Following in her mother’s footsteps, 14-year-old Makenzie Schwartz never had to think twice about putting on her four-wheeled roller-skates and jumping into the roller derby track.
A year ago, though, Schwartz – who introduces herself as her derby moniker Crack-Herz – had nobody around the same age to join her. Now, luckily for her and 29 other roller derby enthusiasts on the team for girls 18 years old or younger, that’s no longer an issue.
After six months of steady growth, the year-and-a-half old Hollister Derby Girls’ junior team – consisting of girls 18 or younger – is now 30 girls strong. And it’s growing every day.
“Every practice we seem to have someone new checking us out,” said Hollister Derby Girls treasurer Renee George – who goes by Red Ride-Her in the rink. “It’s really gaining momentum. We have skates here that we throw on the girls and let them try. You have to be tough. You can’t be a wimpy girl. You don’t have to know how to skate to be out here.”
George’s daughter, Madison George known as Blood Blister, is one of the 30 girls tucked into the small warehouse on Hillcrest Road twice a week wearing four-wheeled roller-skates and pads from knees to head.
The 30 girls – who are split into two teams, The Brat Pack and the Hollister Killbiliies – go through two, two-hour practices a week, training to compete in bouts. The first bout will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at Bolado Park. It’s the first derby held in San Benito county, George proudly proclaimed.
The Hollister Derby Girls was established last June by president – and junior head coach – Ruby Slip-Her, after she moved to the area after competing for a Santa Cruz-based team. The goal of the group was to create another outlet for women and girls in the area.
After the quick rush of involvement for the adult team died down, George and Ruby decided to focus on the junior squad, which includes their daughters.
“We had a junior and adult team from the beginning,” George said. “But the adult team started lacking in commitments, so our junior team took off. We’ve been concentrating on the junior team. In the last six months, the junior team has come together well.”
They wanted to give the community’s younger girls an alternative to softball and ballet, and create a sense of women empowerment, George said.
And so far, the girls have responded.
“It’s so amazing and I stay with it because this is like my family now,” Schwartz said. “I love skating and I love football and it’s kind of both. It’s amazing.”
And it’s not softball or other popular youth sports, Schwartz said.
“You get bored playing softball your whole life,” she said. “You get bored playing football your whole life. This is reinventing the wheel as far as what we have for girls. We don’t have to be stuck with softball and cheerleading anymore, we have another outreach. We have another activity and extracurricular activity that we can do to vent our energy. It’s better for all of us. We rule.”
Because of the age differences, the junior-level game isn’t as physical as the adult version, George said.
Instead of full blocking, the girls are restricting to simple body positioning to balance the playing field between the seven and 15 year olds, George said. Everything else is the same.
“You have to be tough,” George said. “You can’t be wimpy.”
The game is also easy for newcomers to pick up, George said. Young skaters, who don’t own their own equipment can use extra derby girl skates to learn and become more comfortable.
“You don’t need to know how to play to be out here,” she said.
Most importantly, though, the junior team focuses on creating a fun and family atmosphere. Most of the 30 girls participating are daughters of an adult-team member.
“I heard about it because my mom was the one that got me into it and she told me about it,” said 8-year-old Madison Burrows. “It’s really fun because you get to skate and bout and you get to skate around and have fun.”
For the 13-year-old Madison George, the team is family, she said.
“The people here are really great,” she said. “Roller derby is kind of like a family. You have your sisters and then you have the people that are like your sisters, and you just can’t stand them, but you put up with them because they are family.”
And it helps kids get into and stay in shape, George said.
“We are into health and committing to your body and that whole thing,” she said. “It’s a positive thing for girls.”
