Source: Tulsa World, Okla.迷你倉Oct. 24--Hang up the tutu and roll down the fishnet stockings. These people are serious.As the women and men of the Tulsa Derby League prepare to host the USA Roller Sports National Championship this weekend, their practices are focused and intense. This is not the same roller derby from decades ago, and they're quick to point that out."I've been eating a special diet for several months now, watching my health, making sure I'm eating right, taking my vitamins," said Amy Scott, one of the star jammers on the Tulsa Derby All Stars.On the track, Scott is known as Criminally Insane, CI for short.OK, so maybe don't throw away all of the fishnets.Scott and the other members know the reputation roller derby has: that women get on roller skates dressed in silly costumes and beat one another to a pulp, usually to some kind of script or storyline. But derby has changed, they said.The sport is now recognized by the International Roller Sport Federation and by the U.S. Olympic Committee. The Tulsa Derby All Stars have won their regional two years in a row and are now hosting teams from across the country at this year's national tournament at the Cox Business Center this weekend.There is a men's team and a juniors team, too.At a recent practice, Scott pointed out the strategy and plays the blockers were utilizing to stop the other team's jammer. There was nearly constant contact, but the ferocious competitive nature was also constant."A lot of people who hear roller derby automatically think of party girls in tights that are going to beat you up," Scott said. "They don't really think of it as a sport, they don't really think of it as an actual thing going on when they come to watch. They just think, 'I'm going to go watch some girls in tights beat each other up,' and it's not like that at all."'You can't just punch people'Tulsa's rise in the roller derby world didn't happen overnight. The team members first had to understand the rules, of which there are many."It's kind of like football, I explain to people," Scott said. "There's a lot of rules; you can't just punch people."Here are the basics: A team consists of three blockers, a pivot and a jammer. They're all on roller skates and skate around a flat track now, not typically on banked tracks.The two teams line up for a "jam" with pivots up front, blockers in the middle and the two jammers behind. At the whistle, the blockers try to keep the opposing team's jammer behind while letting their own through.If a jammer breaks through, he or she must then skate around the track and lap opposing players, thereby scoring points. Once a jammer is through, the opposing team's pivot can chase them down to stop them or score on their own. The lead jammer has the ability to stop that play whenever he or she desires.Jams typically last about two minutes. Each bout consists of two 30-minute periods.Things get a bit more complicated when it comes to blocks and hits players can use and how they use boundaries.Roller derby started in its earliest form in the 1930s but became a different game more akin to professional wrestling with its theatrics and storylines.In the early 2000s, a resurgence began in an effort to make derby a bona fide sport. The Women's Flat Track Derby Association became the main governing body to give some organization to the groups. USA Roller Sports became a prominent governing body when it approved the sport in 2010."The USA Roller Sports rules sets, it's always moving forward," said Court Collier, head coach for the women's team. "It's fast and it's a lot more aggressive, so I think it takes a lot more skating skill and development."'We make this their home'The skill needed is what attracted Scott to the Tulsa Derby All Stars: how serious and competitive it could be, while being accessible."I'm a very competitive person, and when you get older there aren't a lot of sports you can do as an adult," Scott said. "I decided this is my thing."But it took some convincing.She went to Skates in Sand Springs with her daughters and met some other women there who wanted to start a league."I sat there and looked at their flier formini storagea couple months and said 'Well, I guess I'll go try it,' " Scott said. "I tried it once and have been addicted ever since."Partly, it's because roller derby lets her have a healthy stress relief and outlet for her competitive nature.Scott calls roller derby her divorce therapy."I'm very shy and mellow," Scott said. "Once I put my skates on, I can be free, I feel free. I put on my straight jacket to roll out, and they play my heavy metal. I can be myself, I guess, in my alter ego."And she would have to be at least a bit loopy to skate through these larger women at high speeds around a short track.Scott is a slight woman, 4 feet 10 1/2 inches tall (the extra half is important) and thin. But her petite figure shouldn't be confused with weakness.She rams and jams through the pack, nudging and slamming into women twice her size. Then she slips through.One of those blockers she sometimes passes, and one of the women who helped to start the league, was Amy Uffhausen, known on the rink as Mauly Pop-Her.Uffhausen is in the Navy and moved to the Tulsa area not knowing anyone. Roller derby for her was a chance to meet other women and build friendships.She also uses it to prove to herself that she can. With a myriad of health problems that have slowed her down, derby keeps her up."It was my way of flipping off the health gods, and it got me out of my depression," Uffhausen said.As aggressive as the sport is, it tends to attract a certain type of person, at least a person with aggressive tendencies on the inside."It's kind of the outcast, people who don't fit in anywhere," Scott said. "We make this their home. We have all different types of people."Some of the teams and players do appear to be a throwback to a wilder time in roller derby, but that's starting to change, Collier said."A lot of people who play derby, they take it serious but they don't practice that hard. But they love to say they play roller derby -- there's just that attraction," he said. "Now it's starting to develop more into an athletic sport."Moving up in the worldThings changed for the Tulsa team a few years ago at a bout in Tennessee, Uffhausen said. They skated better and played harder but couldn't win no matter what they tried."We were better skaters and had better endurance, but they had the strategy," she said.If this were a movie, that would have been the start of the montage toward their improvement. They have since won regionals two years in a row and competed in nationals in Fresno, Calif., last year."Once we set our minds to it, things changed," Uffhausen said.At a recent practice, the women were focused and ready, said Amy Handyside-Rule, also known as Rowdy Piper.She is also on the USARS committee and helped to bring the tournament to Tulsa. She serves as one of the team's captains."Everyone was in a great position, mindset," she said.As the sport grows and the focus sharpens more, Collier said the future will rely on the younger skaters. He said that will be the major shift from the drama of the '70s and '80s to an Olympic-level game."The juniors, especially with young girls, there aren't many aggressive sports for young girls," Collier said."It could be big here in Tulsa."USA Roller Sports National ChampionshipWhen: Opening ceremonies set for 9 a.m. Friday.First-round play on Friday. Second-round bouts begin at 9 a.m. Saturday. Sunday bouts start at 10 a.m. Men's final is scheduled for 3:15 p.m., and the women's finals is 5 p.m. Sunday.Tickets: Weekend pass: $50Day pass: $20Kids 7 and younger: FreeGet tickets at the door or at usarsrollerderby.comWomen's teams--Antagonist Roller Derby,Seattle--Chicago Red Hots, Chicago--Oly Rollers, Olympia, Wash.--Port City Roller Girls, Stockton,Calif--Port T'Orchard Roller Derby, Port T'Orchard, Wash.--Suburban Legends, Merced, Calif.--Tall City Roller Betties, Odessa, Texas--Tulsa Derby LeagueMen's teams--North Texas All Stars, Dallas--Oly Warriors, Olympia, Wash.--Tulsa Derby Militia--Your Mom Men's Roller Derby, Des Moines, IowaCopyright: ___ (c)2013 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存
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