On a recent Sunday morning at an Urbandale skating rink, members of the Des Moines Derby Dames sped around a flat track outlined in fluorescent tape, trying to stay upright as they manhandled and cut each other off. Across town, the members of the Mid Iowa Rollers were doing the same.
Both teams were preparing for another season of roller derby. The Dames’ home opener is Saturday at 7 Flags Event Center in Clive, the Rollers’ first home bout is Sunday at Skate South. And in less than two months, for the first time, the teams will square off against each other.
This is the first season since both teams were accepted into the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), the national organizing body for the sport.
“It’s kind of like starting your own beer league, and then getting called up to the NFL,” said Malay Bouaphakeo, who split off from the Mid Iowa Rollers two years ago to start the Dames. “It means you’re playing with the big dogs now. You have the potential to win a national tournament.”
The squads were placed in the same region for derby play, which means they’ll go head-to- head, for the first time ever, April 14 in Des Moines. It was Bouaphakeo’s split from the Rollers more than two years ago that fostered bad blood between the teams.
“I was a Division 1 athlete,” said Bouaphakeo, who played softball for Drake and said she felt the Rollers didn’t match the level of competition she expected. “I came from an organized sport where you work hard every practice and you have a goal you want to set every year and that you hopefully achieve. That’s the structure I’ve thrived on. As I started playing roller derby, I saw the sport for what it was.
“The other team wasn’t where I wanted to be. There was no other option than to start my own team.”
Jean Eastman, who goes by “Eastside” on the track for the Mid Iowa Rollers, sees it a bit differently.
“There was just a difference of opinion on the way the teams should be run,” she said. “We’ve been trying to play them for the last two years. This is the first year they’ve agreed to play us. As far as being competitive, I’m not sure there’s more competition than the Mid Iowa Rollers.”
Despite the differences in opinion, both teams have accomplishments to brag about. The Derby Dames were the first team in Iowa to be sanctioned by the WFTDA. Player Stella Italiana is an accomplished speed skater who played in the WFTDA national championship bout with the Oly Rollers from Olympia, Wash. And coach Dante Muse (who also happens to be Italiana’s husband) is a 14-time world champion speed and artistic skater who is also a jammer/ blocker for local men’s derby team Your Mom.
The Mid Iowa Rollers boast of their accolades as well:
They have the only undefeated record of the teams in Iowa, having completed the 2010 season without a loss.
Their coach has trained national- and world-champion speed skaters and hockey players.
They take pride in being the first roller derby team in Iowa. The Rollers have since seen teams pop up in Iowa City, Sioux City, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Davenport, Clear Lake and Oskaloosa.
“We blazed the way for the teams to start in Iowa,” Eastman said. “I just think we’re still leading the way, hopefully the first Iowa team to make it to Nationals.”
But not if the Dames have their way. The teams will need to finish in the top 10 to make it to the national tournament, and the bout between the Dames and the Rollers will certainly be an important, albeit contentious one.
“It’s going to be a hard matchup,” Bouaphakeo said. “It’s competition, and whenever you have that, you either embrace the competition or hate the competition. We have chosen to embrace the competition.”
Roller derby crash course
A roller derby bout has two 30-minute halves consisting of “jams” of up to two minutes each. There are five members of each team on the track at any one time: a jammer, the point-scorer who wears a helmet with a star; a pivot; and three blockers. The jammer’s job is to lap the players on the other team as many times as possible, receiving a point for each player they pass. The pivot and blockers simultaneously try to help their jammer get through the other team’s pack, while also blocking the opposing team’s jammer. A jammer can, if she’s in the lead, call off the jam at any time by tapping her hips. The team with the most points at the end of the bout wins.
The home bouts
Des Moines Derby Dames
Saturday, 6 p.m., vs. Circle City Derby Girls
March 10, 6 p.m., vs. Chicago Outfit Shade Brigade
April 14, 6 p.m., vs. Mid Iowa Rollers (at Jacobson Exhibition Center at the Iowa State Fairgrounds)
April 21, 6 p.m., vs. Sioux City Roller Dames
May 12, 6 p.m., vs. Mississippi Valley Mayhem
* All games cost $10, and are played at 7 Flags Event Center (except where noted).
Info: dmderbydames.com
Mid Iowa Rollers
Sunday, 2 p.m., vs. Iowa Rollin’ Aces
March 24, 7 p.m., vs. Iowa Rollin’ Aces
April 14, 6 p.m., vs. Des Moines Derby Dames (at Jacobsen Exhibition Center)
June 9, 7 p.m., vs. Kansas City Plan B
* All games $7 in advance, $10 at the door. Played at Skate South (except where noted).
Info: midiowarollers.com
More derby:
Crash Test Dolls, the “B” team associated with the Des Moines Derby Dames (dmderbydames.com)
Capital Punishment, the “B” team associated with the Mid Iowa Rollers (midiowarollers.com)
Your Mom, an all-male roller derby team (facebook.com/yourmom)
