Sports
A Toxic (And Potentially Painful) Dose Of The 253
Fircrest is home to a new women's roller derby league. The competitors are passionate, athletic and mean. Play at your own risk.
The crash and flash of roller derby is growing in popularity throughout the nation, and it isn't reserved for big cities.
Now, sleepy suburbs such as Fircrest have derby fever.
The Toxic Spill 253 Derby League played its first home bout at that community'sWheelZ Skate Arena on Saturday, playing host to the Rainy Day City Roller Dolls of Centralia to a capacity crowd of cheering fans and families.
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According to its website, the Toxic 253 is an "up and coming" league that offers both All-Star and junior teams.
The first match did not disappoint. Women on skates bashed and crashed the rink as the points tallied up. Toxic Spill, however, didn’t put up much of a fight, with deep deficits in each bout.
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But the energy was there, and they had the sweat, cuts and burns to prove it.
Despite the lop-sided scores, the family entertainment side shows made the night interesting, including a demonstration by Poison Ivy's Junior Derby and a halftime dance show of children tapping into their groove. Mixed into the night was face painting and team swag.
The new league is a renegade effort not associated with the popular Dockyard Derby Dame League that held its season opener at Pierce College Fort Steilacoom earlier this month. There are no plans for an organized, cross-league bout. (Roller derby politics apparently get in the way )
But the addition of a new league shows the sport is growing.
Anyone who's foreign to how the whole roller derby thing works in terms of rules and scoring should go here for details.
Basically it is a mix of roller skating, rugby and horse racing. Players known as “jammers” start at the back of the “pack” and try to dart past the pack. Lapping past the pack scores points. Opposing blockers try to stop the jammer while that jammer’s blockers try to clear a path through the horde of bodies and wheels. Blockers play both offense and defense, depending on where their jammer is located on the rink. Fun is generally had by all in this contact sport that prides itself on goth makeup, fishnets and all things flashy more than elbow jabs.
It looks painful, but it is sure fun to watch.