ChiIL Mama : Roller Derby Rocks................And Rolls

"I can't wait to see this match," I gushed to the kids as we sat in UIC Pavilion last Friday night.
"It's a bout," the drunk girl with the pom poms behind us yelled over the 80's rock music.
"About what?" I questioned.
"Not a match. A BOUT," she laughed and gave the kids her pom poms.

It was that apparent we were newbies at The Derby. And we had a lot to learn about. Maybe it's because we've been reading Harry Potter and I've had Quiddich on the brain, with keepers, seekers and beaters, but when I read the Roller Derby rules, I felt like I'd slipped into an alternate dimension. And it wasn't just because of The Hell's Bells, Hermione Danger. I eagerly read about The Pivot, Blocker and Jammer, The Flying Squirrel and the 20 ft rule.

The Windy City Rollers were every bit as much fun as we'd hoped. Kids are encouraged to come early and give high fives to the players as they circle the track before the first bout.

They even had a fan table set up
where the kids could make posters.

Our Kindergarten friend, Prix, and Sagezilla were both chosen as poster finalists and sprinted through the circling skaters to the center of the track.

There they held up their posters for crowd applause where Prix won a t-shirt and Sagezilla won the grand prize of a t-shirt and 2 tickets to the next bout. Who says art doesn't pay!

These are the people in your neighborhood........... Eat your heart out Mr. Rogers, there's no Henrietta Pussycat and King Friday here. But our intrepid urban urchins recognized a familiar face from Big Hair in Roscoe Village, Mya Ssault from Kuma's Corner on Belmont,

and even a teacher in their pre-school with the alter ego Sheik Yerbouti.

The kids loved the funky leg wear and playful names, and were entranced by the fast pace of game play. The Moms were happy to have some mighty girrrrl power women as "roll" models for their daughters.

Sagezilla, AKA Sagie Contagious, future skater?

We ran into some old friends we hadn't seen in 8 years. Their daughter, Violet, who was Sagezilla's age when I last saw her, is a 13 year old, rockin' guitar playing teen now. She was excited to hear Windy City Rollers might be forming a kids league. May I suggest Violet Femme?

Our little friend, Athenia Starr, may hold the honors as the youngest fan in attendance. Her Mom was amused to see one of the players going by the name Athena DeCrime. Sorry, derby baby. You'll have to pick another name if you wanna play the game. Maybe Starr Tinsumthin'.