock people over, survive tough hits on a scoring pass, and wall up to shut down another team’s jammer,” says Margaret Fackler, 29, a mother of two who plays on the Texecutioners, a nationally ranked travel team in Austin.
“Once you start, you really get into it,” says Fackler, who practices five times a week with conditioning workouts on the side, in addition to being a high school math and physics teacher. (Fackler’s derby name: “Olivia Shootin’ John.”)
For Sarah “Socra-Tease” Deveau, a 31-year-old mom of three from Airdrie, Alberta, who owns a children’s clothing and equipment consignment store, roller derby is “really different and cool and not mom-ish.”
“I look like your typical mom, I’m wearing GAP jeans and a t-shirt right now…roller derby is something that’s so fun and exciting.”
Deveau loved skating as a kid and started playing roller derby after the birth of her second child as a way to get back into shape. Less than two weeks after the birth of her third daughter, Deveau says she’s already looking forward to lacing up her skates again.
As a child Cailynn Klingbeil received a portable cassette recorder one Christmas. She loved interviewing relatives on the device and documenting various childhood investigations. While Cailynn has since moved on to a more sophisticated recorder and subjects that are not related to her, she continues to pursue journalism in many forms. It’s a fitting outlet for her intense curiosity and satisfies her passion for writing. Cailynn is in her final year of a communications degree at the University of Calgary. When she’s not busy with school or freelancing, she enjoys live music, running, road tripping and her winter-only hobbies of cross-country skiing and knitting.
