Shee Devils blocker Emmie Fish, aka “Fish,” puts on her game face before the bout with Yukon. Since roller derby’s revival as a (mostly) women’s club sport around 2000, skaters have used game day to demonstrate both their artistic and athletic skills. (KCAW photo/Rachel Cassandra)
On Saturday night in Sitka (6-23-18), the Hames center basketball court was transformed into a roller derby track via bright neon tape. The Sitka Shee Devils took on the Yukon Roller Girls, from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.
Music blasted through wall-mounted speakers at the Hames Center as the two teams took turns warming up. For those unfamiliar with roller derby, Shee Devils skater Melissa Leeper, derby name “Leeper,” describes the game.
“You have ten people on the track at a time,” she says. “You’ve got four blockers per team and two jammers, one per team trying to score points. The blockers’ whole goal is to stop the jammer from getting in a circle, every time she makes a circle through the group of blockers, she earns one point per person.”
Roller derby has been active in Sitka for about 5 years. The local league’s A team — the Slayers — competes most often outside of the state and has earned a national ranking. The Shee Devils are the Slayers’ B team, but the stakes were still high Saturday night. The game was a charity bout on behalf of two organizations.
“So right now, we’re raising funds for two nonprofits, Sitkans Against Family Violence and Fortress of the Bear,” said Shee Devils blocker Elena Rosenthal, aka Gory Gilmore. “So, no matter who wins, each nonprofit will receive some funds, but depending on who wins, one of them will receive more.”
Shee Devils blockers form a wall to prevent Yukon’s jammer (with a star on her helmet) from completing a scoring pass. Because roller derby is a fluid game of strategy, with teams constantly shifting between offense and defense, there can be as many as seven skating referees overseeing the action. An equal number of “non-skating officials” track penalties, lineups, and keep time and score. (KCAW photo/Rachel Cassandra)
Yukon was paired up with Sitkans Against Family Violence (SAFV), and the Shee Devils with Fortress of the Bear. The winning team was slated to receive $350 and the losing team $150. Coach Stephanie Kruse, aka Titan, says that Sitka has been practicing the fundamentals.
“So we’ve been really focusing on keeping our walls really strong and together, with the goal of impeding the jammer for as long as possible,” Kruse said.
Sitka stayed in the lead during the entire hour-long game. They beat Yukon with a score of 203 to 62. Sitka won in the end, but so did SAFV and Fortress of the Bear. And both teams said they enjoyed the game. Leeper said, “The game was fantastic. The Yukon girls are so much fun to play they’re phenomenal. It was just so much fun.”
The Slayers currently don’t have any home games scheduled, but the Shee Devils season likely will kick off next October, and derby will return to Sitka around Alaska Day.
