University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

A number of UB faculty, staff and students are proud members of the Queen City Roller Girls. Photo: DOUGLAS LEVERE

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  Hellions on Wheels | View a slideshow of UB’s roller derby girls.

By JULIE WESOLOWSKI

Published: February 10, 2010

On a Saturday night in North Tonawanda, some of the meanest women you’ll ever meet converge on a skating rink. They shove, push and swear like sailors while flashing barely-there skirts, ripped fishnet tights and heavy eye makeup.

For about two hours, members of the Queen City Roller Girls (QCRG) whip around the sold-out rink to deafening levels of rock music as announcers narrate the play-by-play and the crowd works itself into a frenzy. Later, during intermission, these hellions on wheels turn their attention and aggression on the audience as they launch free loaves of rye bread (a sponsor is a local bakery) at fans who covet the edible keepsakes like prized possessions.

On Monday morning, some these same women will greet you with a polite smile at the office water cooler, teach classes to bleary-eyed UB students and keep the campus safe from danger. Roller derby girls by night, UB faculty and staff by day.

Started in the fall of 2006, the QCRG is Buffalo’s own roller derby league. Comprised of four teams of female skaters from all walks of life and ranging in age from 21 to their late 40s, the girls spend two nights a week honing their derby skills, answering to clever monikers instead of their real names and practicing for bimonthly battles, or “bouts.”

There are a number of UB faculty and staff who are proud members of the Queen City Roller Girls, including Shannon Carlin, Nicole Cavallaro, Jessica Hinkal, Michelle Johnson, Kristen Kowalski, Lorrie Mandell, Lauren Picciano and Stacy Tuberdyke. UB students—PhD candidates, master’s students and undergrads alike—are also on the roster, including Jessica Akey, Jenna Beall-Schwab, Sally Rebl, Carolyn Storms, Melissa Swiatek-Odien and Amanda Wawro.

Adjunct faculty member Shannon Carlin, who teaches classes in counseling, school and educational psychology in the Graduate School of Education and skates under the derby name of Dr. Dementer, was instrumental in organizing the Western New York league. After four years with the league, she credits the skills she’s learned from being a team captain with helping her interact better with her students. She’s even incorporated the derby into her curriculum. “It’s a part of me, and for what I teach and in some topics, I can bring in real-life situations dealing with derby—especially with strategy and thinking process,” she explains.

UB has become a recruiting ground for new derby girls. When English department secretary Nicole Cavallaro, who skates under the name Violet Intentions, started mentioning her bouts with her lunch group, she piqued the interest of colleague and South Lake Village office manager Michelle Johnson, who now answers to the name of NforceHer on the rink. Both women say there’s nothing like the female empowerment and camaraderie offered from other derby girls. “My team is a close group of girls; you get friendship and athleticism,” says Cavallaro.

One of the newest members of QCRG is Kristen Kowalski, who skates under the name Val du Morte. A designer in University Communications, Kowalski got the urge to try out after attending a derby match with her mother. “A lot of things about the derby appealed to me—the kitschiness, the music, the fact that it’s run by women for women and it just looked like great fun and a good stress reliever,” she says. After Kowalski began attending derby boot camp last summer to prepare for QCRC tryouts in the fall, she was amazed to discover how many other women worked, taught or studied at UB.

For Kate Anderson, also known as Brawl McCartney, even being permanently sidelined by injuries hasn’t stopped her from remaining involved. The assistant to the chair in the Department of Media Study has become a key member of the QCRG production committee that ensures that the matches go off without a hitch. Anderson likens her derby allegiance to another, more established organization.

“I think it’s probably the equivalent in my life what the Elks were to my dad,” Anderson says. “I hang out and have fun, and it’s a way to get away from your family. If there are people you don’t want to hang out with, you can say ‘Oh no, I can’t, I have derby. They need me to pass out water or something.’”