The Jewish Roller Derby is skating into town on Saturday, May 31 when the team goes up against Atlanta’s Toxic Shocks at Agnes Scott College in Decatur.
Roller derby is a full-contact sport played on an oval, flat track with teams of about 15 skaters, five of whom are in the mix at one time. With a 70-page rulebook, the sport is serious about keeping players safe and the game fair.
While the sport of roller derby is rooted in splashy entertainment, the last 25 years of roller derby has opened a world of inclusivity and equity for LGBTQ+ skaters.
Atlanta Roller Derby board member Eleanor “Bruise” Bruisevelt explained modern roller derby as a product of the Austin, Texas “riot girl punk and drag scenes.” When people think of roller derby, they remember bouts on banked tracks that were televised in the 1970s, comparable to professional wrestling “in the sense that it was very theatrical.”
“Originally, it was this very campy and radical grassroots sport. It has still maintained many of those qualities, even as it’s become more legitimized,” said Bruise.
Jewish Roller Derby is a borderless team based on shared cultural heritage rather than geographical location, uniting skaters from diverse backgrounds. Borderless teams include Black Diaspora Roller Derby, Indigenous Rising Roller Derby, Team Desi, SALAAM Roller Derby, and Fuego Latino Roller Derby. Players often play in more than one league.
Jewish players from Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Michigan, Illinois, Alabama, Texas, Virginia, and Atlanta will play this week.
Founded in 2018, the Jewish Roller Derby has grown to more than 60 members, and will compete at the Roller Derby World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria in July.
“The sport attracts a lot of people who have never been athletes before. It’s a very physical athletic experience, but you tend to see a lot of people who have felt feel like they haven’t fit in in other spaces,” Bruise said.
Skating under the name Borscht Belt Bruise in the Jewish Roller Derby, she said players use their Hebrew names, family history, or Yiddish phrases for inspiration. With names like Schindler’s Fist, Judith Smackabee, and Mehshugga Nuff, there’s a lot of humor in the game.
While every league is a little bit different, Atlanta is known for creating spaces where people can fall down and get back up, Bruise said.
“Something that’s really special [about Atlanta] is that we have one of the most racially diverse leagues in the women’s flat track roller derby association,” Bruise said. “This league has done a lot of work to ensure that skaters of color feel welcome and feel connected to each other and feel supported and listened to.”