The Cape Fear Roller Girls are part of a roller derby league, just like Raquel Welch (KC Starr) once was in a movie a long time ago, and like Drew Barrymore (Smashley Simpson) was in last year’s “Whip It.” The Cape Fear Roller Girls are in action this weekend at the Schwartz Center in downtown Wilmington NC, and again on June 12. You can catch the whole schedule at WhatsOnWilmington. We caught up with Dee Spies, who’s been playing the sport since 2006.

Can you briefly describe the rules, strategy, and object of the game?  We play by rules written by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). Roller derby is played in two 30-minute halves comprised of “jams” that last up to two minutes. Essentially, there are two teams with a maximum of five girls each. Four girls per team form a “pack.” Behind the pack, one girl from each team has a star on her helmet — she’s the jammer. One whistle blast signals the start of the jam and the pack starts rolling. This is followed by a double whistle, which gets the jammers moving. There are no balls in derby, but the jammer functions like one. Actually she’s more like a piñata — she’s the one who scores points based on how many girls in the opposing team’s pack she passes legally (don’t get me started on all the penalties). During the first pass through, jammers are awarded no points, but the skater that makes it through the pack first and penalty free becomes the “lead jammer” and gains control of the time. She can call the jam off at any time.

How long has Wilmington had a team, and how many teams are in its league? The Cape Fear Roller Girls were established in 2006. We have our All-Star team and now we are proud to announce we have a B-Team, the Sailor Marys, which play out of town leagues as well. Sometimes we bout each other with our intraleague teams: the Convixens and the F-Bombs.

 Are Roller Girls such as yourself professionals, as in you get paid for your work? We do this for the love of the sport. We pay for our own gear and monthly dues go toward practice time.                                                                                 

I love the nicknames you come up with. Can you mention some of your teammate’s professional names and how they came about? Derby names are fun, aren’t they? One of my league favorites is our referee Waylon Honor. We’ve also got Toe Up, Busty Rhymes, Ann T. Gravity, and Hawaiian Puncher to name a few. Our names pay homage to musicians, are puns, occur in dreams, and can be just about everything in between.

I remember watching roller derby on TV as a kid, and sometimes it came close to violent, with bodies flying out of the ring, cursing, and threats. Even to a kid, however, it all seemed pretty contrived. How has the game been updated since then? It’s all real — the take-outs, the tears, and even the hugs you’ll see on the track. We take the game very seriously, but there’s this camaraderie between players, even with the opposing team. A lot of us play these invitational games that are sort of hodge-podge bouts with girls from many different leagues. So one weekend you’ll play on a team with some girls from Raleigh (and go ride rollercoasters after the game) and turn around and play against them with your respective league the next weekend.

Why do you call matches “bouts”? Not a cotton pickin’ clue. It just is.

How did you get involved in RG’s?  I had just graduated from college and was working in this claustrophobic office.  Let’s just say it was cheaper than therapy.

Do participants have to have a background in roller skating? Some of us do. A lot don’t. We always tell our girls it’s not how many times you fall down, getting up is what’s important.

You play some teams from pretty far away (Baltimore, Charlotte, Johnson City, TN)? Do you fly to each venue? Take a bus? Skate? It depends. Some of us fly. We’ve rented 12 passenger vans, or we carpool.  If anyone wants to be the official travel sponsor, we’d love to talk.

What makes a good Roller Girl competitor? A background in ice hockey? Boxing? Cheerleading? All of the above works, but just a good attitude and willingness to put yourself outside your comfort zone. Experience with team sports helps with team mentality. You put a lot of trust in your teammates. I can’t think of any sport that plays both offense and defense at the same time, so there’s no one sport that really can prepare you for the organized chaos of roller derby.

Is roller derby family friendly?  I say yeah, but the answer is sort of subjective. I see so many kids in the crowds, home and away. This is the test I typically give parents: Are you cool with your child hearing the phrase “Tits McVenom”? If so, bring the kiddies.

Have guys ever participated in roller derby? Absolutely. The Old School Derby Association (OSDA) is a co-ed organization. I know Baltimore has the Harm City Homicide and New York has the Shock Exchange. I saw some footage of a team in Tampa not too long ago with some phenomenal skaters.

I assume you have a coach. What’s he/she like? We’ve got two coaches: the Warden and Mack E. Avelli. They’ve done an awesome job running practices and pushing us this year. They know the game, and I think their coaching skills are the reason we are 2-0 this season. Before these two, we had another duo of coaches — James Bomb and Esoterica Cain — and they provided us invaluable guidance and instruction of the fundamentals of game strategy.

And your teammates? The Cape Fear Roller Girls’ skaters, referees, coaches, and volunteers are just some of the best people — hands down. I think it’s because we get all our frustrations out on each other.

Any battles around the turns in practice elevate to fisticuffs, then continue in the locker room until one of you is bloodied and trapped in a locker? Not even close, at least not in our league. The WFTDA doles out some pretty harsh penalties for conduct like that.

Can you explain what people can expect when they attend Cape Fear Roller Girls bouts? You can expect to buy tickets to the next one because it’s a lot of fun. There are over 150 leagues in the country, and we try to choose opponents with even skill level. We like close games and fierce competition.

Do RG’s still grab hold of a lighter teammate’s arms and whip her forward, propelling her past the other team’s skaters? That was always my favorite part, especially when the unsuspecting lighter teammate went so fast she landed outside the rink.  Oh yeah, that’s called whipping. It’s a lot of fun.

Is it called a rink? Ring? We call it a track. There’s all kinds of surfaces to skate on: wood, polished concrete, sport court tiles.

Seems like you’d need to be in pretty good physical condition to participate. How often do you skate and what type of hellish drills do you have to do? We practice three times a week: Tuesdays are scrimmage nights; Wednesdays are fundamental skills; and Thursdays are endurance. Funny you say “hellish,” because we’ve got this one drill called Satan’s Mattress that involves a series of sprints with push-ups and crunches. Plyometrics [muscles loaded and contracted in rapid sequence, thank you Wikipedia –ed.] are a beast too.

What about training outside the ring? We’ve got girls that do about everything. Buff Diver runs marathons; we’ve got bicycle enthusiasts, and others skate outside and at rinks. There are even some that are in the gym seven days a week. 

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