Roller derby skates to its return after three-year hiatus

For the first time in three years, the Big Mountain Misfits on a recent Saturday evening laced up their skates, wrote their numbers on their arms, and then celebrated a roller derby bout win in all of its funky and fun glory.

It was the first bout in the valley in three years after roller derby was put on hold due to the pandemic.

“Bout day definitely always feels like a celebration,” Jeanne Langan said. “Especially this year.”

Roller derby, a fast-paced, full-contact sport played on quad roller skates, has grown in popularity across the world. In the Flathead, though, it is also a community changer.

Roller derby has something for everyone, Langan, the president of the Flathead Valley Roller Derby and captain of the Big Mountain Misfits, said.

Derby is a way for players to come together while uniquely representing themselves. Skaters choose the color of their wheels, get to pick their own derby names, and come bout day, skate out on the track together to a song of their choosing.

Leslie Shepherd, who skates under the name “FERAL Sister,” started skating last October after she saw a flier on Facebook. Her skating debut was during the Misfits’ October boot camp, a five day workshop where skaters learn the basics.

“I’ve only been doing this since October and I can’t imagine it not in my life,” Shepherd said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been surrounded by a group of more inclusive, open, understanding and encouraging people in my life.”

Roller derby is a contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. Bouts consist of jams where one jammer scores a point for each opposing blocker they lap. The blockers simultaneously defend by hindering the opposing jammer, while also playing offense by maneuvering to aid their own jammer.

On April 29, the team’s first bout entrance in three years, they skated in to Technotronic’s “Pump up the Jam.” They skated off victorious an hour later earning a win over the Copper City Queens from Butte.

Langan, whose derby name is Veruca Slaughter, joined the league in 2014 when she moved to the Flathead. She played rugby at Drew University and was looking for a team sport to play. After hearing about the derby on the radio, she signed up.

The Flathead Valley Roller Derby, the organization Langan and the Big Mountain Misfits skate under, was formed in December of 2009. Unfortunately, things came to a halt just after their 10th anniversary when the pandemic shut everything down.

Upon the return, the team is the largest it's ever been and is full of new skaters. For some new members, derby was a new concept when they signed up to join.

Kimber Conrad, aka KimboSlice, also found the group on Facebook and attended the boot camp in January. At the time, she was new to the area and didn’t know any women here. The Misfits, Conrad said, gave her that community.

Amber Owens, aka Electra Mayhem, is also new to the sport this year. She originally moved to the valley in 2020 before the pandemic. Earlier this year, her friend asked if she wanted to go to boot camp.

“At first, I just really wanted to skate. I had bought pretty, pretty skates and wanted to use them,” Owens said.

However, the group gave Owens more than the ability to skate, she said. It gave her a great group of people. According to Owens, she was thinking about moving out of the valley. That was, until she joined the derby.

PRIOR TO joining the Misfits, Rebecca Dolan, or Poly Pick Pocket, had been wanting to participate in roller derby for nearly 15 years. Dolan skated for fun since the age of 5, and while living in Atlanta, she tried but says it was way too competitive for someone starting out in the derby-scene.

Before Dolan moved to the valley two years ago, she looked up whether there was a roller derby in the area and signed up.

“As soon as we moved here, before we even moved here actually, I had found the roller derby team,” Dolan said. However, Covid killed her dream of playing.

Two years later, Dolan doesn’t plan to stop skating with the Misfits anytime soon.

“I’m here until my legs fall off or until everyone quits,” Dolan said.

Dolan also values the derby for the community it created in her life.

“It’s really hard to find your people in the valley, and there's a lot of people that are not your people,” Dolan said. “This is like a bubble of your people and everybody is really really wonderful.”

Spaar Lumin, who goes by SpaarGnar on skates, participated in derby in Humboldt County California, where it was extremely competitive and intense.

After moving to the valley in 2019, Lumin was glad to find the Misfits. A culture shock, as they explained it, compared to the derby they experienced in California. Looking forward, Lumin, the co-captain of the team, looks forward to competing with the group they have.

“We finally got our bouts back,” Lumin said.

The next bout, which is May 27, will be against the Palouse River Rollers, a team from Pullman, Washington. The bouts take place at the Flathead County Fairgrounds Expo Building.

The Misfits still have positions open for anyone interested, including non-contact or non-skating options.

It’s always good to be skating, team captain Langan says, but when there is an upcoming bout there is something to prepare for and look forward to together.

“We choose to be here,” she said. “And we continue to choose to be here.”

For more information on Flathead Valley Roller Derby, visit https://www.fvrollerderby.com/.