Sports

Talk derby to me

by Amy Dupuis

Acadiana Roller Girls kick-off their season Saturday.

“It quickly becomes an obsession,” say Ovary Actor, née Katie Slattery, blocker for the Acadiana Roller Girls, about her beloved sport. The tights, the skates, the obsession, are coming Saturday, March 19 at Top Shelf Sports from 6-9 p.m. as the Acadiana Roller Girls open their season against the Mobile Derby Darlings.

The Acadiana Roller Girls started in 2009 as Lafayette’s first flat-track roller derby team. Their current roster has over 35 skaters from all walks of life. They are teachers, students, mothers, ranging in age from 18 to 60.

“It’s a community of women that empower each other,” says Ovary Actor. “It’s like a family on and off the track.”

Roller derby is played in bouts by opposing 14-member teams. Each team has five players on the track at a time consisting of four blockers and one jammer. A jammer scores points by passing members of the opposing team during each two-minute jam, and the blockers prevent the other team’s jammer from scoring points.

“It’s something unique to the area, and I think that people should definitely check it out,” says Ovary Actor. “It’s very family friendly, and it’s fun.”

In the previous season the Acadiana Roller Girls All Stars ranked 7th in Derby South for the third year in a row and qualified to play in the Derby South Playoffs: the Southern Belle Ringer Tournament, which they won in 2012. Ovary Actor shows her confidence for continuing the success, when asked about the new girls, or fresh-meat, “There are several fresh-meat this year that are proving to be a force to be reckoned with.”

Tickets are $12 at the door or $10 in advance on EventBrite. Kids 12 and under get in for free. For more information concerning bouts, becoming a skater or volunteering, visit the Acadiana Roller Girls online at www.acadianarollergirls.com.